My Amazon Reviews: America "The Definitive Pop Collection"

The Original Trio and The Original Songs
4 Out Of 5 Stars

The original America trio of Vocalists/guitarists Dewey Bunnell, Dan Peek, and Gerry Beckley made faux CSN type of California pop so deftly that their initial single, "Horse With No Name," folled many into believing it was the other famed trio. Eventually the word got out and America soon began a string of seventies hits that made their first best of, "History," one of Warner Brothers' biggest selling catalog albums of the time. There have been many anthologies of America issues over the years, but this "Definitive Pop Collection" stands as one of the best.

Focusing solely on their WB tenure, "Definitive Pop" is a pretty exhaustive collection. Culling 30 songs from seven albums, the only things missing are "The Border" and "You Can Do Magic," but they were recorded for Capitol records and must not have been available to be licensed for this 2 disc set. (You can get them on "America - The Complete Greatest Hits.") But for the money, this comes up just short of the even more exhaustive Rhino box set Highway: 30 Years of America."

As to the music itself, the band kept it light but pure. The mainstay was well harmonized folkish pop, augmented with the occasional banjo ("Don't Cross The River"), electric guitar (the mysterious "Sandman") synthesizers ("Only In Your Heart"), and via producer George Martin on their later albums, some exquisite Beatlesy production (you try to listen to "Lonely People" without thinking of "Eleanor Rigby"). The three men also were a formidable songwriting trio, with each man capable of writing their own hits. In fact, it is only the treacle of "Muskrat Love" that came from an outside source on this set.

That's not to say there aren't some clinkers (I could have done without "Watership Down," for example), but they are far outweighed by such classic delights as "Sister Golden Hair," "Tin Man" or "Woman Tonight." Janet Jackson was so fond of "Ventura Highway" that she sampled it for her hit single "Someone To Call My Lover." Buoyed by many enjoyable album cuts, a decent band history/essay, and some missed singles like "Everyone I Meet Is From California" or "Amber Cascades," this is easily all the America you could ask for a minor price. The only thing better would be the "Complete" set, but it's also the America that went on without the late Dan Peek. This is the original trio in all its soft pop glory.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Flaming Lips "Hit To Death in The Future Head"

Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick
3 Out Of 5 Stars

Landing somewhere in the middle of The Flaming Lips' catalog is "Hit To Death In The Future Head," which has long felt like a transitional album in their continual chameleon-like career. The shift seems to be in a move away from the acidic psychedelia into psychedelic Beach Boys. Kinda like goodbye Sonic Youth, hello Beatles' White Album. This most easily found as the lazy roll of "The Sun" or the peppier, undeniably catchy "Gingerale Afternoon." Wayne Coyne is also exploring the possibilities of his singing voice; this is the first Lips CD where his singing really shines all they way through.

It may be also worth noting that "Hit" was the last Lips album to feature guitarist Jonathan Donahue and drummer Nathan Roberts were aboard. Donahue contributes plenty of guitar freakouts, like on "Frogs" and "The Magician Versus The Headache," along with all the whacked out sounds mixed into the CD's half-hour "bonus" track of cacophony. (Shades of 1997's Zaireeka, anyone?) There are plenty of epic moments to be found here, but the follow-up album was the powerful "Transmissions From The Satellite Heart," the Lips' artistic and commercial breakthrough. As such, "Hit" is a cool listen, but not the place to start of you want to discover why Flaming Lips can be such a magic band.

    

Jobs, Steve Jobs

I just heard that Apple founder and frontman Steve Jobs has passed away. I felt a lump in my throat come and go as the news was broadcast, as Apple has been involved with so many of my years in my life. When I first started working in publishing, the main room was a set of Macs, all rigged up with Pagemaker, along with a slightly more powerful Mac for the graphics. Every week, for three years, we turned out a Radio/Broadcast musical tipsheet on that room full of Apple computers.

When I decided to start my own magazines, I bought an Apple PowerPC. I remember not buying the new One Gigabyte version, thinking "who needs a gigabyte?" That computer lasted me from 1996 until just a few years ago. All the Rubber Rebel and Vulcan America magazines were composed on Apples. And the revolution of scanning...wow. No more huge darkrooms with cameras the size of refrigerators. It meant that I could take the pictures for my own magazines, without having to depend totally on studios and models. All the stories I wrote for my first two books (and much of Skin Tight) were written on an Apple.

So much of my creative life has been devised on machines that Steve Jobs helped invent and, more importantly, design. A recent Newsweek article profiled him, describing him alternately as brilliant and driven, but difficult and autocratically demanding. The chatter on TV behind me as I type is how Jobs The Visionary democratized the computing world. All I know is that he made a huge impact on mine.

My Amazon Reviews: Andrew Gold "Thank You for Being a Friend: The Best Of Andrew Gold"

"That's MISTER Mellowmeister to you." 
4 Out Of 5 Stars 

  Andrew Gold was a first rate tunesmith who was often overlooked behind the stellar company he frequently worked with. He came from a musical family, started his first band with the likes of Karla Bonoff and Wendy Waldman, played and wrote on several of Linda Ronstadt's early classics like "Hasten Down The Wind." As a solo performer, he's best known for the 70's kitsch classic "Lonely Boy" and for the perennial friendship song (and theme to The Golden Girls) "Thank You For Being a Friend." He also had a wry sense of humor; the title of this review comes from a letter he once wrote to Rolling Stone magazine when they made a snotty comment about his production on a Nicolette Larson album as being an LA Mellowmeister, he sent them the aforementioned comment in response.

Which is probably why I've owned several of Andrew's albums (including Wax's "Magnetic Heaven") over the years. While this compilation sticks to Gold's four albums from his tenure at Elektra/Asylum, it gives a terrific overview of Gold's easy and straight-to-the-point songwriting. His two hits are both naturally here, but you may find yourself recognizing a 70's song or two as the disc plays out. Freddie Mercury sang backup vocals on the romantic "Never Let Her Slip Away." "Endless Flight" enchanted Leo Sayer enough that he both recorded it and used it for the title of his 1976 album. "The Final Frontier" was heard for many years as the opening theme for Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt's "Mad About You" (until Anita Baker re-recorded it later).

In a more just world, Andrew Gold would have been a star on the level of Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald or a handful of other California singer/songwriters. "Thank You For Being a Friend" gathers 20 songs as convincing proof that Gold ranked with the best of them. (Sure would have been nice to have Wax's near-hit "Right Between The Eyes" or Gold's spry version of "Do Wah Daddy" here, though.) His untimely passing in June 2011 at the age of 59 made me sad, to the point where I hit the repeat on "Never Let Her Slip Away" for much of the afternoon. Here is a hope he gets the recognition now that he deserves.

   

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My Amazon Reviews: Joshua Radin "The Rock and The Tide"

Between a Rock and a Tidal Place
3 Out of 5 Stars 

For his third album, Joshua Radin trying to rock out a bit more. He still specializes in sad girlfriend types of songs, but this time around he pumps up his band. There are traces of Arcade Fire chiming chords and a little bit of U2 guitar soloing in the mix, where he seemed to stick to the James Taylor/Bob Dylan orbit on his first two albums. That will likely surprise fans of "Simple Times" when they hear the bubbling opener "Road To Ride On," which packs more punch than the entirety of Radin's previous album, or "Streetlight," which may be his best single so far.

Knowing his previous works kind of distracts from the decent material on "The Rock and The Tide." Joshua is obviously trying to break away from the singer-songwriter as sad troubadour mold, but it was his sensitivity that made his other records standouts. Unlike John Meyer, who used a desire to blast his old image as wimpy whiz-kid by forming a rocking blues-trio, Radin just sounds like a gifted singer-songwriter going pop. And his whispery vocals are in place for good songs like "We Are Only Getting Better," "You Got What I Need" and "Leap." It's not bad, it's just not unique.

I can't say that I blame Joshua for trying, after all, Jason Mraz and Meyer are working this same territory and breaking the bank on it. "The Rock and The Tide" is enjoyable folk-singer material and written by a better-than-average songwriter. A good album overall, worthy of an average grade.

 

My Amazon Reviews: Bright Eyes "The People's Key"

A great big melting pot of Bright Eyes  
4 Out of 5 Stars

Conor Oberst once made the ambitious mis-step or releasing two Bright Eyes albums at once; he issued the classic "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning" and the cringe worthy electronica of "Digital Ash in A Digital Urn" on the same day. One was a beautiful, thoughtful descendant of Bob Dylan, the other was an amateurish Kraftwerk homage. "The People's Key" sounds like he learned from that moment and pulled the best of each onto one album. "The People's Key" uses a full band to highlight Oberst's gifts of melody, penchant for strange narratives/spirituality and his curiosity for electronic instruments and forges them into a dynamic album with many highlights.

Like Iron and Wine's "Kiss Each Other Clean" (issued roughly the same time), "The People's Key" shows Oberst fleshing out the edges of  his comfort zone with richer arrangements and fuller singing. Purists might not take to it easily, but there is a direct line from Oberst's time in Monster's Of Folk (who did a raucous concert performance), his more personal songs on the solo album and the opening narrative of "Cassadaga." Also, like Dylan, there are moments of inexplicable lyrical oddities that are as filled with beauty as they are strange. Who else could rhyme the title of the song "Haile Selassie" with the line about  his audio equipment ("one drop and a bubbling Leslie, calling me home like Haile Selassie").

Oberst is a restless artist, as anyone who has followed his eclectic career can tell you. The wild mood swings on "The People's Key" are testament to that factor, yet it is strong enough an album to hold together. I'll probably always be wedded to the style of the man who wrote and sang "I'm Wide Awake," but even the annoying "shamanic vocals" credited to one Denny Brewer (without which I might have given this 5 stars) can distract from the richness of "The People's Key."