There were a few times when I held in my hands a brand new re-issue, but after some deliberation, I decided against buying it. There was a nice copy of the 1974 debut album by Kiss, which I've had on my shopping list for ages. But when it came right down to it, even with the discounted price, I felt I wouldn't play it often enough to warrant a purchase right then. I had a spending budget for the day and just that one record would have taken a big chunk out of it. The same for the Dark Side of the Moon (by Pink Floyd, duh) re-issue, which I hemmed and hawed over. I figured I'd listened to both of these albums so many hundreds of times LONG ago that I couldn't see myself playing them much now. Both great albums, of course, but just not high on my list of priorities right now. I can get these another day if or when I feel I'm ready for them again. After all, I do own them on CD.
What I settled on were a handful of used records that I know I'll spin fairly regularly for a while, all by cool bands. Only one of them was on my shopping list... and that was Spitfire, by Jefferson Starship. Just a few posts ago, I reviewed J. Starship's 1979 album Freedom at Point Zero. At that time, I checked out some of their other 70's releases on Youtube. I discovered that I quite liked their '76 release, Spitfire. So I jotted that down, and while out record shopping, lo and behold... there it was, a nice clean original pressing.
There's a distinctly 70's sound to Spitfire, and in a good way. A really smooth, funky vibe greets the listener on opening track Cruisin'. Fluid drums and thumping bass set the tone while guitars lay down tasty rhythms and licks. Piano and saxophone add further colour to the mix on other tracks, like Dance With the Dragon. I'd hardly ever heard Grace Slick's singing over the years... only if Somebody to Love or White Rabbit (with precursor Jefferson Airplane) appeared in a movie or something. But on Spitfire, I could finally absorb her completely rock'n'roll vocals and attitude. Slick is really on fire on Hot Water, a track with a jam session feel to it. I've gathered that St. Charles is the highlight of the album, and I'd have to agree... I get chills at several points in the song, when vocal harmonies and instrumentals meet in bliss. Far out, man. I suppose my one criticism of Spitfire is what sounds like too many voices (multi-tracked?) delivering too many lyrics. Here and there would be fine, but it felt like overkill sometimes.
I also happened upon Clutching At Straws, by 80's UK progressive rockers Marillion. For several years in the 90's and early 2000's, I was deep into their music, at least their first half dozen albums - I much prefer Marillion's work with singer Fish at the microphone. Clutching at Straws is an introspective album that exhibits some characteristics of a concept album, though it may not seem an overt example of that. Accomplished musicians all, and Fish's lyrics and vocals work perfectly on this set of songs. More accessible than some of Marillion's earlier, more progressive music, Clutching At Straws contains some rocking tunes (like Incommunicado) and some quieter ones (Going Under). Gone are the prog-rock song-suites, though there's a common thread of mood and theme between tracks. A more sophisticated and polished album. Favourite tracks are Warm Wet Circles and Sugar Mice
I recently started reading Roger Daltrey's new book, his autobiography, titled Thanks a Lot Mr. Kibblewhite: My Story. The Who's longtime singer lays it all out in colourful, fun and revealing chapters of rock star hijinks and mishaps. Anyway, reading about the making of classic Who songs and albums put me in the mood for their music. I've got a decent amount of their stuff on vinyl and CD, yet I'm still lacking some key albums. As I flipped through the shop record bins, I found none of the big albums like Tommy or Who's Next, but did land on two of the band's post-Keith Moon releases Face Dances and It's Hard. I think I had both of these on cassette tape back in the 80's but after dropping that format, I never got around to replacing them with CDs. So it's been a long, long time since I last heard either of these Who discs.
Though they are considered minor Who albums, I think they are still pretty good. Face Dances appeals to me most, with great catchy songs in You Better You Bet and Another Tricky Day. The remainder of the tracks are nearly as strong, very listenable, and resplendent with Townshend's (near?) genius composition and lyrics. Half a dozen of the songs cracked the UK and US top ten charts in 1981, and the album hit numbers 1, 2, and 4 in Canada, UK, and the US, respectively. My gently-used vinyl copy sounds clean and bursts with Who power.
It's Hard is no slouch, either, though the lack of Keith Moon on drums is ever evident. Replacement Kenny Jones was capable, but he lacked that wild energetic style that characterized Moon and the best of The Who. It's Hard didn't fare as well on the album charts, but it did spawn a few mildly successful singles, Athena, It's Hard, and Eminence Front (one of my all-time fave Who songs). I'll need to revisit the album several more times to figure out my feelings about it. On the surface, though, it's good... hey, it's The Who.
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The Listening Booth:
I've also been checking out the odd other thing on Youtube. A fellow music fan suggested I try out 80's indie-ish band Miracle Legion. Very strummy guitars, and a charismatic frontman. Interesting, and probably somewhat successful back in the day, but I can't get too excited about them now.
In my quest for ideas for future vinyl record purchases, I tried out some old Aerosmith after decades of ignoring them. I sort of wrote them off after they went totally radio in the 80's, yet their 70's work is still a piece of rock history. Long ago, I had their greatest hits (the red and white cover) but my interest waned over time. Anyway, it was cool to re-discover the gritty authority of tunes like Train Kept A-Rollin' and Sweet Emotion.
I also hauled out some records and CDs that I haven't listened to in months, including the 2018 metal surprise, Firepower, by Judas Priest. What a complete set of fiery tunes, by one of the pioneers of the genre. Still pumping out great songs.
During late nights recently, I needed some quieter music, and put on my Lost In Translation soundtrack CD. There are a variety of artists on there, though Kevin Shields contributed the most songs. Mostly indie, dream pop and rock, there are also electronics blended in for mood. The appearance of Air reminded me that I had a couple of their albums on CD (funny how you forget what's in your collection when it gets too large to manage), so I dug those out, too. Moon Safari was the one I settled on and stuck with for several days.
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