New and Vintage Vinyl and CDs

I haven't bought much music in batches lately. It's mainly just been one thing at a time, and at intervals. So there hasn't been much call for an update on that front for a while. But now that I've added a handful of new/old albums to my collection, this would be a good time to catch you up on my latest musical acquisitions.

Lionel and the gang pictured on the back cover of Commodores (1977)

A couple of months back, I dared to add the new Katy Perry album, Smile, to my CD shelf. I debated about getting this on vinyl, but considering the fact that I prefer to listen to this sort of music in the background, and straight through without any flipping from side A to side B, I decided on the CD format. Plus I wasn't crazy about paying over 30 bucks for the vinyl. But it's a cool and fun album, one of her best recordings, I'd say. If you like that sort of thing.

I also snagged two Zebra albums, their debut and their sophomore effort No Tellin' Lies. The former is on CD, mainly because it was easier on the wallet, and the latter on vinyl, because it was a very reasonable price. Both are great proggy hard rock, the debut the stronger album, but the second is pretty darned good too. Very happy with those.

Then more recently, after the passing of guitar legend Eddie Van Halen, I revisited my Halen albums - which are the David Lee Roth-era ones only. Then I got to wondering if there was ANY Sammy Hagar-era Halen that I liked at all. Decades ago, I had the first two Sammy-Halen albums, but grew bored of them in a short time. Gone. But I had limited exposure to the later Van Hagar, so I popped on Youtube and test drove those. The only one that I can say I really like is For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. In fact, I really like it. It's much heavier rock with extremely little piano on it - a bit of a return to their roots. Here, Eddie is once again pushing that guitar like he really means it. Some very cool metallic riffs and chord progressions. Yet my one criticism is that the album lacks true hooks, melodies that stick your head. You know, the way early Van Halen did. But it's still a solid recording, enjoyable enough that I bought it... finally.

One day while some random Kylie Minogue tunes played on Youtube, I noted one in particular that I knew but didn't think I had in my studio album-complete collection. So I did a little research and discovered it only appeared as a bonus track on Ultimate Kylie, a 2004 compilation of studio songs plus non-album tracks and remixes. Got it! Very happy I found that, and at a nice low price.

Just this past week, after revisiting the Commodores' self-titled 1977 album on Youtube (I first found and enjoyed it months ago), I made the leap and bought it on vinyl at Amazon. This is a 2017 reissue that sounds terrific. First rate funk-soul. My first album of that genre in my record collection. I do have a handful of Motown/funk/soul/R&B CDs, but they're another story. Anyway, this album is first-rate top to bottom, from the totally popping opening track Squeeze the Fruit to the genre gem Brick House to the final song - the smooth and seductive 70's radio hit Easy (you all know it).

So, from a dry spell to a gradual accumulation of cool new sounds. This'll keep me busy for a while. Keep on spinning, music fans.