My Amazon Reviews: Blondie "AutoAmerican"

And it's finger popping.
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Coming off the rocking success of "Eat To The Beat," Blondie hit 1980 ready to do whatever struck their fancy. The result, "AutoAmerican,' was a hodgepodge of styles, everything from disco, rap, rock, cabaret, a surprisingly well done showtune from "Camelot," even reggae. The album starts of eclectically enough, with the mostly instrumental drone of "Europa," which ends with Debbie Harry robotically speaking about phase gridlock and being left on your rims. Getting that out of their systems quickly enough, "AutoAmerican" breaks into a disco groove with "Live It Up," which seemed, in comparison the such monsters as "Heart Of Glass" and "Call Me," a bit tepid.

Which sets the tone for much of "AutoAmerican." Blondie was so all over the map that many of the songs kind of pale in comparison to other songs from earlier albums. The hits off the album itself show those flaws in sharp relief. The number one "The Tide Is High" (a cover of a Jamaican band called The Paragons) took reggae and used Harry's breathless vocal to make a striking pop song that stuck to the roof of your brain like the best of their singles. Then there was the truly unique "Rapture," in which a mostly underground and novelty form of music suddenly found itself at number one. It could easily be the first rap/rock crossover single. and still holds up remarkably well after over three decades.

One of the things missing from "AutoAmerican" was the rock. There's nothing here to compare to the explosive "Dreaming" or the muscle of "The Hardest Part" from just one album back. There are a couple tries, like the wild abandon in "Walk Like Me" and the horn driven "Go Through It." It also shows up on the bonus tracks, where the extended version of the number one "Call Me" blows away many of "AutoAmerican's" weaker moments. Harry was at Force 10 against Giorgio Morodor's Eurodisco pumping pulse. Which means that the best of the album are the singles, one of which is a bonus track. It didn't much matter at this point as the band was beginning to splinter (Frank Infante had to sue to be on the album) and the limp "The Hunter" would quietly close this chapter on Blondie. (They've made a couple of very strong reunion albums, including "No Exit" and "Panic Of Girls" in the new century, however.)

     

My Amazon Reviews: Linkin Park "The Hunter"

The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game
3 Out of 5 Stars

Viewed as a comeback of sorts for Linkin Park, they return to basics after the highly experimental "Thousand Suns" and the OK but not great "Living Things." The guitars are suddenly heavier, Chester Bennington screams and rapper Mike Shinoda is more prominent on this album than on the previous two. And always a sign that a band wants to let you know they're still relevant, there are plenty of special guests. "The Hunter" also ditches producer Rick Rubin for a co-production between Brad Delson and Shinoda.

Does it all work? On a superficial level, yes. It grinds out the aggro-metal-rap that made the band's bones back with 2000's "Hybrid Theory." "The Hunter" opens with a very aggressive salvo, Chester screaming out his failures for "Keys To The Kingdom," but it ends with a little kid shouting. Yes, the guys in Linkin Park are now daddies. Rage now goes inward instead of outward. On "A Thousand Suns," that meant moody introspection, now it's marked by hollering "Rebellion." Rap legend Rakim drops by on the exhilarating "Guilty All The Same," but it's just so he can complain about how record companies treat their bands. I hate my job, too, but I'm not a rich rock band. Kind of kills the thrill. Another guest star wasted is Tom Morello. If I had him on my album, I'd be expecting some rip-roaring guitar solos, Instead, he's buried on a mellow instrumental called "Drawbar." WTF?

"The Hunter" has plenty going for it; it's not a total bow-wow. Delson's guitars are way more prominent than on the last two albums. He's given more room to blister chord his way through "The Hunter" (and aggravates me even more that Morello was not utilized for his real skills), a credit to the band trying to recapture it's old glories. Not a bad attempt, but you've heard them doing better.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Twenty One Pilots "Vessel"

Leaky Boat Of Fun
3 Out Of 5 Stars

Playing a curious mix of rap, folk and pop, Twenty One Pilots are a band that are impossible to pigeonhole. The opening track on "Vessel" bounces back and forth between the rap and the pop in a seamless fashion that is particularly tasty. "Ode To Sleep" sets the tone for the album as it's as eclectic a single as you'll hear from a new band.

I was lured to "Vessel" by the single "House of Gold," which sounds more like The Lumineers or Passengers than what comprises the bulk of the CD. Normally that would tick me off, as I'm not a fan of rapping, and had I listened to the samples of the rest of the songs first, I'd probably have skipped the disc. The vocoder heavy "Migraine" and the more downbeat "Car Radio" sink in enough to compensate for any shortcomings. Twenty One Pilots duo Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun know how to couch their way around the laptop rockers and the screamo-emo and make "Vessel" a fun listen. If it weren't for the fact that the lead vocals sometimes turn to screams (you're no Roger Daltry, guys), I'd like this a whole lot more.

     

My Amazon Reviews: The Script "#3"

What Happened to The Melodies?
3 Out Of 5 Stars

I really liked "Science and Faith," Irish trio The Script's second album. There was just the right balance of anthemic pop and modern rock/rap to keep a balance. On #3, the rapping overwhelms. The album tends to bland out after the first few songs and the stronger singles. "Hall Of Fame" drew me in when it was used on the World Series' baseball commercials, and it sounded like the band was once again going to hit the right notes. But the lyrics/raps are loaded with cliches, the rapping is excruciatingly monochromatic, and only "If You Could See Me Now," lead singer Danny O'Donoghue's ode to his dead father, has the emotional wallop of anything from "Science and Faith."

I'll also give a tip of the hat to "Kaleidoscope," which grapples with a U2 sound and "Glowing," which is a well structured piano rocker minus the annoying rapping. That makes four songs I like on an album of 10; not a good batting average. #3 is not a bad album, just an average one, slickly produced and full of confidence, but just feels like a step in the wrong direction for The Script.

     

My Amazon Reviews: The Beastie Boys "Licensed To Ill"

They are Most Def
5 Out Of 5 Stars

One of my criterion for a five star album is that it bent the popular culture in a direction where everything afterwards changed direction. The debut from The Beastie Boys did just that. The mere fact that they became the first rap act to have a number one album alone makes them historic, but the album itself still stands the test of time from 1986 on. Made by a trio of well heeled inner city brats, "Licensed to Ill" was noisy, brash, snotty and made like a punk rock album. It rocked harder than many current rock albums of the period.

That came courtesy of the sampling. Among the usual array of funk samples were lifts from Led Zepplin, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Clash and others. These upped the volume and the more jagged feel of "Ill," spiking the sound to match the juvenile force of the lyrics. Those words centered mostly on getting high, loose women, and partying your brains out in the most politically incorrect fashion possible. To that extent, "Fight For Your Right To Party" may be as radical a single as "Anarchy In The UK" was for the Sex Pistols.

That the Beasties also were traditional song structuralists made them more accessible. "Party," Girls" and much of the album used traditional song bridge chorus structure that made the songs concise punches of aggression and teenaged snottiness. Nobody was going to tell them what they could or could not do, which meant that their raps were punctuated by the heavy metal of a Kerry King (Slayer) guitar solo for "No Sleep Till Brooklyn." This was the album that made rap creep into the suburbs. "Licensed To Ill" was so radical an album that The Beasties never quite could make another one like it, despite their continued success (and their more mature attitudes as their success grew), making it not just a great album, but a call to arms for plenty of musicians to follow.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Red Hot Chili Peppers "I'm With You"

Tick-tock, I want to rock you like the 80s 
3 Out Of 5 Stars

The Red Hot Chili Peppers make a transition between guitarists and what sounds like a transitional album. "I'm With You" carves out pop turf with new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer providing sturdy support and more than a few interesting riffs. And once again, Rick Rubin brings his less-is-more production philosophy to the Peppers, which is a good thing for a band that works more on instinct than technology.

That instinct serves them well here. The fuzz-bomb that opens "Monarchy of Roses" lets you know that you've got the m-fing Red Hot Chili Peppers back in your player, man, before things turn conventional and the meaty chorus sinks in. If the lead single's title of "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie" didn't make you think about "Dani California," the bass/drum shuffle sure will. Plus, there's a great tribute song for writer Brendan Mullen that revisits the acoustic-building-to-wall-of-sound that was "Under The Bridge." "Brendan's Death Song" may not be the revelation that "Under The Bridge" was, but then again, "Blood Sugar Sex Magic" is still the best thing the Peppers have ever done.

What "I'm With You" boils down to is RHCP's constancy. Once they hit a secondary peak with "Californication," they've been pretty much fishing in the same barrel ever since. "Stadium Arcadium" scored some bonus points for its audaciousness, while "I'm With You" sounds what I imagine "Stadium" (even with the switch in guitarists) would have sounded like had the Peppers held themselves to a single disc release. Don't expect anything radical, just know that you're still getting a quality album.