Music Reviews

- Review -
How The Beatles Did It
Marc Platt
ebook

The last couple of weeks I've been spending some time with Marc Platt's ebook "How The Beatles Did It." 

Here are my thoughts. First of all, it would seem that there would be no new ways to present the monumental work of The Beatles, but that would be incorrect. Mr. Platt has figured out a very engaging way to communicate the details of not only their recordings, but their influences and the recording techniques used at that time. The site is easily accessible and user-friendly. The videos are concise but don't skimp on information. They are just the right length to keep our attention in these distracted times (the longest one is the Abbey Road Medley, but that's okay). The only thing you end up wanting is more of them. There aren't enough and you find yourself wanting to hear about many other songs. Especially those which the newer or average listener might not be as exposed to or know the significance of. Again, I'd love to hear more. 

Here is what the website looks like:

There are six videos and 14 audio notebooks, not including the 78 page book. The book has a large amount of information and even acknowledges Chris Thomas as a Producer (which is something that other books don't come right out and say). For that reason alone, I would agree with the author when he says 'this is a content-heavy book with a lot of analysis. It is designed for Beatle fans newer and older." There is a lot of information here for those who think they know everything already (and there are plenty of us), while still having enough information for young people who may still be starting out and keep them interested. Overall, I highly recommend this ebook for all the reasons mentioned above. Lastly, you will learn a few new things about the group that you didn't know before and for that reason, it is a very valuable resource for long time fans and newbies.

You can pick up your copy by following this link:

www.howthebeatlesdidit.com

_______________________________________________________

- Review - 
Group Portrait
Chicago






_____________________________________________________________

By Byron Mucklow

Content

It easily required four full CDs to encompass even the first thirteen years of work released by the premier ‘rock 'n' roll band with horns’, and Disc 1 nicely begins with Chicago's first two albums –"Chicago Transit Authority" and "Chicago II"– in chronological order.  Seventeen tracks were selected from a total of thirty-five songs on these two double albums from 1969 and 1970, including "Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is", "Beginnings", "Colour My World", and "25 or 6 to 4".  Surprisingly, "Wake Up Sunshine" from "Chicago II" was excluded.  The ratio of originally released songs to those chosen for this disc is definite proof that Chicago's original dedication was well received.

Beginning with Disc 2 the effect of chronological order is slightly disrupted, but noticed only by those very familiar with early Chicago Vinyl.  Though their next three studio albums, "Chicago III", "V", and "VI" are represented in sequence, the songs within the albums are not.  Of the forty-two songs on the original studio records ("III" being another double album), fifteen tracks were used here, representing Chicago's work from 1971 to 1973.  Among these are "Free", "Lowdown", "Saturday in the Park", and "Just You and Me".  The live track, "A Song for Richard and His Friends" was taken from their fourth album, "Chicago Live at Carnegie Hall".

Of Chicago’s album releases from 1974 through 1976 –“Chicago VII" (another double album), "Chicago VIII", and "Chicago X" ("IX" was their greatest hits)– wherein a total of thirty-six songs were originally cut, fifteen tracks were chosen for Disc 3.  As the band’s musical style began to make the transition from ‘rock `n' roll with horns’ to ‘easy pop with horns’ I recall grasping for the fewer and fewer songs that still reflected the original Chicago appeal.  The last genuinely strong, brassy Chicago effort came with "Chicago X" in the tracks "Once Or Twice", "Skin Tight", and "You Get It Up", none of which appear in this set.  Ironically, that album not only illustrated what was to end, but what was to begin, with such drippy love songs as "If You Leave Me Now".

Disc 4 spans the period from 1977 to 1981, wherein Chicago virtually completed its metamorphosis, releasing the albums "Chicago XI", "Hot Streets", "Chicago 13", and "Chicago XIV".  Including another live cut from the Carnegie Hall concert, Disc 4 contains a total of fifteen tracks.  As the band suffered the demise of Terry Kath and other personnel changes, they may have had no choice but to go where they went musically.  Electric guitar gave way to strings and woodwinds as Chicago gradually became a pop-ballad machine producing shorter, more commercially suited love songs.  Band members no longer shared lead vocals as Peter Cetera stepped up as front man.

Packaging

This has to be the most complete Chicago story written, including the band’s musical influences and how they came to be, details and quotes from band members regarding albums and tours, and rare photos and color album covers.  The booklet mistakenly credits five songs from "Chicago VI" as being tracks from "Chicago IV", mislocates a bold album dividing line, and identifies the "Chicago XIV" album cover as being the artwork for "Chicago XVI".  Errors aside, the booklet and the four jewel-cased discs beautifully represent Chicago's history from 1969 to 1981.

Sonics

No remixing took place here; this material was digitally re-mastered from the original master tapes, and the sound is clear and punchy.  I compared the quality of these discs to my near-perfect Chicago vinyl records, and the wider dynamics and better stereo separation were clearly evident.

Etc.

With many pop groups, the initial creative drive bringing them together and carrying them through their first few albums often takes a turn, loses its intensity, or diminishes altogether.  Luckily, with Chicago it only took a turn.  Their initial dedication to ‘rock 'n' roll with horns’ drove their career with exciting force from 1969 to 1976.  Luckily, as the band moved into the pop love song category, Chicago never lost their ability to write and produce hit records.

Click here to read the Liner Notes.

_____________________________________________________________


- Review - 
Panfish
Dave Pahanish



_____________________________________________________________

A few weeks back, I was asked if I would review these recordings for the site. Every now and then I get a request like this. I usually download or otherwise listen to the recordings (sometimes a CD is sent to me) and then I decide if I’m going to actually do it. There have been times when I feel that I’m not qualified to review a CD, either I don’t know enough about the genre (such as rap, I’m not well versed in the genre so it’s not fair to review it, in my opinion) or sometimes I don’t feel like the music is, frankly, very good and again – it wouldn’t necessarily be good to review it. 

So I started to download these recordings and as they downloaded I was doing other things around my computer. The songs were playing only snippets as the downloading progressed. One snippet of a song grabbed me, but switched to the next song as it downloaded. When the last song finished downloading, it continued to play without interruption. I was intrigued, it was a good one. I sat at my computer and went back to find the other song that had grabbed my attention earlier, track 4 – “Country Girl”, the last song in the collection was called “Never Get Enough Of You.” 

I then restarted the recordings from the top, Track 1: “Radio Song” all the way to the end, Track 7.

After living with these songs for a little while, let me give you a few quick thoughts. Number One: “Country Girl” (Track 4) is a small masterpiece. Simple as that. It’s a brilliantly written song, it pulls you in immediately. It’s laid back rhythm, steel guitar and strong, smart melody immediately struck me on the first listen and hasn’t let go yet. The song has a structure that is tight, each line of verse rises and then slowly starts you back down during the chorus, with interesting chords and a little psychedelia in the mix, it’s a marvel of a song. For this song alone, it’s worth the price of admission. 

Number Two: My listening advice has always been this, when someone has written a good song – very often - there is another good one waiting in the wings. Such is the case with “Never Get Enough Of You” the last track in the collection. It starts out strong but then something surprising happens, the pre-chorus introduces some interesting chord choices. The deal is sealed with the chorus, another gem in this collection. 

For me, “Country Girl” is the standout track in this collection, “Never Get Enough Of You” is a strong second, of course this is purely subjective. Your listening experience may be totally different and that’s great. 

I’ve only focused on two songs here but the other songs in the collection are pretty darn good too. I can listen to any track in this collection without any problem whatsoever. The recordings themselves sound like demos on occasion, without the sheen and overly manipulated sound of a modern recording. The mixes are daring and the production isn’t standard, run-of-the-mill. There is texture and some rough edges, which is a welcome touch. “Never Get Enough Of You” sounds like it was a one take master, with little or no overdubs. I wish there was more than just the seven songs.

Just listening to well-written songs is a challenge these days, they simply don’t get the attention that they deserve. The more we get bombarded with sub-standard songs, the more the standard falls. Great songs don’t get elevated to art anymore and that’s what is clear about Dave Pahanish’s songs, they are art and deserve the attention. 

It’s clear that Mr. Pahanish is a singer/songwriter that will be a major force in music. He has written hits and, as evidenced by this collection, has the potential to have many, many more. I urge you to listen. 

Listen to this at: http://www.panfish.bandcamp.com

________________________________________________

- Review - 
Just Tell Me That You Want Me
A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac - Various Artists

Hear Music / HRM-33327-02


_____________________________________________________________

The tribute CD is a tough thing. It’s kind of a lose-lose situation. If you stick too close to the original rendition of the song – you’re not inventive or creative. If you are too experimental or change things around too much – you’re not sufficiently reverential (or whatever). You get what I mean, tribute CDs can really suck sometimes. This is one of those times.

I struggled with this one. I wasn’t sure if I should try to balance my criticism with positive comments but I’ve decided just to wing it and do what I want. I’m just going to put this out there – this CD wasn’t given to me, I bought it myself (at my local Starbucks). Thus, I do not feel any guilt about being honest - so there you go.

Fleetwood Mac is one of those groups that has such a large catalog of music that there could quite possibly be too much incohesiveness to make a cohesive tribute CD. The blues years versus the popstar years. Those years of massive hits and chart success cast such a shadow over the early years of the group that I think that this collection put too much emphasis on the jams. It seems like there are three factions present on this collection, the Peter Green contingent, the Stevie Nicks contingent and those admirers of “Tusk.”  This is really too bad since there are a bunch of great songs that were written by Christine McVie. Ten of the 17 songs on this CD were written by Stevie Nicks, that's a little off balance to me.

It also feels like there was a concerted effort to stay away from “Rumours”. Which is a huge mistake, it feels like the elephant in the room. There are only two songs here from “Rumours” (except for “Silver Springs” – which was a B-side on a single, so I don’t count that one as being from “Rumours”).  All three of these songs are Stevie Nicks songs.  Unfortunately, “Dreams”, “Gold Dust Woman” and “Silver Springs” just don’t cut it. “Gold Dust Woman” is pretty much like the original, but without a compelling performance to keep our attention for long. “Dreams” is just disappointing and “Silver Springs” (which, in my opinion, happens to be quite possibly the most mournful, and powerful relationship song ever written – let alone captured on tape) is just simply lacking anything close to the emotional pain, hurt, exhaustion, love, regret and absolute anguish of the original. I’m not saying that Stevie Nicks has a great voice, but any one of the women singing these tunes could be exchanged for each other and no one would miss them.  Don’t get me started on “Rhiannon” – it was one of the songs that intrigued me when I read the tracklist since it’s recorded by Best Coast. Frankly, I don’t know what they were thinking. They’ve completely changed the rhythm of the song to straight 4/4 time, it sounds like a kid taking piano lessons. You know:  Teacher: “Play this to practice your sight reading.” Student: “Uh, okay. Let’s see. Plink, plink, plink.”  It’s amateurish, really. The original arrangement was syncopated, it breathed, it stopped, it restarted, it moved. This version plods along with no attempt to make it interesting for the listener. Mission accomplished.

The New Pornographers version of “Think About Me” (the only tune penned by Christine McVie on this package) is pretty good, actually. I’m fascinated that the Liner Notes indicate that it was recorded in a slew of different studios: (from the Notes – “Recorded by John Collins at JC/DC; Kurt Dahle at Dahle House; Ryan Carl Dahle at Rec Room; Todd Fancey at The Office, Vancouver, British Columbia; A.C. Newman and Phil Palazzolo at Little Blue and The Humble Abode, Woodstock, NY; Colin Stewart at The Hive, Victoria, British Columbia”). I imagine they all had something to add to the recordings, overdubbing with abandon.

I’ve got to mention “Landslide” as performed by Antony (another Stevie Nicks song). As far as covers go, it barely covers it. It so close to the original that I’d rather hear the Dixie Chicks version, at least they arranged more harmonies and added a little depth to the song.  (Tangent:  It’s technically not a landslide anyway. If I see your reflection in a snow-covered hill, it would be an avalanche that brings it down. Sorry Stevie, had to clarify that.)

MGMT covers Bob Welch’s “Future Games” on this CD and it’s odd. I’ve read elsewhere that it’s the track to listen to. I’d agree. Listen to it once. It goes nowhere. It builds to nothing and it’s not at all inventive. Spoiler alert: the vocals are made to sound like a robot – get it? “Future Games” (Hey, let’s make it sound all futuristic! Yeah, we can use the barn!) After the first minute it’s revealed all that it will (and yet it continues for about eight minutes). It’s just not interesting. The original song was a muddled, lurching, languid song – rising and falling with actual voices, singing words that you could hear and understand (and had harmonies). So, so disappointing.

Honestly, I’m not familiar with too much of the earlier, blues-based Fleetwood Mac tracks and the recordings collected here are intriguing enough to listen to yet still make me want to track down the originals and hear them too, so that’s a good thing. For those listeners that have never heard Fleetwood Mac, I'm sure that they will find something to enjoy here.

Every incarnation of Fleetwood Mac had a dynamic. It isn’t something that you can just sit around and capture. They worked hard for it. In addition, the late 70s variation had the power of love/hate and a competitiveness that simply can’t be recreated. The performances captured in the three, late 70s releases – “Fleetwood Mac”, “Rumours” and “Tusk” – are steeped in passion (for music and love - and hate - for each other) that isn’t on sheet music. It’s intangible yet it’s on the tapes.

As for me wanting to listen to this CD again, that’s probably not going to happen. I’ve found that since I’ve put this CD on, I’ve listened to more original Fleetwood Mac recordings than I have in a while. That’s what I recommend you do, grab the original music instead of this. That way, you definitely won’t be disappointed.

To read these Liner Notes, click here.

Send me your angry responses: rene@albumlinernotes.com

________________________________________________________________ 

- Review -
The Legendary Demos
Carole King
Hear Music / HRM-33681-02