Queen - 2011 remasters reviewed.

Upon examining the first 5 Queen albums that were re-released this month, some thoughts come to mind. While the debut record released in 1973 demonstrates a swagger very few first records by any other band can match, it was absolutely nothing compared to the bravado and confidence that would adorn future efforts. In fact, the first record can be described precisely as that. “Phase one in which Queen demonstrates and sharpens their collective chops”.

Most of these songs were firmly implanted into the band’s live repertoire by this point and in most cases are actually re-recordings of a studio demo the band made some two years previous. In fact, bonus cuts on the first LP are comprised of that original 1971 De Lane Lea studio demo and are presented here officially for the first time. A highlight among these highlights include a remarkable version of “The Night Comes Down” that may be the earliest recorded evidence of the immaculate vocal blend that would soon take over the world.

Since it took almost 2 years for these tunes to see the light of day, it comes as no surprise that the band had enough of a backlog of material to release 2 records in 1974. “Queen 2”, released in February of that year, adds some progressive rock leanings to go along with the crunching rock riffage and provides a key early window into their trademark versatility. The second part of the effort, also known as “Side Black” is comprised entirely of Freddie Mercury songs, and vocally are just as ambitiously arranged as anything they’ve ever done. “March Of The Black Queen” is arguably the center piece here, with several musical twists and turns and it’s clever lyrical wordplay. “Side White” conversely is dominated by Brian May for the most part, and he blossoms here as a songwriter with shimmering tracks such as “White Queen(As It Began)” and “Father To Son”.

Brian May’s guitar playing cannot be underestimated when examining key components of the band’s sound. On “Brighton Rock” the opening track on the bands third LP “Sheer Heart Attack”, his homemade “Red Special” axe gets an extended workout. Roger Taylor delivers one of his greatest songs in “Tenement Funster”, and John Deacon begins adding his tunes to the mix with the delightfully tongue in cheek “Misfire”. Taylor’s vocal range emerges more prominently than ever before, as he delivers a stunning falsetto track on “In The Lap Of The Gods”, which Mercury would later describe as a direct prelude to “Bohemian Rhapsody”, both in song structure and complexity of vocal harmonies.

“A Night At The Opera”, and it’s aforementioned hit single were unleashed in November of 1975, resulting in the band’s first worldwide smash hit LP. Nothing would ever be the same from here on out, as the band would finally reap the major rewards due them for all their efforts up to this point. The record takes the diverse approach of “Sheer Heart Attack” one step further, displaying an even wider range of styles and experiments. “The Prophet’s Song” employs the digital delay effect that first showed up on “Now I’m Here” a year earlier, but used more extensively on this track. “Seaside Rendezvous” features a “brass ensemble” comprised entirely of vocals.

The worldwide success of “Opera” left the band with the unique problem of trying to top an effort that was essentially un-toppable. Critical backlash to “A Day At The Races” was inevitable, although enough good notices were written to be able to say that reviews were mixed. “Races” actually would go on to be among their more popular and critically favorable releases, gaining stature over an extended period of time. Look no further than the record’s first two songs as evidence of the band’s extraordinary versatility coming to full fruition. The album’s opener “Tie Your Mother Down”, a bone crunching rocker juxtaposed against “You Take My Breath Away”, a piano ballad with vocal harmonies that are among the greatest ever written and arranged by someone not named Brian Wilson.

The box set serves as a document of the band’s high water mark, recorded over a timeframe of only four years. Future releases would add to their legacy and cement their status as the second greatest English band in the history of pop. Although their global popularity would continue to grow exponentially in the years to come, the band would for the most part find it nearly impossible to deliver any future releases that would come close to the immense quality of these early works.

Box of Vision-for the anal retentive music fan

Hey music fans, have you ever wished you could store, organize and display all your Bob Dylan and Beatles records in a beautiful linen covered, table top slip case? Me neither.

Well, a company called “Box Of Vision” is out to change your mind. Officially licensed by the artists, they manufacture high end storage containers, complete with LP sized cover art and additional photos.

So far, Box Of Vision has The Beatles, Lennon and Dylan in their growing stable of um…boxes. The most recent Dylan one sells for …wait for it…. ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY DOLLARS! FOR A BOX WITH NO RECORDS IN IT!

The pigeon, I mean the consumer provides the records. The box enables you to proudly display your complete CD collections of the artist. To who , I don’t know. If I was stupid enough to waste my money on this, I’d be so ashamed I’d hide it in the attic.

I would provide the link just to prove that this does exist but honestly, I don’t feel like it would be a good idea to promote this craziness.

Their website says that they are always looking for new ideas for artists that we, the fans are deserving of the Box Of Vision “treatment”. A couple of suggestions come to mind.

Flying Lizards-yeah, it would be one real small box, but instead of being linen covered, you could manufacture it with scales.


Chumbawumba-just a big metal tub that you throw the CD into.

Modern English-Make the box out of chocolate and charge extra for the heat lamp.

Adam Ant-you open the box and all these feathers fly out.

Village People-here you could have 5 separate boxes for each member. A lunch pail for the construction worker, a bribery envelope for the policeman, a fire hydrant for the…you get the idea.

Blondie- A heart shaped box made of glass. You can use the same box for Nirvana and cut down on manufacturing costs.

Ramones-instead of using fine linen, go with ripped blue jean material. It would also unzip on the side.

New York Dolls-a purse, what else? One of those weird boxy ones your grandmother had.

Flock Of Seagulls- gold plated bird cage and a pair of sneakers.

B-52’s – a lobster trap-optional clambake edition comes with potatoes. Idaho’s, of course.

Steely Dan- a dildo, batteries not included. The CD’s “come” out of the tip, er ..top.

The Gloriousness that is King Crimson’s “Islands”

Sometimes I like to write about some of my favorite records and “Islands” by King Crimson is certainly one of them. I’ve actually been conversing on the social media about it with some other fans, and it’s unfortunate that so many of them just can’t wrap their brain around this record.

Before I get started, let me just say that I know for sure that several other fans feel the same way I do, so I’m not trying to say that “Islands” is either obscure and/or underrated.
It’s obvious though, that a music fan can be attracted to King Crimson via many different avenues.

The heavy metal fans certainly have plenty to like here. What head banger wouldn’t be attracted to the sheer power of “21st Century Schizoid Man”, perhaps their best known tune. Chicks dig the whole “warbling troubadour” shtick, and original vocalist Greg Lake is right up there with Justin Hayward from The Moody Blues in the sensitive department.

So it seems somewhat likely that other than the hardcore fan that just inhales everything, there’s a second tier of fandom that has one or two records and leaves it at that. Or they bought one record and then another one that didn’t live up to their expectations.

“Islands” certainly qualifies as potentially being one of those records. The opener, “Formentera Lady” can be a head scratcher, especially if you’re expecting crunching power chords or a faster tempo. The track references a woman from the island of Formentera, off the coast of Spain. Much like an island breeze, woodwind instruments flow across the track. Sometimes quiet, other times more abruptly.

Fans who were on board for all four Crimson records up to this point wouldn’t be too surprised. The band’s previous record “Lizard” was also more oblique than it’s predecessor, “In The Wake Of Poseidon”. Among the band’s many strong suits is their ability to experiment and improvise. With a line up of musicians that was almost in a constant state of flux, (By this time guitarist Robert Fripp and lyricist Peter Sinfield were the only remaining original members) King Crimson was becoming as Fripp would quote many years later, “a way of doing things”.

The second track, “A Sailor’s Tale” is among the all time favorites for many fans of the band. Propelled by a jazzy 6/8 time signature, guitar and saxophone double the same melodic part creating a unique, unsettling sound before it segue ways into the third track, “The Letters”. Here we get the albums most improvisational moments, with quiet and loud passages juxtaposed against each other.

The music fan in me wants to believe that “Ladies Of The Road” is at least partially inspired by Frank Zappa’s “Road Ladies”, released just a year earlier. While King Crimson up to this point was not a band you would expect to put forth a controversial lyric, this song is lyrically spattered with several instances of misogyny. Whereas Zappa would make it funny, here it’s just flat out creepy.
A flower lady's daughter
As sweet as holy water
Said: "I'm the school reporter
Please teach me", well I taught her.

Two fingered levi'd sister
Said, "Peace", I stopped I kissed her.
Said, "I'm a male resister",
I smiled and just unzipped her.

High diving Chinese trender
Black hair and black suspender
Said, "Please me no surrender
Just love to feel your Fender".

Stone-headed Frisco spacer
Ate all the meat I gave her
Said would I like to taste her
And even craved the flavor

All of you know that the girls of the road
Are like apples we stole in our youth.
All of you know that the girls of the road
Been around but are versed in the truth.

Again the saxophone and guitar are prominent here. These are wailing, caterwauling episodes of sound that paint the most extreme visuals in your mind.

“Prelude-Song Of The Gulls” is where “Islands” really hits it’s stride. Four minutes and fifteen seconds of the most achingly beautiful string quartet arrangement ever attempted on a pop record. The music itself lilts and pulsates like waves that kiss the shore. Water and the ocean seem to be a reoccurring theme over the course of the record, and while “A Sailor’s Tale” painted an aural soundscape of stormy seas, this track evokes a feeling of more peaceful, calmer weather.

We finish off with the title track. How is it even possible to convey my feelings about this song and how much it’s grown to mean to me over the years? It makes me feel both insignificant and larger than life, both temporary and eternal, all at the same time.
It reminds me of the friends and family that I’ve lost, how they left this earth holding everything they’ve ever felt near and dear to them close, clutching and hanging on until that very last moment. How we are all our own type of “island”, and how all islands eventually erode away.

Earth, stream and tree encircled by sea
Waves sweep the sand from my island.

Dark harbor quays like fingers of stone
Hungrily reach from my island.
Clutch sailor's words - pearls and gourds
Are strewn on my shore.
Equal in love, bound in circles.
Earth, stream and tree return to the sea
Waves sweep sand from my island,
from me.

Capitol Records announces release of long lost Beach Boys Record

Capitol Records says it’s official. All surviving members of The Beach Boys are on board and there will FINALLY be an official release for “SMiLE”, the 1967 album project by the band, abandoned and shelved for lo these past .. wait for it…….44 YEARS!

No release date yet, which still gives us the slightest kernel of doubt. But we’ve never been closer than we have in the past , that much is certain. Many details have surfaced today that result in a true cause for celebration.

It will be released in three formats. Digital download, 2 CD set, and a deluxe box set consisting of 4 CD’s, 2 vinyl LP’s, 2 vinyl singles, and a 60 page hardcover book written by long time Beach Boys historian Domenic Priore.

Two longtime Beach Boys associates -- engineer Mark Linett and archivist Alan Boyd -- are co-producing the release, which Capitol has titled "The Smile Sessions."

In a statement released through Capitol Records band leader songwriter, arranger and producer Brian Wilson said, “I'm thrilled that the Beach Boys' original studio sessions for 'Smile' will be released for the first time, after all these years,". I'm looking forward to this collection of the original recordings and having fans hear the beautiful angelic voices of the boys in a proper studio release”.

Fans can expect a combination of both mono and stereo tracks, including a complete mono mix of the record pieced together as closely as possible to Wilson’s 2004 solo release of the same name. While it’s been debated to death by fans whether or not “Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE” is an accurate sonic document of how the original album would have been sequenced, all parties have to at least begrudgingly admit that it’s the only template we have. Additional bonus tracks will appear in either mono and/or stereo.

Most important will be the likelihood of vastly improved sound quality. The bootleg versions that have circulated among collectors vary widely in this regard, and just the thought of a first generation copy of “Child Is The Father Of The Man” is enough to make me want to jump and weep for joy.

Peter Buck says “No REM tour” and one longtime fan reacts

REM are no stranger to NOT touring, having not gone out on a regular basis since the “Green” LP and what was that, 1989? It must be because they titled the first track “pop song ’89”. I remember the wife and I going up to Massachusetts to see the “Monster” tour in 1994, having paid a ticket broker 150 bucks for two really good seats. Great show, but we spent an hour afterwards looking for the car in the dark.

The first time REM stopped touring was because they had been on a permanent cycle of album/tour, album/tour pretty much since the inception of the band. That’s roughly six years of constant hard work making a name for yourself. Despite what Pete Buck said recently about touring not selling records, I have to think that he’s all wet here. If you do it right, you can still conquer the world musically going town by town. You just have to have good songs and the where-with-all to sacrifice your health and well being for the sake of the music.

However, a band like REM has long gone past the point of earning new fans by performing live, so perhaps in the specific case of his band, Buck’s comments may be spot on. The only ticket buyers out there for them would be the long time fans. Even some of those, (like myself) may think twice before going, having already seen them so many times as well as being wary of the newer material.

They have a new record out this week that was streaming free over the internet last week and it sounds like it’s pretty good. Only problem is that they have put out 3 or 4 records out prior to this one that were either not very good or not popular enough to generate the necessary buzz that would bring about a successful return to the road. The band has pretty much (by choice, I’m assuming) elected to stay on the outskirts of the of the record business since they signed that huge deal with Warner Bros. and delivered the mega-hits “Out Of Time”, and “Automatic For The People”.

Those albums were the type of gazillion sellers that would yield an inevitable backlash, but I’ve got to say that REM somehow managed to avoid that happening to them as well, at least as a band. Perhaps it was the departure of drummer Bill Berry, or the conscious decision to experiment more on successive albums like “Up” and “Reveal”, but the band never fell victim to becoming a punch line as much as people just stopped caring. The music business was evolving without them, and rather than try to adapt along with it, the band seemed to be fairly comfortable with letting it happen, rather than dig their nails in the dirt and compromise their approach in the process.

Even though 2008’s “Accelerate” did little to reestablish them in the eyes of record buyers, long time fans that did check the record out applauded the stripped down-back to basics approach. Only problem was (for me anyway) that although the record sounded more powerful than any REM record did in recent memory, this noisy, bombastic effort did nothing to conjure up the feeling of what made them a great band in the first place.

“Collapse Into Now” appears to have rectified that complaint in spades. Pete Buck’s guitar parts do more shimmering and less exploding, with the emphasis more on melody and tone. The vocal blend between Mike Mills and Michael Stipe, which even during the best of times would on occasion sound more than a little forced, rings honest and true this time around, particularly on the gorgeous “UBerlin”.

Whether or not we ever see REM perform live in concert again appears to hinge at least partially on the fortunes of this latest effort. If the sales numbers are promising and enough of the band’s once thriving fanbase can be re-enlisted, we may yet see a triumphant return to the stage upon release of the next album.

Arthurly 2011

An unreleased 1973 record by Love titled "Black Beauty", is finally going to see the light of day as an actual release.
Often bootlegged with dodgy sound , the record was long thought to be too poor in audio quality to ever be issued. "Not so" says the fledgling High Moon Records label, which is making some bold claims about remastered sound and bonus tracks that have never been heard. They are also promising rare and unreleased photos from that era as well as some freshly penned liner notes by Ben Edmonds.

After disbanding the first two configurations of Love, frontman and prime motivator Arthur Lee recorded this effort with famed Doors producer Paul Rothchild. Unfortunately, Lee's record label at that time went bankrupt and the project was permanently shelved.

Having already long moved on from the lush orchestral arrangements of Lee's magnum opus 1967's "Forever Changes", "Black Beauty" is a stripped down funky R&B influenced affair bearing a closer resemblance to Love's later works such as "Out Here" and the criminally underrated "Four Sail".

Unofficially known as the first inter-racial rock band, Love burst on the west coast pop scene in the mid 1960's, hitting the charts with their version of Burt Bacharach's "My Little Red Book". It was their live shows however, that earned them their true notoriety and they were considered to be the best performing band on Sunset Strip. It was in fact Ray Manzarek who is known for saying that prior to forming what would become The Doors, his idea was to try and put together a group that was as good as Love.