Like everyone else my age, I have seen Top Gun more than a few times. Unlike virtually every other boy my age, I didn’t like it. I think it’s because I recognized it was dumb but more because everything else I knew seemed to love it. And I was already watching old war movies and …
Tag: Pop Rock
East Side Story (1981) by Squeeze
Can I admit something to you? I thought “Tempted” was from the ’60s. Of course, if I’d really listened to it, I might have noticed it wasn’t. But I became familiar with it when I was young and before I had an ear that could spot time and genre differences. And I guess I just …
Turnstiles (1976) by Billy Joel
I have trouble putting into words how much I hate Billy Joel, especially late ’70s Billy Joel. Basically I don’t like anything about his music, though occasionally there will be something redeeming. And I’m getting to that point where I should be inured to him, where the animus should be wearing off. But it’s not.
To the Faithful Departed (1996) by The Cranberries
I know this is not “the big one” but I was actually surprised how many of the singles from this record which I remembered, dare I say almost fondly. (I guess this means I’m getting old enough to just be happy to hear the music of my teens, even when I didn’t like it at …
Mama Said (1991) by Lenny Kravitz
I get why people like Lenny Kravitz. I think there was probably a time in my life when I could have quite liked Lenny Kravitz. (And maybe, for a while, I sort of did.) And maybe, had I not become the music history obsessive that I am, I would like him to this day. But …
Don’t say No (1981) by Billy Squier
I’m pretty sure the first time I heard “The Stroke” was in an arena. I had no idea what it was and I couldn’t figure out why half the audience (at least) seemed to know the song. Too recent to be “classic rock” when I was growing up and too “rock” (I guess) for those …
Drops of Jupiter (2001) by Train
I know very little about the mainstream rock music of the aughts. For the first four years, I was sequestered in rural Quebec, with very little exposure to radio and access to music video channels only sporadically (and English-language for only one year). After returning to the world for two years, I then spent the …
Joyride (1991) by Roxette
Full disclosure: there is absolutely no way I’d be reviewing this if it wasn’t a massive hit. This is not my type of music in any way, shape or form and it seems to be a pseudo example of Chris Molanphy’s AC/DC rule, namely the previous record is the one with the hits you remember. …
Parade: Music From the Motion Picture Under the Cherry Moon (1986) by Prince
I have never seen Under the Cherry Moon, just like I haven’t seen his other movies. But everything I read says that this is a lot better than the movie, so I should be okay.
Takin’ It to the Streets (1976) by The Doobie Brothers
A little while ago I wrote about a 1976 Boz Scaggs album where I wondered publicly if it was the birth of Yacht Rock. And then I thought, “no obviously that would have to be the Doobie Brothers, they were likely first.” Though I have not heard Stampede the first Michael McDonald Doobies album does …
Girls Can Tell (2001) by Spoon
There are a lot bands that I’m vaguely aware of, and feel like I should probably listen to but don’t get around to. And one reason I never get around to them is because the little exposure I get does nothing for me. Spoon is definitely one of those bands. I know people love Spoon. …
Silk Degrees (1976) by Boz Scaggs
My first exposure to Bozz Scaggs was “Loan Me a Dime”, at a time when I was really into blues rock, and he seemed pretty cool to me. I had no idea the course his career took.
If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears (1966) by The Mama’s and the Papa’s
Oof. Every so often you come across a hit album, be it a critical success or a popular success or both, which has aged really poorly. And the Mama’s and the Papa’s debut album has aged as poorly as their terrible use of the apostrophe in their band name.
Different Light (1986) by The Bangles
I was moderately pleasantly surprised by the debut, having associated this group band mostly with “Walk Like an Egyptian” (on this record) and “Eternal Flame” (not on this record). But whatever surprise I got from the debut has disappeared this time around.
Trust (1981) by Elvis Costello & the Attractions
Some critics insist this is the best of the early Attractions albums and among Costello’s very best work. I haven’t listened to any of the other records, recently, however, and so I have a really hard time judging whether or not that opinion is correct.
Humans (1980) by Bruce Cockburn
Cockburn is one of those singer-songwriters I’ve taken my sweet time getting to, especially strange given his nationality. (Or perhaps that’s on purpose on my part.) This is only the second Cockburn album I’ve ever heard despite how prolific he is and despite his citizenship. (He is a bigger deal in my country, I suspect, …
Crack the Sky (1975)
The narrative about American prog in the ’70s that I grew up on is that American musicians heard British prog and got really excited about it but, without the classical education, they really didn’t know how to do it, save to include some jazz. And then some of them figured out that if they just …
Turn! Turn! Turn! (1965) by The Byrds
If I were asked to make a list of the most underrated rock bands of the 1960s, the Byrds might top that list. The average person in the 21st century has no idea how important they were in the evolution of music between 1965 and 1968. So it’s safe to say I’m a fan. But, …
Casino (1990) by Blue Rodeo
Blue Rodeo are an institution in Canada. And they were well on their way to becoming an institution in Canada before I ever cared about alt country, or any form of country music. And I guess that’s why I missed the boat on them. Because they were already in my musical ether before I started …
Autoamerican (1980) by Blondie
I didn’t grow up with Blondie like I should have. With their biggest hits accessible enough for mainstream radio, and my dad buying a Greatest Hits record, it’s kind of weird I don’t know them better. But he bought that compilation in my mid teens and they were always too recent to be played on …
Hi Infidelity (1980) by REO Speedwagon
I approached this album with trepidation, mostly because my knowledge of REO Speedwagon consists of two things: their ’80s singles and their supposed career arc from boogie rock band (or something) to pop rock sellouts. (I have no idea how true the latter is, but I read it ant an impressionable age.) I think I …
Double Fantasy (1980) by John Lennon, Yoko Ono
The dirty little secret about this record – if it’s even a secret – is that it was a failure when it first came out: it got bad reviews and it didn’t sell very well. People can write all they want about how it was John Lennon’s return after being a dad, or what have …
Stephen Stills (1970)
Though I became kind of obsessed with Manassas’ debut album and Super Session back in the day, Stills is the last of CSNY for me, in terms of listening to proper solo albums. Some of that is accidental (or technical, depending upon how you feel about Manassas). But some of that is also because, though …
Whoa, Nelly! (2000) by Nelly Furtado
I’ve paid basically no attention to Nelly Furtado. I was aware of her hits – and remember the hits from this record – but was otherwise utterly uninterested. Some of that has to do with my music tastes – specially my tastes when I was 19 – and some of that appears to have to …
Dirty Mind (1980) by Prince
Like so many artists’ early work, I’ve come to this Prince album backwards. And I suspect that a lot of my issues with it come from all the later Prince I’ve heard. Because, on first listen, this record just sounded like Prince in utero or, um, proto Prince.
Still Crazy After All These Years (1975) by Paul Simon
I have no time or patience for the Smooth Sounds of the Seventies and Paul Simon is not a favourite songwriter, so you can imagine that this is not a record I’m going to enjoy.
Rock of Westies (1975) by Elton John
Based upon the title, the cover, and the presence of “Island Girl”, I thought this was going to be John’s Caribbean record. (I thought “westies” meant “West Indies”; I didn’t know it was a spoonerism.) So colour me surprised by (most of) the actual content.
Tumbleweed Connection (1970) by Elton John
Try as I might, I cannot fall in love with Elton John’s music. I have listened to many of his records at this point – basically only from the ’70s – and I have quite liked one of them. The others don’t really connect with me yet and this one is just another of those.
Jesus Christ Superstar (1970) by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
I honestly had no idea this was an album first. I think because it has been so successful as a property I just assumed it had to have been a musical. But, instead, it was an album. And, as a result, it got reviewed as an album. (And, hilariously, it was banned in some countries …
The Gold Experience (1995) by O(+>
I can’t claim to know Prince’s catalogue that well, especially since the ’80s. So you can’t take what I say as gospel. But, listening to this, I’m inclined to agree with the critical consensus that says it’s his best record of the ’90s (or one of them). There may well be better ones, of course, …