A while back I located Zenyatta Mondatta, the third album from The Police. This 1980 release represents what I like most about The Police: fun pop brilliance, intelligent and biting lyrics, and instrumental genius. That little trio banged out so many hits during their short career that it boggles the mind. And for me, Zenyatta packs the most punch into its running time. Massive hits like Don't Stand So Close to Me, De Do Do Do De Da Da Da, and Bombs Away... lesser known yet creatively on par tracks Driven To Tears, and Canary In a Coalmine... and even the "filler" is quality stuff: Man in a Suitcase, and Voices Inside My Head. You'll find slower, murkier, offbeat tunes among the boppy ones, but everything gels so nicely on this disc.
Over the past several weeks. I've also been able to assemble most of the Max Webster catalogue on vinyl. I've acquired the first, self-titled Max album, High Class in Borrowed Shoes, and A Million Vacations. Add in Mutiny Up My Sleeve, which I got back in May, and there are all but one of the Max 70's studio releases. The remaining Universal Juveniles (Webster's last album) has never impressed me much; yes, the musicianship is there, but the feel of the album is so alienating and unlike all that came before... so I never cared much for it. But everything prior... pure gold. Pure Canadian gold. Max Webster had a charm, even an elegance, that accompanied their warm sounds and bizarre lyricism.
Just the other day, I got my hands on a near mint vinyl copy of the first Van Halen album from 1978. Pristine sound. I made sure this was the optimal listening experience: headphones on, volume up... and in soars the intro to Running With the Devil. Oh yeah. And the rest was even more magnificent. My mind still boggles when I think about how this album... how Eddie's guitar playing... must have blown listeners away back in '78. I wasn't aware of Van Halen quite yet when this disc hit the streets back in the day. The impact and influence it had was obvious though; just look at all the guitarists that mimicked Ed's style throughout the 80's. A milestone in rock history.
On a lighter note, I grabbed a very nice copy of Elton John's Greatest Hits, the original compilation from 1974. I didn't want any of his 80's and Lion King-era stuff. But Elton's 70's output was masterful, so I definitely wanted that in my collection. And it sounds terrific. I think I had this on CD many years ago but couldn't appreciate and enjoy it at the time. Now I can. Though I have Elton's Greatest Hits Volume II on CD, I have an itch to find it on vinyl, too. I owned that back in the 70's, when I was a teen just getting into records. Anyway, this '74 set is excellent... my only quibble is Crocodile Rock, which I always associate with that goofy Elton appearance on The Muppet Show. A bit too silly for me.
It was tough to find a vinyl version of Rush's Fly By Night for a reasonable price, but I finally tracked one down in the UK. Yep, this was the album I decided would be my first Rush for the record shelf. I have everything by Rush on CD already, and I rarely revisit that stuff anymore, so I had to choose wisely for the vinyl format. There are precious few Rush I really want to re-buy just to spin on the turntable. Maybe just a couple more, but I'm in no hurry for those. Probably 2112 and A Farewell to Kings. Those were the beginning of the band's Golden Age, and likely all I'll ever want to play very much. For now, I'm very happy with these early classics: By-Tor and the Snowdog, Anthem, Best I Can, and Beneath Between and Behind (just to name a few).
At the other end of the spectrum, there's Twenty Greatest Hits, by Kenny Rogers. There will be very few country albums in my music collection, but I have always liked a handful of Roger's songs, so.... a solid compilation was in order here. I had heard bits of a bunch of these over the years, probably on TV or movies or wherever, but I never got to know the songs very well. Tracks like Lucille, Lady, She Believes In Me, and The Gambler are among those I was slightly familiar with, while others are new to me. A very welcome addition.
In the listening booth, I've been checking out a variety of things:
The brand new song Play by Dave Grohl clocks in at about 23 minutes. Grohl plays every instrument heard in the trippy, proggy instrumental track, and I daresay, it sounds like something Rush might have created in the mid-90's. From the sonic quality to the execution on each instrument and the song structure... it's pretty much all Rush. Could this be Grohl's tribute to the now-retired prog-metal masters?
Youtube recommended this one to me: The Gathering playing their song Leaves. A cool, heavy, angular song embellished by angelic female vocals. Atmospheric and doomy, I hear a lot of elements I like here. I must investigate further...
I heard a couple of tunes off Dee Snider's new album, the most impressive being I Am The Hurricane. Ol' Dee can still tear it up... it's a heavy, sort of thrashy anthem, very unlike any Twisted Sister concoction. The video is weird and cool, too.
As I watched a little Youtube biography of Alice In Chains, I was reminded of just how great this band was during the 90's. I was a fan at the time, but sort of forgot about them over the past twenty years. The power and brilliance of their album Dirt will forever stay with me, and for some reason, I needed reminding that their debut, Facelift, was pretty damned amazing, too.
Rock on, brothers and sisters...
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