My Amazon Reviews: AC/DC "Rock Or Bust"

All Rock, No Bust
4 Out Of 5 Stars

There's no-one else alive that can power-chord the way Angus Young can. Or yowl the way Brian Johnson does. It's why any AC/DC album is met with such great anticipation. This time, from the powerful title track to the walking shuffle of "Emission Control," "Rock Or Bust" delivers hammer-down rock like only AC/DC can.

Another noteworthy thing about "Rock Or Bust" is its brevity. Clocking in at 11 songs in 35 minutes, it delivers short and sharp stabs of guitar and Phil Rudd's primitive thud, Each song delivers its message, solo and gets out of its own way as soon as the meat is delivered. Heck, the great "Play Ball" (heard during the 2014 MLB World Series) gets it done in under 3 minutes. While it may disappoint fans who would rather Angus wing-it off into super solo land or a blues workout or two, to me it's like a prize fighter dispensing with the dancing and heading straight for the knockout punch.

At times the lyrics fall into beer raising similarity (4 songs that have 'rock' in the title is more than a little telling), but the album doesn't suffer from it. You don't come to an AC/DC party looking for PhD material. "Rock Or Bust" is AC/DC proving their point. There's a nice shout out to founding member Malcolm Young in the CD booklet...like it or not, your favorite bands are growing older with you. Even so, AC/DC enter their 40th year as a rock and roll powerhouse, and they show no signs of stopping.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Atlas Genius "When it Was Now"

The Future's Not Where it Used To Be
3 Out Of 3 Stars

Australia's Atlas Genius are the latest band to rig up their computers to an 80's fixation, and their debut, "When It Was Now" is the kind of album that wears its influences on its sleeve. It's easy to see how they got the attention, as their greeting card of "Trojans" has just the right mixture of bubbly synth and Strokes-like guitar to stick in your ear canal (and if it reminds you of Foster The People's "Pumped Up Kicks," you're not alone in that assessment).

"When It Was Now" has a few more catchy songs to be found, especially the opening "Electric." Lead singer Keith Jeffrey's voice has the kind of mild intensity that makes the music catchy if unobtrusive, so Atlas Genius needs the kind of propulsion and hooks like the ones "Electric" provides. Same with the title track, which sounds like these dudes had a serious New Order fan-crush. I'd offer the same for "If So" and "Back Seat," which beg for a big dance remix.

The issue I have with not bringing "When It Was Now" past a C grade is that there is a serious problem with the songs starting to run together. Minus "Trojans" or "Electricity," Atlas Genius could just as easily pass for an album of Phoenix's B-Sides. There's some obvious filler; "Through The Glass" wants to be ring the rafters yet just sounds like someone trying to write an anthem without success. You can hear the ambition at work in the crowd grabbing choruses, what you don't hear a band identity as yet. "When It Was Now" could sow a few radio ready singles into the atmosphere or they could be the background music in a hip café. Potential for growth here.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Brett Every "Tales of Ten Men"

Another Hit for Heartbreak Radio
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Australian Brett Every crossed my radar a few years ago when I made a post to a blog asking why we still had not found a gay Bruce Springsteen. Which is funny, because Brett isn't anything like The Boss. But he also isn't anything like your typical "gay musician," where everything is in hardcore dance electronica or is some sort of dance diva. Which makes Brett something of an outcast in gay music circles. He writes more in a personal style, and "Tales of Ten Men" is exactly what it's title implies, complete with an extra four songs. Heartbreak, separation, new love, getting back together, and even desperation (a bluesy live cover of Concrete Blonde's "Joey") are all on a first name basis.

Recorded rather spartanly, with sometimes nothing more than his strummed guitar or a piano and maybe a muted trumpet or chorus, "Tales of Ten Men" takes on fellows of many stripes. Some of the songs are new takes from previous discs. Two of them better their originals, especially "Mr Smith." Sung by the young lover to the upset father of his lover, it has a pain to it that the first version on "Fairy Godmother's Gone to Vegas" didn't. Then one of the 'bonus' tracks pays homage to Blanche Deveraux, his "Golden Girls" hero. Originally on "Camping Out," this live version seems a bit more tongue in cheek. But there's nothing cheeky about "Sydney," a heartbreaking look at a relationship that's drifted apart. With Every's bar-soaked voice, there's a certain desperation in the recognition that, while the love hasn't gone bad, it's just gone away.

The best is saved for the first of the first of the 'bonus' tracks. "It's a Beautiful Day" is a wonderful song that celebrates a pair of men getting married.

"And the Prime Minister said
by this beautiful law that
whatever beliefs,
we believe in love more."

It's enough to make a grown man pull out the Kleenex, I tell ya. "I hear music from the neighbors. Tom Waits, Bette Midler and they're singing the same song..." kind of sums the guy up in his own words. If you haven't found your way to Brett's music, this is a good primer.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Midnight Oil "Diesel and Dust - Deluxe Version"

Midnight Oil Burns
5 Out Of 5 Stars

"Diesel and Dust" was Midnight Oil's perfect storm of an album. Peter Garret was still passionate (well, he always was), and the rest of the band, in particular bassist Peter Gifford and drummer Rob Hirst, kicked up their best rock and roll A-game. The Oils shucked some of the artier motifs that bogged down "10, 9, 8..." and "Red Sails in the Sunset," and switched to dance floor propulsion. The result was the politco-rock of "Beds are Burning" became an international smash both on rock radio and in the clubs. Yet it came with absolutely no condensation of the band's roots; the songs were as fiery and as socially spiked as ever.

In fact, this may have been Midnight Oil's most homeland-centric album. Everything from the single to the closing "Sometimes" addresses issues in some form or another. Some are blatant ("Beds are Burning's" pointed look at aboriginal rights, "The Dead Heart's" anti-mining rant) to oblique (the plea to not sell out on "Sometimes" and "Arctic World"). Even the weaker material ("Whoah") would be great on a lesser album. It's a shame that few bands have ever tried to follow where Midnight Oil tread...it's been a long time since a band so forcefully took a stand AND made a successful commercial run at it.

Given the timing of their breakthrough, "Diesel and Dust" may have been at a moment when being socially and politically actionable was acceptable. 1987-88 were also the years "Joshua Tree" ruled the world and artists like The Call, Peter Gabriel and Simple Minds were making anthemic rock chart-worthy. But no-one mixed it up quite like Midnight Oil, and "Diesel and Dust" was the peak of their curve.

Bonus concert DVD shows the Oils at their incendiary best, and includes the video clip for "Beds Are Burning."

     

My Amazon Reviews: AC/DC "For Those About To Rock"

Fire Away
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Riding the coattails of the phenomenal "Back In Black," AC/DC's second age literally went for the big guns. "For Those About To Rock" starts of with one of Angus Young's meatiest riffs ever, and ends with a phalanx of cannons firing the 21 gun salute. It's as epic a rock song that ever came out of the 80's, and solidified AC/DC with Brian Johnson as a permanent fixture in the world of hard rock. It even gave them a rare chart single, as "Let's Get It Up" barely missed the top 40.

That established, it's also unavoidable fact that cracks were starting to show. The subjects were getting a bit obvious ("Inject The Venom," "I Put The Finger On You") and some of the riffage was retreading past glories. Angus still lays out power chords better than anyone else at the time, and Johnson's vocal caterwauls were unmatchable. It also meant that AC/DC remained a prime target for scared parents everywhere, making "FTABTR" appealing to the prematurely deaf worldwide. The last great album in the group's hot streak, the coming albums "Flick of The Switch" and "Fly On The Wall" began a decline that clung to the band until "The Razor's Edge" nine years later.

   

My Amazon Reviews: Brett Every "Menu"

Sample all the Entrees
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Brett Every is a roughhewn, last call at the bar singer songwriter, and I've been a fan since I first heard "Camping Out" a few years ago. Possessed of a moaning, hopeless voice, he seems crossed with Mark Weitzel and a gay Tom Waits. Every's deep, shaky voice drips pathos and emotionalism, with frequent guest Estelle Noonan adding a similar female foil to add to the bluesy burn of his writing. "Menu," his third album, continues this course in a solid fashion, offering few changes from his first two distinctive albums.


On his previous album, Brett pulled Bette Midler's "Come Back Jimmy Dean" and wrapped his smokey longing around it to perfection. On "Menu," he takes an even bigger risk by hauling out Concrete Blonde's new wave one-hit "Joey" out and turning it on its head. On the original, singer Johnette Napolitano was confronting a junkie boyfriend, trying to pull him out of a destructive relationship. Here, Every is locked into a tense battle with Joey, trying to convince him that his desperate love is worth kicking the habit over, even if you know that Joey has no intentions of being the better man. Brett's version tugs harder at the heart that CB's ever did.

There are also some stunning original compositions, including "Man Walks Into a Bar," where the 40 year old Brett discovers his 20 year old self, and tries to convince him that being careful will avert future heartaches. You know full well that the 20 year old Brett is blowing the old geezer off, and the elder Brett aches to know that his youthful self needs to make his own coming out path, pains and all. Just as delightful is when he tackles this in first person fashion during "Rough Road," hoping his life is restaurants and country clubs, where 'all they have are chili dogs." There's a romantic streak here just struggling to get out from the back of the bar, and Brett's "Menu" is another fine album from this out Aussie performer.