Derek and The Dominos Review / Dexy's Midnight Runners Preview (Album 10)

(Derek preview here) So the Derek and the Dominos album is legit. It's interesting to hear and Eric Clapton album before "Clapton is God" really happened. Which was around the late 70s I believe. He still carries his signature sound (awesome guitar, whether it be a riff or a solo or just background melody) and when the time is right he sings. This album is interesting because there are other people involved and showcased; unlike what a regular Clapton album would be like.

Favorite songs:
     Keep On Growing
     Key to the Highway
     Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad
     Layla

Yuck. just kidding. More 80s goodness:

Album: Searching For The Young Soul Rebels

Artist: Dexy's Midnight Runners

Release Year: 1980

"This inaugral LP proved just as strong, opening with the sound of a radio swithcing channels before a cry of "For God's sake burn it down" kicks things off. The track was a reworking of debut single "Dance Stance," Rowland's angry diatribe against anti-Irish jokes. Welcome to the new soul vision indeed." - Jon Harrington

01 - Burn It Down

02 - Tell Me When My Light Turns Green

03 - The Team That Meet In Caffs

04 - I'm Just Looking

05 - Geno

06 - Seven Days Too Long

07 - I Couldn't Help It If I Tried

08 - Thankfully Not Living In New Yorkshire It Doesn't Apply

09 - Keep It

10 - Love Part One

11 - There, There, My Dear

Streaming: Radio3net.ro

iTunes: Searching For The Young Soul Rebels (Has some remasters)

Spotify: Searching For The Young Soul Rebels

Hmm. Interesting to see what this will be. I have never heard of this band before. Let it begin.

~mfm

Elvis Review / Derek And The Dominos Preview (Album 9)

(Elvis preview here) So, more Elvis. I like Elvis. This man have a voice. He is the King Of Rock. this album, however, is a little different than some of his other songs. That seems to happen often. There is one almost a cappella song, and there are some songs lyrically that sounded more like they should be in a new-school metal song than a 60s "classic rock" pop song. (In 'Dirty, Dirty Feeling': "I hear you're pretty good at runnin / but pretty soon you'll slip and fall / that's when I'll drag you home with me girl / I'm gonna chain you to the wall"). It's interesting. A lot of the songs sound like you would expect Elvis, singing about love and ladies lost; The Girl Of My Best Friend, Thrill Of Your Love, It Feels So Right. There are also a couple of war-themed songs - I believe that this is because Elvis just returned from the service (I think...). This is interesting, because this generation is almost gone and this time of the world continues to disappear from our view. It's a little sad. Elvis and his group of crooners help to you imagine what it was like to have love during the 1960s.

Favorite songs:

     Girl Of My Best Friend

     Soldier Boy

     Such A Night

Album: Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs

Artist: Derek And The Dominos

Release Year: 1970

"An almost fictitious group ended up making a double vinyl album that, though it bombed at the time, has since been re-evaluated as a rock classic thanks to its title track's single success. The Derek in question was Eric Clapton who, after stints with The Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, and (briefly) Blind Faith, recruited a band and created this, his first solo gem." - Michael Heatley

01 - I Looked Away

02 - Bell Bottom Blues

03 - Keep On Growing 

04 - Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out

05 - I Am Yours

06 - Anyday

07 - Key To The Highway

08 - Tell The Truth

09 - Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad

10 - Have You Ever Loved A Woman

11 - Little Wing

12 - It's Too Late

13 - Layla

14 - Thorn Tree In The Garden

Here again is the website you can listen to the whole album on: Radio3.net

Also Spotify: iTunes

Also iTunes: Spotify

Gosh, the 70s is going to be my favorite decade.

~mfm

Elvis Review / Elvis Preview (Album 8)

(Elvis preview here) Wow sorry, it's been a while. Elvis. The King of Rock and Roll. I only really like the songs here that were his famous songs; Blue Suede Shoes, Tutti Frutti, Blue Moon. The album is actually thrown together from a bunch of different recordings, which makes for a bunch of changing sounds. Not bad, just an interesting fact. The songs go from slow and acoustic to rock-a-billy and upbeat. It's fun. A fun album indeed.

Favorite Songs:
     Blue Suede Shoes
     Blue Moon
     Tutti Frutti

Back to the 60s...WAIT WHAT.

Album: Elvis Is Back!

Artist: Elvis Presley

Release Year: 1960

"Starved of material for nearly two years, RCA were desperate to record Elvis the moment he left the army. Presley's manager wanted to keep them hungry, so he retained the upper hand in negotiations. It proved to be one of the rare occasions on which the colonel did not get his way." - David Hutcheon

01 - Make Me Know It

02 - Fever

03 - The Girl Of My Best Friend

04 - I Will Be Home Again

05 - Dirty, Dirty Feeling

06 - The Thrill Of Your Love

07 - Soldier Boy

08 - Such A Night

09 - It Feels So Right

10 - Girl Next Door Went A'Walkin

11 - Like A Baby

12 - Reconsider Baby

You can listen to the whole book on this website: Radio3.net

More Elvis, more awesome.

~mfm

Doves Review / Elvis Preview (Album 7)

(Doves preview here) Sorry about that last post. Didn't notice that I highlighted everything. Whatever. Anyways, the Doves album, is pretty awesome. I am going to have to say that I like it a lot. Sound-wise, it's as if Beck got together with Coldplay to make elevator music. That is not a bad thing, even though elevator music is considered...tacky? Or lame. The first 5 or 6 songs are mostly instrumental, with some singing, but the singing is used more as another sound or an instrument than actual lyrics or singing. Then with Catch The Sun (which sounds like this albums attempt at a single) the songs go to a more traditional songs with lyrics. The songs are very relaxing and have some really excellent sound to them. I liked the whole album, as I said.

Favorite songs:
     Sea Song
     Catch The Sun
     The Man Who Told Everything
     Break Me Gently

Now we head back a few decades for some more 50s action:

Album: Elvis Presley

Artist: Elvis Presley

Release Year: 1956

"This is not the holy grail.... Yet there is magic here, and plenty of it; certainly, revolutions have sprung from less. The white-boy "I'm Counting On You" and the jittery rumble through Ray Charles' "I Got A Woman" are an early one-two punch; near the end sits the definitive lonesome version of "Blue Moon." It is a landmark recording." - Will Fulford-Jones

01 - Blue Suede Shoes

02 - I'm Counting On You

03 - I Got A Woman

04 - One-Sided Love Affair

05 - I Love You Because

06 - Just Because

07 - Tutti Frutti

08 - Trying To Get To You

09 - I'm Gonna Sit Right Down (And Cry Over You)

10 - I'll Never Let You go

11 - Blue Moon

12 - Money Honey

I found another website that will let you listen to the whole album for free, chech it out (the website is in Romanian): Radio3.net

Looking forward to some classical guitar and some dashing Elvis. 

~mfm

Cocteau Twins Review / Doves Preview (Album 6)

(Twins preview here) The Cocteau Twins album is...strange. To say the least. I mean it was interesting, but I don't understand what was so special about it that I had to hear it before I die. Sound wise, it was as if the main singer for Coldplay (Chris Martin, who I love by the way) was born a girl, singing over mediocre house music mixed with some synthy-electro guitar. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I didn't really enjoy it as much as I think the authors of this book had intended. I just thought that it was 'meh'. So, needless to say there won't be a whole lot of replay value for me for this album. I will say though, that all the songs had fantastically entertaining names.

Favorite Songs

     ...
     *crickets*

The first album of the 21st century:

Album: Lost Souls

Artist: Doves

Release Year: 2000

"Appropriatley, Lost Souls contains reference points to much of Manchester's glorious musical heritage - notably the seductive melencholy of Joy Divisions and early New Order, the sparkling musicality of The Smith's, and the rhyths of early house music. (The album is dedicated to Rob Gretton, New Order's manager, who had signed Sub Sub to his label, Rob's Records.)Nominated for the Mercury Prize, Lost Souls remains one of Doves' strongest offerings, a stellar achievement from a band who had lost everything." - Peter Notari

01 - Firesuite

02 - Here It Comes

03 - Break Me Gently

04 - Sea Song

05 - Rise

06 - Lost Souls

07 - Melody Calls

08 - Catch The Sun

09 - The Man Who Told Everything

10 - The Cedar Room

11 - Reprise

12 - A House

iTunes: Lost Souls - Doves (has some extra bonus songs or whatever, I won't be acknowledging those songs in the review)
Spotify: Lost Souls - Doves

It's interesting that you can tell very obviously that "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" is very blatantly English. I haven't heard of a couple of these bands before, and looking ahead, there are a lot of English references and bands that played and developed there (England).

~mfm

Adam And The Ants Review / Cocteau Twins Preview (Album 5)

(Adam preview here) Adam And The Ants...Where to start. It's actually pretty cool. I think though, that its really one of those albums that was really really cool, and now, it is less cool. Some of the songs are really pop-esque, like Dog Eat Dog and Antmusic. Other songs seem to be a little experimental. The sound in all the songs is really cool, and is nicely combined with Adam's voice in most of the album. The tribal drums in the first song are really snazzy. I won't be listening to any of the songs I don't like probably ever again. The songs I do like though, those are pretty cool and will stick around.

Favorite Songs
     Dog Eat Dog
     Jolly Roger

Moving into familiar territory (1990s):

Album: Heaven Or Las Vegas

Artist: Cocteau Twins

Release Year: 1990

"This was the strongest and most cohesive set of songs the Twins had released since 1984's Treasure. Gone was the trademark ghostly, muted album artwork. Instead, the cover features a colorful swash of Vegas neon swirling against a deep blue and red sky. Similarly, the sound of Heaven... is warmer and more inviting." - Rob Morton

01 - Cherry-Coloured Funk

02 - Pitch The Baby 

03 - Iceblink Luck 

04 - Fifty-Fifty Clown

05 - Heaven Or Las Vegas

06 - I Wear Your Ring

07 - Fotzepolitic

08 - Wolf In The Breast

09 - Road, River and Rail

10 - Frou-Frou Foxes In Midsummer Fires

iTunes: Heaven Or Las Vegas (Remastered or something)

Spotify: Heaven Or Las Vegas

Sounds like weird 90s jam. Early, early 90s jam. So, still recovering from the 80s jam.

~mfm

Creedence Clearwater Review / Adam And The Ants Preview (Album 4)

(Creedence preview here) So, Creedence Clearwater Revival's Cosmo's Factory is a pretty steady stream of Southern Rock and Roll. All of it. The couple of covers (most notably Before You Accuse Me for myself) are good covers, and the songs that aren't covers are good songs. Looking Out My Backdoor is one of those songs that pretty much everyone knows, whether they know who sings it or not. It's one of those classic 70's songs that seems to live on in infamy in the nether of music. Up Around The Bend just gives me flashbacks of every helicopter ride I ever took over Nam. Before You Accuse Me is a really grand song, but I think that I prefer the Eric Clapton cover. It's all around a good album, to be sure. When I think Southern Rock I usually don't think of these guys for some reason, my brain just seems to skip to country rock. I much prefer Southern rock to country rock. I like this album. it may get some play time on my iPod when I listen to everything else. I think that this is probably going to be my favorite decade, I can tell already.

Favorite Songs:
     Before You Accuse Me
     Looking Out My Backdoor
     Up Around The Bend
     Travelin' Band

First album from the 80s:

Album: Kings Of The Wild Frontier

Artist: Adam And The Ants

Release Year: 1980

"'We used ocarinas, echo chambers, textures from John Barry and Ennio Morricone soundtracks, rockabilly guitar riffs from Duane Eddy and Hank Marvin. We were even twanging rulers on desks and recorded the results!' You can also hear even weirder sonic traced - the thundering tom toms of the Glitter Band, the thrilling snare-drum salutes of Loyalist marching bands, the mutant disco of Ze Records, even Aboriginal grunts and stomps borrowed from Rolf Harris." - John Lewis

01 - Dog Eat Dog

02 - Antmusic

03 - Los Rancheros

04 - Feed Me To The Lions

05 - Press Darlings

06 - Ants Invasion

07 - Killer In The Home

08 - Kings Of The Wild Frontier

09 - The Magnificent 5

10 - Don't Be Square

11 - Jolly Roger

12 - Physical (You're So)

13 - The Human Beings

iTunes: Kings Of The Wild Frontier

Spotify: Kings Of The Wild Frontier

My goodness, the future is looking radical.

~mfm