Retro Reviews - June 2024!

Unsurprisingly, the Anniversary Articles are dominating my listening lately.  At least, with this one, I'm starting to get ahead again.  I've also got quite the variety here, going from 80s pop rock to grunge to prog and back.  Here's what I've been listening to lately!

Steve Perry - Street Talk

I admit I mostly threw this on for a lark.  At a time of Journey's peak success, Steve Perry sought to have a go on his own, ending up with something much more pop than rock.  Still, powered by his iconic voice, it has some nice, nostalgic charm, even if the album came out before I was born!

While the big song "Oh Sherrie" shares a lot with his band's melodic sensibilities, the rest of the album seems to drift between soul and pop, with dashes of funk here and there.  It feels like a 70s album with 80s production, if that makes sense, perhaps as a consequence of bringing some of his pre-Journey work into the mix.  "It's Only Love" was a nice, upbeat tune (even if it did have the James Bond chord progression in parts), and the other tracks flow pretty well.  While I think it's missing the hard rock crunch that Neal Schon provides, it's a nice collection of soft rock tunes that let Steve what he does best.

Rush - Presto

So after nearly a decade of synth-driven rock, the trio takes a break, then comes back together with a more guitar focused album, marking another turn in this historic band's history.  However, as I enjoy a lot of it, I feel like there's still something missing.

While the synthesizers have taken a backseat, Alex Lifeson retains his thin, jangly guitars, making the album feel more like 80s pop rock, like if U2 covered Rush.  Still, it's not like these are bad songs.  Neil Peart gives the album his regular blend of complex lyrics and drum patterns, ensuring the songs never feel flat.  This is also a more sing-songy album, as there are a lot of catchy melodic lines for Geddy to sing.  I also noticed that the choruses on these songs tend to be softer than the verses, making for some strange dynamics.  I guess when I heard this was going to be different that the ones before, I was expecting more than just a shift in which layers get the attention. 

Again, I don't think this is a bad album. (In fact, I'm getting the impression that Rush has no bad albums.)  Taking it as it is, Rush carries on their legacy of interesting songs, full of clever lyrics and interludes, while letting each member shine.  As before, I may need to listen to this a few times to really wrap my head around it, but first impressions leave me a little underwhelmed.

Rush - Sixteen Stone

Starting up just as the grunge wave was peaking, Bush's debut album was definitely the right album at the right time to go big.  While I never listened to it at the time, I remember a lot of kids in school talking about this band, and since then I've always been mildly curious.   Finally getting around to it, it definitely sounds like pretty typical mid-90s alternative rock, and not much more.

At the time, critics bashed the band for sounding too much like Nirvana, and I admit I have to agree.  Not only are the guitar tones, vocal melodies, and song dynamics similar, the angst-filled lyrics on alienation and drug addiction are pretty standard for the genre.  However, I do think there is more going on than just copying a popular band.  Gavin Rossdale is more of a singer, almost crooning at times, and there is more of a musical touch, giving them a bit of a Pearl Jam vibe, especially as many of the songs escalate towards the end.  It's hard to know if they have anything to themselves, though "Alien" feels like it wanders into post-rock or shoegaze.  Still, considering all the songs, I can hear the transition to post-grunge, as I'm hearing ideas I'd hear from later bands, like Nickelback and Our Lady Peace.

Coming out at the end of a rough year for grunge, I guess folks flocked to it, despite it's reputation, as the album sold quite well on release, thanks to a handful of big singles like "Comedown" and the cinematic "Glycerine."  I also liked "Little Things" and "Machine Head." Overall, it's some pretty typical grunge for the time, but I think there are signs of the band's potential, which, as it seems, carrying them well into the future.

Anniversary Series - 1989!

Another month, another Anniversary Article!  1989 is an interesting year, as rock was in the middle of a lot of transition.  Grunge and alternative rock was slowly growing, pop metal was as big as ever, thrash and death metal were finding their audiences, and other genres were bubbling up.  Here's how this year went!

The year starts of with a number of big hits, as Skid Row and Warrant release their debut albums.  The former provided "18 to Life," "Youth Gone Wild," and the big ballad "I Remember You," while Warrant was about the "Down Boys" and "Heaven."  Great White would soon follow with ...Twice Shy, and the sort of title track cover song "Once Bitten Twice Shy."

However, the beginning of the year, saw other iconic releases, such as Doro's Force Majeure, her first album on her own, Metal Church picking up Mike Howe for Blessing in Disguise, and Dream Theater released their debut with When Dream and Day Unite, carving a small niche for progressive metal that they would widen later.  Meanwhile, Seattle was getting a taste of the future with Nirvana's debut Bleach and Soundgarden's Louder than Love.  In the midst of all this, Jon Anderson would leave Yes and form a group with former Yes members called Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe.  Their self-titled album would be a unique prog rock highlight for the year.

As the year goes on, we get more epic hits, with Mötley Crüe's Dr. Feelgood being a massive single factory, including the title track, "Kickstart My Heart," and "Same Ol' Situation."  Alice Cooper would comeback with his own take on the genre with "Poison," John Sykes would form Blue Murder and record their debut album, while his former bandmates Whitesnake would carry on with Slip of the Tongue, featuring "Judgment Day."  

However, in my opinion, the winner of the year is Candlemass.  Their fourth album Tales of Creation is peak doom metal, in my opinion.  I know I don't talk much about the genre on the blog, but this album is my standard for what a good doom metal album sounds like.  From the epic riff on "Under the Oak," to the atmospheric plodding on "Dark Revelations" and "The Edge of Heaven," and even the sudden high-speed instrumental "In the Unfathomed Tower" are all highlights.  A favorite album of mine, from any year.

Wrapping things up, we see Blind Guardian's follow up Follow the Blind, featuring their classic closer "Valhalla" with Kai Hansen showing up with some vocals of his own.  Stratovarius released their debut Fright Night, being more of a speed metal group before they became power metal titans.  Guitar legend Michael Schenker teamed up with Robin McAuley and release Save Yourself, a unique team up that probably should have lasted longer.  Finally, Savatage would really lean into a Queen-like theatrical style with Gutter Ballet, definitely showing signs of where they would end up, to say nothing of their Christmas-themed spin-off.

So that's another year wrapped up again.  Once again, check out the playlist below for more, and let me know in the comments what else stands out to you from this year.  In the meantime, I've got some more albums to listen to, so keep an eye out for more reviews.  Until then, rock on!  \m/

Retro Reviews - May 2024!

This may be a bit different, doing a bunch of albums after the Anniversary article, but there were a handful on my 1984 list that I wanted to get to for various reasons.  While I didn't exactly love two of these albums, they certainly reflect the variety of rock sounds available at the time.  Here's what I've been listening to lately!

David Gilmour - About Face

After enjoying Gilmour's first solo album for being pretty chill, I expected more of the same with his second.  Wrapping up the tense Final Cut sessions, he wanted to pull together a bunch of talent for his next effort, eventually tapping into the talents of Pete Townsend of the Who and Jon Lord of Deep Purple.  The result, however, is something very 80s, like somewhere between Bryan Adams and Dire Straits.

To be clear, this is still Gilmour, with his guitar licks and vocal harmonies, but the songwriting goes for more of an 80s movie soundtrack vibe, mixing in walls of synths and some funk sections here and there.  It definitely feels like David wanted to branch out and explore some other ideas instead of the moody epic art rock he had been doing.  While the results are certainly varied, they're definitely not boring, as the songs shift around in tone.  From the hard rockin' of "All Lovers are Deranged" to the cinematic flair of songs like "Until We Sleep," and "You Know I'm Right."  Meanwhile, "Blue Light" gets very funky, "Cruise" throws in some reggae at the end, and "Murder" brings back the Pink Floyd vibes, starting as a folky acoustic ballad only to build into something like the angry side of "Comfortably Numb."  Unfortunately, "Let's Get Metaphysical" features no Olivia Newton John, but is another cinematic piece as Gilmour plays a slow, melodic solo over a piano and some strings.

In short, it's a weird album with some interesting stuff.  Perhaps this effort in more diverse music helped expand Gilmour's songwriting, as I can certainly hear how this evolves into the sound we got on A Momentary Lapse of Reason.  I may have to listen to it a few more times to really decide how I feel about it, but it certainly has plenty worth listening to.

Helstar - Burning Star

Despite being a classic US power metal band, I haven't really listened to them before now.  However, I've always been curious and have heard plenty of good things, so I figured I should check out their debut.  Unfortunately, it's some of the most average metal I've heard.

To be clear, they don't really make any mistakes.  The production is clear enough, but just kinda flat.  The songs aren't awful, but seem to lack the energy of other metal releases at the time.  The performances are fairly tight, and there's some good guitar noodling, but nothing really sticks with me once the songs are done.  Even vocalist James Rivera sounds pretty good, though he does tend to wail too much.

In the end, it ends up feeling like just another 80s metal album.  While I do think "Run with the Pack" did have some interesting ideas, especially the uptempo section at the end, not much else sticks out to me here.  I did notice that the lineup changes quite a bit after this, so maybe it took a bit before the band found their sound.  I'll try to get to their other albums at some point, but I think I won't be coming back to this one anytime soon.

Marillion - Fugazi

These guys continue to be a fascinating band with their second album, despite what are some mixed feelings.  After picking up a new drummer, they carried one with Fish's iconic lyrics and their unique blend of sounds, as they still lean into Genesis and Pink Floyd territory here and there.  It's just so unfortunate that the album can't seem to balance the lyrics with the music very well.

Maybe it was just the mood I was in when I listened to it, but I'm really struggling with Fish's lyrics here.  Many of the songs seem to be about relationships (both with friends and lovers) and how they go sour.  While there's some interesting wordplay here and there, I couldn't shake the feeling that all the flowery words and purple prose were just to cover up the fact that he was whining.  It may be a mistake to conflate the voice of the lyrics with the creator, but it did make me wonder what Fish was going through at this time to compel him to write all these things.

Which is such a shame because the rest of the band is doing pretty well.  They sound tight and energized, with Trewavas and newcomer Mosely holding down the rhythm well, while guitarist Rothery and keyboardist Kelly provide great riffs, licks, and solos.  The production is clearer and the songs flow so much better than their first album.  I really do want to like this album as it's much stronger musically than their debut, and maybe it will grow on me with time, but the lyrics make me think of the kind of people who cannot acknowledge that the problem is with them and just want to complain how everyone else is inconveniencing them like it's a grand tragedy.  Fish certainly has a flair for the dramatic, but here, it just comes across as alienating.