The College Crowd Digs Me

"Benefit" - Jethro Tull (1970 )      I'm a fan of prog-rock.  All kinds.  And I have my share on the shelves.  But I'm a picky sumbeach with this genre.  There's no middle ground.  No free pass.  It's album to album.  And I know plenty who like Jethro Tull , and just as many who don't.  The band's an acquired taste, I get it.  Their squares can be hit or miss sometimes, and I'm looking at you, "Too Old To Rock 'N' Roll."  But when they're good, they're very, very good.  Tull hits an undefinable sweet spot that I'm looking for in my various prog-rock pursuits.  And I want to hear them all.  With the rigmarole out of the way, let me say my newest Jethro Tull acquisition, "Benefit," is a keeper.      I love the heavy Martin Barre guitars and the acoustic flavors Ian Anderson weaves.  Ian's fluttering flutery is in good form here.  Ian's songwriting and vocals are cool as ever, wit...

"Paul Stanley" - Paul Stanley (1978 )      I've always been in the Ace Frehley camp when it comes to the original KISS solo efforts, but Paul Stanley's album is nearly as good and comes about as close to a KISS album as any of them.  There’s a hint of  Bad Company ,  "Ain’t Quite Right."   There’s some Slade vibes, " Wouldn't You Like To Know Me?"   And some straight-up 70s  KISS action, "Love In Chains" and  "Tonight You Belong To Me."   The album is filled with hooks and rockers, and Stanley wrote all the songs.  His vocals have always been somewhat underappreciated, but here they truly shine.  Your speakers will love the mix.  Aside from a couple of cheese crackers that Stanley is wont to do, it's a solid square affair.      The four KISS solo albums  were released a year before  "Dynasty"  (1979), which marked the conclusion of  the first decade of KISS .  In...

"Astro-Sounds From Beyond The Year 2000" - 101 Strings (1968 )      "Astro-Sounds From Beyond The Year 2000" is  a collection of psychedelic-tized songs by session guitarist  Jerry Cole and friends .  Most of the tracks on this square are the same songs taken from "The Animated Egg" album a year earlier, along with possible leftover crumbs found on the studio floor.  Only the titles of the songs have been changed...to protect the innocent, of course.  That's the record business for you.  Still, for an early cash-in...it's a pretty good spin.      The album was a 'grab-and-run' from the get-go, filled with songs that were already recorded, probably in a short studio weekend haze, so as to minimize as much overhead as possible.  But that's alright because this square has the fuzz, echoes, reverb, sustain, and other effects that record moguls thought psychedelic freakers wanted.  "Astro Sounds…" is not a great ...

"Trans-Europe Express" - Kraftwerk (1977)     The benign album cover gets creepier the longer you look at it.   The midtempo electronic music is both catchy and unsettling.  And the repetitive sounds and words get inside your head and can trance you out if you allow it.  "Trans-Europe Express"  has a futuristic "Black Mirror" -esque vibe and wears it well.  I read somewhere that many consider Kraftwerk the Beatles of electronic music.  High praise, indeed, and hard to argue.        There are a couple of almost spooky songs that I also dug, and they could easily be a finger-point at "...show business kids making movies of themselves."   I mean, they are outrageous after all.  But then again, I could have just been tripping the light.  "Trans-Europe Express" is a needle drop to label spin.  The opening and closing tracks provide a satisfying full-circle experience to the journey.  I'm probably pre...

"Another Mother Further" - Mother's Finest (1977 )      "Another Mother Further" contains eight tracks. Half of them are really good.  Funk with a rock bend or rock with a funk bend.  Either way, it sounds terrific.  And the first two songs outta the gate are fantastic.  Also,  "Pieces Of The Rock" and  "Truth'll Set You Free."    Funk and rock!  It's the best of both worlds.  And the band could sell the bridge.  I mean, they could play!  And I bet Mother's Finest was a powder keg to see live.  In fact, they were the opening act for the Rolling  Stones and The Who once upon a time, so that has to account for something.      However, the album tries to be all things, as the saying goes, which seldom, if ever, works.  The other half of the square is not bad, but the songs pale in comparison, sounding closer to the safety net.  But when they're good...   Anyway, the...

"The Smoke" - The Smoke (1968 )      I'm really glad to have picked up The Smoke .  It was their only album, and it sounds so good.  The music is mostly softer psychedelic and baroque pop tracks that chill nicely and are too interesting to be boring.  Only one song kisses the four-minute mark. The music has a kind of  Zombies presence with hints of  Brian Wilson  tossing psych dust around.  And there are vibes that make me think Chris Bell or Alex Chilton might have heard this album, as well.  Small moments, big footprints.        Michael Lloyd wrote all the songs, played most of the instruments, and was the sole producer.  The production feels specific and assured, and the Sidewalk label pressing sounds fantastic.  It's psych-pop, but not limp or lazy.  The songwriting is strangely darker than the music often implies.   The Smoke can be found in the pages of  The A...