W.A.S.P. - Still Not Black Enough [Japan] (1995)

Year: June 10, 1995 (CD 1995)
Label: Victor Records (Japan), VICP-5560
Style: Heavy Metal, Hard Rock
Country: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Time: 42:03
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 305 Mb

Still Not Black Enough is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band W.A.S.P., first released in June 1995 in Japan and the UK. It was not released in the U.S. until August 1996 through Castle Records.
Still Not Black Enough was originally slated for release as a Blackie Lawless solo album, but due to the heavy content, Lawless changed his mind and decided to release it as a W.A.S.P. album. This had also been the case for the previous album, The Crimson Idol. Still Not Black Enough is considered somewhat a successor to The Crimson Idol, bearing a strong resemblance with its lyrical themes. However, instead of telling the story of the fictional character Jonathan, this album is mostly a collection of personal songs from Blackie Lawless, including issues involving the death of his mother and personal crises just after the world tour for The Crimson Idol.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Still_Not_Black_Enough)

01. Still Not Black Enough (04:02)

02. Somebody to Love (02:51)

03. Black Forever (03:17)

04. Scared to Death (05:03)

05. Goodbye America (04:45)

06. Tie Your Mother Down (03:39)

07. Keep Holding On (04:04)

08. Rock and Roll to Death (03:45)

09. Breathe (03:44)

10. I Can't (03:07)

11. No Way Out of Here (03:40)

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Nancy Sinatra - Boots (1966)

Year: March 15, 1966 (CD 1995)
Label: Sundazed Records (US), SC 6052
Style: Pop, Oldies, Jazz
Country: Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S. (June 8, 1940)
Time: 40:58
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 235 Mb

Charts: UK #12, US #5. Single "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'": US #1, UK #1.
Nancy Sandra Sinatra (born June 8, 1940) is an American singer. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra (nee Barbato), known for her 1965 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'".
Nancy Sinatra began her career as a singer in November 1957 with an appearance on her father's ABC-TV variety series, but initially achieved success only in Europe and Japan. In early 1966 she had a transatlantic number-one hit with "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'". A TV promo clip from the era features Sinatra in high boots, accompanied by colorfully dressed go-go dancers, in what is now considered an iconic Swinging Sixties look. The song was written by Lee Hazlewood, who wrote and produced most of her hits and sang with her on several duets. As with all of Sinatra's 1960s hits, "Boots" featured Billy Strange as arranger and conductor.
Between early 1966 and early 1968, Sinatra charted on Billboard's Hot 100 with 14 titles, ten of which reached the Top 40. In addition to "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", defining recordings during this period include "Sugar Town", "Love Eyes", the transatlantic 1967 number one "Somethin' Stupid" (a duet with her father), two versions of the title song from the James Bond film You Only Live Twice (1967), several collaborations with Lee Hazlewood - including "Summer Wine", "Jackson", "Lady Bird" and "Some Velvet Morning" - and a non-single 1966 cover of the Cher hit "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)", which features in the opening credits of Quentin Tarantino's 2003 film Kill Bill Volume 1. In 1971 Sinatra and Hazlewood achieved their first collaborative success in the UK singles chart with the no. 2 hit "Did You Ever?", and the 2005 UK no. 3 hit by Audio Bullys, "Shot You Down", sampled Sinatra's version of "Bang Bang".
Between 1964 and 1968 Sinatra appeared in several feature films, co-starring with Peter Fonda in Roger Corman's biker-gang movie The Wild Angels (1966) and alongside Elvis Presley in the musical drama Speedway (1968). Frank and Nancy Sinatra played a fictional father and daughter in the 1965 comedy Marriage on the Rocks.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Sinatra)

01. As Tears Go By (02:53)

02. Day Tripper (03:03)

03. I Move Around (02:51)

04. It Ain't Me Babe (02:04)

05. These Boots Are Made For Walkin' (02:45)

06. In My Room (02:41)

07. Lies (02:49)

08. So Long, Babe (03:08)

09. Flowers On The Wall (02:41)

10. If He'd Love Me (02:47)

11. Run For Your Life (02:42)

12. The City Never Sleeps At Night (Bonus Track) (02:53)

13. Leave My Dog Alone (Bonus Track) (02:11)

14. In Our Time (Bonus Track) (02:39)

15. These Boots Are Made For Walkin' (Mono) (02:43)

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Tracy Chapman - Crossroads (1989)

Year: October 3, 1989 (CD Sep 1989)
Label: Electra Records (France), 7559-60888-2
Style: Pop
Country: Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. (March 30, 1964)
Time: 43:02
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 235 Mb

Charts: US #1, AUT #1, CAN #1, GER #1, NED #1, NZ #1, SWI #1, UK #1, SWE #2, AUS #2, NOR #3, SPAIN #3.
Tracy Chapman's debut record in 1988 was remarkable, not only for its quality, but also for the way in which it was embraced by the masses. The record's earnest acoustic songs dealt with topics of social justice, economic inequality, and how those and other issues affected the lives of the protagonists she created, voices that could have been the people next door, or those in the next room.
These were not frothy pop songs, or dance-floor thumpers, or over-the-top power ballads. There were echoes of Bob Dylan, Richie Havens and the Staples Singers and others in her work – artists a million miles removed from the top of the charts in the late ‘80s. Chapman was an old soul in the body of a 24-year-old singer/songwriter, and she was immediately welcomed into the club of earnest pop artists that included people like Sting, Peter Gabriel and Bruce Springsteen, with whom she shared billing on the Amnesty International Human Rights Now! tour.
To follow up such a haunting, haunted record had to have been a bit daunting, but Chapman pushed forward with confidence, taking the producer's chair for her follow-up album, 1989's CROSSROADS. From the opening song – the title track – she stakes out her musical and lyrical ground; the former is predictably similar to that of her debut, while the latter lashes out at unseen forces that plague her. "All you folks think you own my life," she sings. "But you never made any sacrifice / … You think money rules when all else fails / Go sell your soul and keep your shell."
It's a little dramatic, sure, and not as universal as songs like "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution" or "Baby Can I Hold You" from the first album, but "Crossroads" does set the stage for a series of more personal statements. Some of these have to do with quick success and its aftermath: "Don't be tempted by the shiny apple / Don't you eat of a bitter fruit," she sings in "All That You Have Is Your Soul." "Hunger only for a taste of justice / Hunger only for a world of truth." Some are more political in nature, as when she sings, "Won't you please, please give the President my honest regards / For disregarding me" in "Subcity."
Where the record shines brightest, though, is when Chapman deals with matters of love and loss. In "Be Careful of My Heart," she warns of the titular metaphorical organ, "It just might break and send some splinters flying." Mostly, though, Chapman shows her understanding of self-protection, as in "This Time," when she tells herself, "I'm gonna love myself / More than anyone else," or in the great "Born to Fight," when she warns us "I ain't been knocked down yet / I was born to fight / I'm the surest bet."
Though Chapman records and performs more sparingly these days, it's good to have her early work to look back upon and listen to again, and CROSSROADS is definitely worth another spin.
(rhino.com/article/the-one-after-the-big-one-tracy-chapman-crossroads) Thursday, July 25, 2019

01. Crossroads (04:14)

02. Bridges (05:27)

03. Freedom Now (04:05)

04. Material World (03:05)

05. Be Careful Of My Heart (04:41)

06. Subcity (05:14)

07. Born To Fight (02:49)

08. A Hundred Years (04:23)

09. This Time (03:43)

10. All That You Have Is Your Soul (05:15)

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Eagles - Desperado (1973)

Year: April 17, 1973 (CD 1986)
Label: Asylum Records (US), 5068-2
Style: Pop, Country
Country: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Time: 35:50
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 232 Mb

Charts: US #41, AUS #31, CAN #35, NL #5, NZ #40, UK #39. US: 2x Platinum, Canada: Gold, UK: Silver.
If Don Henley was the sole member of the Eagles underrepresented on their debut album, Eagles, with only two lead vocals and one co-songwriting credit, he made up for it on their follow-up, the "concept" album Desperado. The concept had to do with Old West outlaws, but it had no specific narrative. On Eagles, the group had already begun to marry itself to a Southwest sound and lyrical references, from the Indian-style introduction of "Witchy Woman" to the Winslow, AZ, address in "Take It Easy." All of this became more overt on Desperado, and it may be that Henley, who hailed from Northeast Texas, had the greatest affinity for the subject matter. In any case, he had co-writing credits on eight of the 11 selections and sang such key tracks as "Doolin-Dalton" and the title song. What would become recognizable as Henley's lyrical touch was apparent on those songs, which bore a serious, world-weary tone. Henley had begun co-writing with Glenn Frey, and they contributed the album's strongest material, which included the first single, "Tequila Sunrise," and "Desperado" (strangely never released as a single). But where Eagles seemed deliberately to balance the band's many musical styles and the talents of the band's members, Desperado, despite its overarching theme, often seemed a collection of disparate tracks -- "Out of Control" was a raucous rocker, while "Desperado" was a painfully slow ballad backed by strings -- with other bandmembers' contributions tacked on rather than integrated. Randy Meisner was down to two co-writing credits and one lead vocal ("Certain Kind of Fool"), while Bernie Leadon's two songs, "Twenty-One" and "Bitter Creek," seemed to come from a different record entirely. The result was an album that was simultaneously more ambitious and serious-minded than its predecessor and also slighter and less consistent.
(allmusic.com/album/desperado-mw0000193646)

01. Doolin-Dalton (03:29)

02. Twenty-One (02:10)

03. Out Of Control (03:05)

04. Tequila Sunrise (02:54)

05. Desperado (03:34)

06. Certain Kind Of Fool (03:01)

07. Doolin-Dalton (Instrumental) (00:47)

08. Outlaw Man (03:34)

09. Saturday Night (03:20)

10. Bitter Creek (05:03)

11. Desperado (Reprise) (04:49)

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Dwight Twilley Band - Sincerely / Twilley Don't Mind (2 albums on 1 CD) (1976 /1977)

Year: 1976 /1977 (CD Jul 17, 2007)
Label: Raven Records (Australia), RVCD-253
Style: Rock, Power Pop
Country: Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. (June 6, 1951)
Time: 77:10
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 519 Mb

Dwight Twilley (born June 6, 1951) is an American pop/rock singer and songwriter, best known for the Top 20 hit singles "I'm on Fire" (1975) and "Girls" (1984). His music is associated with the power pop style. Twilley and Phil Seymour performed as the Dwight Twilley Band through 1978, and Twilley has performed as a solo act since then.
His latest album, Always, was released in November 2014 through Twilley's own label, Big Oak Records.
Twilley was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. He attended Edison High School and went to Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College from 1971 to 1973.
Twilley and Phil Seymour met in Tulsa in 1967 at a theater where they had gone to see The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night, and soon began writing songs and recording together. They continued their partnership over the next several years under the band name Oister. Twilley wrote all the songs and played guitar and piano, Seymour played drums and bass, and both sang leads and harmonies. Later, guitarist Bill Pitcock IV played lead guitar on most of their tracks.
Twilley and Seymour eventually decided to leave Tulsa and try to be discovered in Memphis, Tennessee. By sheer chance, the first recording studio that they wandered into was Sun Studio, where they met, according to Twilley, "some guy named Phillips." After listening to a cassette of their folk/pop/country blend, Jerry Phillips (son of Sun founder Sam Phillips) referred them to the Tupelo, Mississippi studio of former Sun artist Ray Harris, whom both Twilley and Seymour credited for introducing them to rockabilly and adding a harder edge to their sound.
Ultimately, Twilley and Seymour left Tulsa and went to Los Angeles in 1974 to find a label, where they signed with Shelter Records, a label with offices in Los Angeles and Tulsa that was co-owned by Denny Cordell and Tulsa's Leon Russell. Cordell promptly changed the group's name from Oister to the Dwight Twilley Band, which set the seeds for future problems arising from Seymour's anonymity in the partnership. Because of Shelter's Tulsa headquarters, they were able to self-produce many songs in their hometown, recording at the historic The Church Studio. They recorded "I'm on Fire" in one night at The Church Studio.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_Twilley)

01. I’m on Fire (03:18)

02. Could Be Love (02:41)

03. Feeling in the Dark (02:55)

04. You Were So Warm (02:29)

05. I’m Losing You (02:13)

06. Sincerely (02:39)

07. Tv (02:16)

08. Release Me (02:31)

09. Three Persons (02:09)

10. Baby Let’s Cruise (03:00)

11. England (02:34)

12. Just Like the Sun (03:49)

13. Here She Comes (04:09)

14. Looking for the Magic (03:18)

15. That I Remember (03:29)

16. Rock and Roll ’47 (03:25)

17. Tying to Find My Baby (03:38)

18. Twilley Don’t Mind (02:56)

19. Sleeping (06:17)

20. Chance to Get Away (02:37)

21. Invasion (03:30)

22. I Don’t Know My Name (02:18)

23. Shark (In the Dark) (02:32)

24. Didn’t You Say (03:01)

25. You Never Listen to My Music (03:18)

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Spandau Ballet - Heart Like A Sky (1989)

Year: 18 September 1989 (CD ????)
Label: Columbia Records (Europe), 463318 2
Style: New Wave, Synth Pop
Country: London, England
Time: 39:29
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 237 Mb

Charts: UK #31, AUS #96, GER #29, ITA #5, NED #27, SPA #35, SWE #47. Spain: Gold.
As a whole, listeners will find the album with mixed emotion. Avid fans of this band will find some song tiring as it sounds like some of their previous hits. Non-fans will find some songs been heard before and other music fans will treat any song from this album as nothing sort of spectacular. Indeed this record could be done haphazardly just to capitalize and monetize whatever is left behind with the band’s popularity as the eighties is nearing its end then. Here is a track by track review of this album.
"Be Free With Your Love" is some kind of hodge podge in terms of musical structure thus, you feel like that it is a salute to all eighties band as many refrains and hooks are similar to popular songs during the eighties.
"Crashed Into Love" sounds like "Weak in The Presence of Beauty" by Floy Joy and covered by Alison Moyette which she turned into a huge hit. The former song was released in 1989 and the latter was produced in 1987.
"Big Feeling" is another typical Spandau Ballet song full of horn and string arrangement.
"A Matter Of Time" is a rip off "Round and Round" if you listen to it closely. You feel that the chords were just rearranged.
"Motivator" is the kind of song where the band pleaded for listeners to take them seriously and not just consider them as pure glamour pop band. The good thing about this song is that it has good rhyme of words.
"Empty Spaces" is another song in this album which has its roots from the band’s earlier records. It seems that they are paying tribute to "Through The Barricades" with this song.
"Windy Town "might not sounds like any familiar Spandau Ballet song but somehow this song feels like a reject from their earlier albums.
"A Handful of Dust" might have a weird song title for a Spandau Ballet song but, this is the most engaging song in this record. Twenty six years after, one can still feel mixed feelings whether to like the whole record or just treasure the song individually according to listeners’ liking.
(https://aldenbsalbumreview.wordpress.com/2015/04/03/revisiting-spandau-ballets-heart-like-a-sky-30-years-after/)

01. Be Free With Your Love (04:40)

02. Crashed Into Love (04:43)

03. Big Feeling (03:48)

04. Matter Of Time (05:15)

05. Motivator (04:01)

06. Raw (03:50)

07. Empty Spaces (03:52)

08. Windy Town (04:22)

09. Handful Of Dust (04:54)

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John Entwistle (The Who) - Smash Your Head Against The Wall (1971)

Year: May 1971 (CD 2005)
Label: Sanctuary Records (U.S.), 06076-86385-2
Style: Rock, Hard Rock, Classic Rock
Country: Chiswick, England (9 October 1944 - 27 June 2002)
Time: 68:26
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 434 Mb

Smash Your Head Against the Wall was the first solo album by any member of rock band the Who, born out of Entwistle's frustrations within the band, namely not having as many of his songs featured on their albums as he would've liked, and it features a guest appearance by the Who's drummer Keith Moon on one track ("No. 29 (External Youth)"), as well as strong musical influences from the band's work.
Entwistle self-produced the album and it was recorded at Trident Studios in Soho, London over 2 weeks, with a young Roy Thomas Baker engineering the album (his first work). Baker would later become known for his work as a producer for the rock band Queen, and the same studio piano that was used by Entwistle during the sessions for this album was later used by Freddie Mercury on "Bohemian Rhapsody". The album peaked at No. 126 on the US Billboard 200 but it failed to chart in his home country.
The album was later remastered and re-issued again in 2005 by Sanctuary Records but this time featuring more extensive rare bonus content; the bonus content this time consists of three unreleased demos of songs that didn't make it onto the album (amongst them is "It's Hard to Write a Love Song" which would later be reworked into the song "Drowning" for his 1975 Mad Dog album) as well as four demos of songs featured on the album, an early take of "My Size", and "Cinnamon Girl" from the previous re-issue. However, all versions of the album remain out of print, and CD copies of this album are especially hard to come by.
The macabre cover artwork was concocted by Entwistle and photographer Graham Hughes, cousin of the Who's lead vocalist Roger Daltrey. It depicts Entwistle's face whilst wearing a death mask, transposed against an X-ray picture of the lungs of a terminal heart patient, obtained from Entwistle's doctor at the time. It has been compared to the cover of the studio album Vintage Violence (1970) by Welsh rock musician John Cale. The gatefold cover features the X-ray of a pregnancy test, maintaining the "life vs. death" theme. And the back cover features one of Entwistle's Irish Wolfhounds lying down with a human skull.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smash_Your_Head_Against_the_Wall)

01. My Size (03:46)

02. Pick Me Up (Big Chicken) (03:44)

03. What Are We Doing Here? (03:50)

04. What Kind Of People Are They? (02:44)

05. Heaven And Hell (04:55)

06. Ted End (02:37)

07. You're Mine (04:38)

08. No. 29 (Eternal Youth) (05:37)

09. I Believe In Everything (03:11)

Bonus Tracks:

10. Cinnamon Girl (03:05) (Neil Young)

11. It's Hard To Write A Love Song (Demo) (04:54)

12. The Haunted Can Be Free (Demo) (03:54)

13. World Behind My Face (Demo) (04:56)

14. My Size (Early Take) (03:50)

15. What Kind Of People Are They? (Demo) (02:55)

16. Pick Me Up (Big Chicken) (Demo) (03:08)

17. No. 29 (Eternal Youth) (Demo) (04:38)

18. Ted End (Demo) (01:56)

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The Flying Burrito Brothers - The Masters [Compilation] (1998)

Year: 1998 (CD 1998)
Label: Eagle Records (UK), EAB CD 079
Style: Pop, Folk, Country
Country: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Time: 77:22
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 375 Mb

The Flying Burrito Brothers, American popular musical group of the late 1960s and ’70s that was one of the chief influences on the development of country rock. The original members were Chris Hillman (b. December 4, 1942, Los Angeles, California, U.S.), “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow (b. August 20, 1934, South Bend, Indiana, U.S.—d. January 6, 2007, Petaluma, California), Gram Parsons (original name Ingram Cecil Connor III; b. November 5, 1946, Winter Haven, Florida, U.S.—d. September 19, 1973, Yucca Valley, California), and Chris Ethridge (b. 1947, Meridian, Mississippi, U.S.—d. April 23, 2012, Meridian). Later members included Michael Clarke (b. June 3, 1944, New York City, New York, U.S.—d. December 19, 1993, Treasure Island, Florida), Bernie Leadon (b. July 19, 1947, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.), and Rick Roberts (b. August 31, 1949, Clearwater, Florida).
Parsons and Hillman, former members of the Byrds, founded the Flying Burrito Brothers in Los Angeles in 1968, appropriating the name from a group of local musicians who gathered for jam sessions. Earlier that year, Parsons had been the driving force behind the Byrds’ pioneering country rock album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo. The Burritos’ first album, The Gilded Palace of Sin (1969), also displayed Parsons’s guiding hand: he contributed most of the songs and shaped its combination of classic country and western—punctuated by Kleinow’s pedal-steel guitar—and hard-driving southern California rock. Even after Parsons left the Burritos in 1970 (replaced by Roberts), his songs continued to appear on the group’s albums, including the live Last of the Red Hot Burritos (1972), which also prominently featured bluegrass musicians. Numerous other personnel changes—including the arrival and departure of Leadon, who helped found the Eagles—and the group’s limited commercial appeal outside a small, devoted following contributed to its dissolution by 1973. Kleinow and Ethridge re-formed the band in 1975, and there were other short-lived incarnations into the 1990s.
Parsons is often called the originator of country rock. Although he disdained that moniker, his work provided the link from straight-ahead country performers like Merle Haggard to the Eagles, who epitomized 1970s country rock. Numerous performers have cited Parsons as a major influence, notably the singers Emmylou Harris (who collaborated with him in 1973) and Elvis Costello and the alternative rocker Evan Dando.
(britannica.com/topic/the-Flying-Burrito-Brothers)

01. She Belongs To Everyone But Me (03:41)

02. Somewhere Tonight (02:33)

03. Baby, How'd We Ever Get This Way (02:14)

04. Too Much Honky Tonkin' (03:04)

05. Midnight Magic Woman (03:31)

06. My Abandoned Heart (02:33)

07. She's a Friend of a Friend (02:48)

08. Louisiana (02:19)

09. Cheating Kind of Love (04:17)

10. Why Must the Ending Always Be So Sad (02:44)

11. That's When You Know It's Over (02:25)

12. You (01:59)

13. I Swear I Don't Miss Her Anymore (01:58)

14. She's a Hell of a Deal (02:34)

15. Another Shade of Grey (03:03)

16. Damned If I'll Be Lonely Tonight (04:18)

17. If Something Should Come Between Us (03:09)

18. When You're Giving Yourself To a Stranger (03:30)

19. Run To the Night (02:48)

20. Coast To Coast (03:18)

21. Closer To You (02:56)

22. True Love Never Runs Dry (02:13)

23. Tell Me It Ain't So (03:17)

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Ten Years After - A Space In Time [Vinyl] (1971)

Year: August 1971 (LP 1971)
Label: Chrysalis Records (UK), CHR 1001
Style: Rock, Hard Rock
Country: Nottingham, England
Time: 37:22
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 251 Mb

Charts: UK #36, AUS #18, CAN #21, DEN #8, FIN #11, GER #35, NOR #13, SWE #9, US #17.
A departure in style from their previous albums, A Space in Time is less 'heavy' than previous albums and includes more acoustic guitar, perhaps influenced by the success of Led Zeppelin who were mixing acoustic songs with heavier numbers. It reached number 17 on the Billboard 200.
The third track on the album, "I'd Love to Change the World", is also their biggest hit. By combining a melodic acoustic chorus with challenging electric guitar riffs, they managed to produce a sound that hit number 10 in the charts in Canada and number 40 in the US. Although this was their biggest hit, they rarely played it live. "Baby Won't You Let Me Rock 'n' Roll You" also charted, peaking at number 61 in the US, and reaching number 54 in Canada.
Billy Walker gave the album a generally positive review in Sounds. He noted the atypically soft sound of songs such as "Over the Hill" and "Let the Sky Fall" and approved of this "unexpected but pleasing dimension to the overall feel of the album", while simultaneously praising "the old TYA excitement" of tracks such as "I'd Love to Change the World" and "Baby Won't You Let Me Rock 'n' Roll You". He particularly praised Alvin Lee's guitar work. However, he complained that a number of the tracks suffered from "lack of strength or projection of Alvin's voice" and concluded "Ten Years After are a far better live band than their albums suggest; they get over much more of their charisma and excitement that has a job surfacing on their recorded work."
Village Voice critic Robert Christgau said the album is one "in which the rock heavy comes of age with his toughest, fullest, and most coherent album. I like it in a way, but it does lack a certain winning abandon, and I'm not crazy about the heavy's economic theories—fellow seems to believe that if you 'tax the rich to feed the poor' you soon run out of rich, with dire consequences."
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Space_in_Time)

01. A1 One of These Days (05:52)

02. A2 Here They Come (04:32)

03. A3 I'd Love to Change the World (03:44)

04. A4 Over the Hill (02:28)

05. A5 Baby Won't You Let Me Rock 'n' Roll You (02:14)

06. B1 Once There Was a Time (03:21)

07. B2 Let the Sky Fall (04:19)

08. B3 Hard Monkeys (03:12)

09. B4 I've Been There Too (05:43)

10. B5 Uncle Jam (01:54)

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Spencer Davis Group - Gluggo (1973)

Year: 1973 (CD 1997)
Label: Repertoire Records (Germany), REP 4683-WY
Style: Rock
Country: Birmingham, England
Time: 51:24
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 334 Mb

Founded 1963 in Birmingham, England, the Spencer Davis Group were one of the finest bands to emerge from the fertile British music community. The quartet featured Steve Winwood on lead vocals, guitar and keyboards, his brother Muff Winwood on bass, Spencer Davis on guitar and Pete York on drums.
The Spencer Davis Group’s greatest commercial success occurred in 1966-67, when soul-slanted rock songs like “Keep On Running,” “Somebody Help Me,” “Gimme Some Lovin'” and “I’m a Man” clasped the charts.
Steve Winwood resigned at the height of the Spencer Davis Group’s fame and quickly put together Traffic, while Muff simultaneously staged his exit to work as an A&R agent at Island Records. Determined to keep the band going, Spencer and Pete brought guitarist Phil Sawyer (soon to be replaced by Ray Fenwick) and vocalist and keyboardist Eddie Hardin on board to cement the revised outfit.
In 1968, the revamped Spencer Davis Group issued an album, With Their New Face On prior experiencing a further alteration in the personnel department. Eddie and Pete fled the fold, coupling as a duo aptly dubbed Hardin and York. Bassist Dee Murray and drummer Nigel Olsson – who both later played in Elton John’s band – then joined the Spencer Davis Group for the Funky album in 1969, which was also when the crew called it a day.
However, in 1973, Spencer resurrected the group. Ray, Eddie and Pete returned to the show, while ex-Taste bassist Charlie McCracken completed the configuration.
The Spencer Davis Group’s following album, Gluggo (Vertigo Records) received little fanfare. Sales were flat and the majority of reviews were less than flattering. Yet in retrospect, Gluggo stands as a fun and energetic collection of meat-and-potatoes rock and roll. Perhaps at this point, the band’s original audience had moved on, and critics may have expected something a bit more inventive, resulting in the dismissal of the album.
(somethingelsereviews.com/2018/12/07/spencer-davis-group-gluggo/)

01. Catch You On The Rebop (03:18)

02. Don't You Let It Bring You Down (03:57)

03. Living In A Backstreet (03:25)

04. Today Gluggo, Tomorrow The World (03:45)

05. Feeling Rude (03:18)

06. Mr. Operator (03:38)

07. The Edge (02:23)

08. The Screw (03:47)

09. Tumble Down Tenement Row (03:11)

10. Alone (04:20)

11. Legal Eagle Shuffle (02:19)

12. Trouble In Mind (04:34)

13. Touching Cloth (02:55)

14. Mr. Operator (Rough Mix) (03:36)

15. Touching Cloth (Rough Mix) (02:53)

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Joe Walsh (Eagles, James Gang) - So What [Vinyl] (1974)

Year: 1974 (LP 1974)
Label: ABC Records (UK), ABCL 5055
Style: Pop, Rock
Country: Kansas, U.S. (November 20, 1947)
Time: 36:21
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 220 Mb

"I know this album’s going to be an important one for me, but it’s not easy to just crank them out anymore," he told Rolling Stone, a couple of months before So What arrived on Dec. 14, 1974. "I don’t want the next album to sound like a bunch of outtakes from [1973’s The] Smoker [You Drink, the Player You Get]. I want it to be the difference between [the Beatles’] Revolver and Sgt. Pepper. I’ve held back until that development was there, even though the record company’s been screaming for it. I want it to be a big, big step - in thoughts, vocals, playing and maturity."
Then Walsh was struck by an unspeakable tragedy, and his marriage fell apart. A darkness shot through the sessions, which lasted into April 1974 - the same month that Walsh’s wife, Stefany Rhodes, was smashed into while driving their daughter Emma to a playdate in their adopted hometown of Boulder, Colo.
Someone ran a stop sign at the corner of Ninth and Spruce, and the passenger-side impact spun the Walshes’ green Porsche into a fence across the street. Emma, then just weeks away from turning 3, sustained massive head trauma. She was taken off life support later that night, and her corneas and kidneys were donated to others.
"The accident kind of did us in," Rhodes told the Daily Camera in 2010. "We divorced shortly afterward."
Walsh returned to the studio, trying to shape his feelings while barely fighting off deep despair. Even if he’d never admitted it, So What telegraphs his pain. There are titles like "Falling Down" and "Help Me Through the Night," his moody synth-driven instrumental interpretation of "The Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty" from Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite and, of course, the devastating album-closing tribute simply titled "Song for Emma."
But Walsh was always brutally honest about the impact of his daughter’s death, from his lingering anguish to his slide into alcoholism.
"To help with closure, I wrote this song for her," Walsh told Rolling Stone in 2016. "And over the process of the next year, my wife and I, we just weren’t strong enough to get through the grief and so we separated and eventually got divorced. But I met a girl in Los Angeles, and my song ‘Help Me Through the Night’ was to her about being there for me - because I was a wreck. But she was there so that I could grieve Emma."
A certain hardness defines the rest of So What, from the opening "Welcome to the Club" to his remake of "Turn to Stone" from 1972’s Barnstorm. Walsh tries to lighten things up with the field-holler "All Night Laundry Mat Blues," but it only lasts a moment. "County Fair" tries to round itself into a romp, but a sad reverie keeps elbowing in.
Everything coalesces around the cover, which finds Walsh peering out in an empty-eyed stare. The album title itself was a shocking moment of nihilism from someone often thought of as rock’s clown prince.
"I called it that because I had this ‘so what’ attitude," Walsh added. "I was angry. I was really mad at God - and I felt that was a great reason to drink: ‘Poor me. God took my daughter away.’ And so I got an attitude, like, ‘This is the worst thing that’s ever happened. I don’t care about anything’ - just to justify that it was okay to get screwed up."
A plaque was dedicated in memory of Emma on May 25, 1976 at her favorite playground in Boulder. It reads: "This fountain is given in loving memory of Emma Walsh, April 29, 1971-April 1, 1974." Her mother told the Daily Camera that "the fountain was all Joe’s doing, really."
Walsh says he still thinks of Emma often, and he’s tried to leverage his sense of loss into something constructive.
"Having had that experience, sometimes I am in a position to be able to comfort people," Walsh told Interview in 2012. "I’m in a position to put an arm around them and tell them they are not alone. I’ve talked to several parents whose sons were killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, and they know about my daughter. Sometimes, they’ll contact me to let me know their kids were killed in the war and that they were fans, or that my music really helped them deal with their grief. That’s a good thing that came out of it."
It wasn’t the only thing. So What became a gold-selling No. 11 hit, while also hinting at his next career move: Several members of the Eagles joined in the sessions, after recently hiring Walsh’s producer, Bill Szymczyk. They’d also shared stages, and had the same manager in Irving Azoff.
Don Henley ended up co-writing "Falling Down," and singing on "Time Out." Henley was also joined by bandmates Glenn Frey and Randy Meisner on backing vocals for "Turn to Stone" and "Help Me Through the Night."
Something clicked. Within a year and a half, Walsh had replaced founding member Bernie Leadon in advance of the Eagles’ biggest album ever.
"So, when Bernie decided that he just wasn’t interested very much in continuing," Walsh told Guitar World in 2012, "Don and Glenn thought I would plug in really well with where the Eagles were eventually going to go. And at the time I was going, ‘Aw fuck, it’s time to do another solo album. Oh shit. Anybody got any ideas?’ You know? So, it all just kind of came together, I joined the Eagles - and the result, of course, was Hotel California."
It took some time, but Walsh was finally able to put sudden turns of events like that in perspective, quoting a storyteller best known for PBS’s The Power of Myth.
Joseph Campbell said "something profound," Walsh told students at his old high school in 2015. "As you go through life, it appears to be a series of unrelated events colliding, smashing into each other, creating chaos and destroying your plan for what’s going to happen. It’s really hard to know what is going on on a daily basis. In retrospect when you look back on your life, it looks like a finely crafted novel."
(classicrockreview.wordpress.com/category/joe-walsh-so-what/)

01. A1 Welcome To The Club (05:08)

02. A2 Falling Down (04:56)

03. A3 Pavane Of The Sleeping Beauty (01:56)

04. A4 Time Out (04:24)

05. A5 All Night Laundry Mat Blues (01:02)

06. B1 Turn To Stone (03:48)

07. B2 Help Me Thru The Night (03:38)

08. B3 County Fair (06:46)

09. B4 Song For Emma (04:38)

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Cream - The Last Goodbye [Japan. Box Set 4CD. Live. Bootleg] (2016)

Year: 1968 (CD 2016, Bootleg)
Label: Mid Valley Records (Japan), MVR-808/809/810/811
Style: Classic Rock, Hard Rock, Blues Rock
Country: London, England
Time: 60:46, 77:20, 74:31, 70:48
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 406, 503, 454, 416 Mb

In many ways, it was unlikely that Cream would last as long as they did. By the time they split in November 1968, the group had been going for just over two years and recorded four albums. Before then Eric Clapton had cycled rapidly through the Yardbirds and the Bluesbreakers, racking up a few months in each as well spending time in shorter one-off projects like The Immediate All-Stars and The Powerhouse, while Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker were famed for their incendiary relationship in the Graham Bond Organisation.
In that context, Cream were stayers. When they inevitably decided to split, their autumn US shows were renamed the Goodbye Tour and the band signed off with two sets at the Royal Albert Hall. Four entire shows - Oakland, LA, San Diego and London - from this arrivederci have now been collected on Goodbye Tour - Live 1968, including the band’s last show at the Royal Albert Hall, where an unemotional departure is concluded by compere John Peel’s matter-of-fact last words: "That really has to be it."
The Royal Albert Hall show was previously available on VHS and DVD - this is the first time it’s appeared on CD. Sadly the sound hasn’t improved a great deal in this transfer. It’s the muddiest of the four, at times sounding like it was recorded in the bottom of an empty swimming pool. Fortunately, the other three shows sound pretty good, with San Diego probably the pick of the lot. Of the 36 tracks, 19 are previously unreleased. Three tracks from LA - "I’m So Glad", "Politician" and "Sitting On Top Of The World" - appeared on Cream’s studio-live hybrid swansong Goodbye, while three from Oakland - "Deserted Cities Of The Heart", "White Room" and "Politician" - were on 1972’s Live Cream Volume II. LA’s staggering 17-minute finale of "Spoonful" features on the soundtrack album Eric Clapton: Life In 12 Bars.
"Spoonful" features in every show, invariably in extended, improvised versions, almost unrecognisable from the haunting take recorded for Fresh Cream, let alone Willie Dixon’s original. "I’m So Glad" also gets strung out into double-digit minutes, while "Toad" features an arduous Ginger Baker drum solo - although on the opening night of the tour in Oakland this workout took place during "Passing The Time". These lengthy improvisations and the band’s sheer muscle are what made them such a formidable live proposition. If there are occasions when the rugged soloing gets a little bogged down in detail, there are many others where the trio achieve moments of adrenalising magic, like five minutes into San Diego’s version of "Spoonful" when Baker suddenly hastens the beat and coaxes Bruce and Clapton into ever wilder, faster and exceptionally groovy patterns of playing.
(Full version: uncut.co.uk/reviews/album/cream-goodbye-tour-live-1968-123348/)

Live At Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA, USA, 4th October 1968

01. White Room (06:16)

02. Politician (05:22)

03. Crossroads (04:03)

04. Sunshine Of Your Love (05:32)

05. Spoonful (16:54)

06. Deserted Cities Of The Heart (04:49)

07. Passing The Time (10:47)

08. I'm So Glad (07:01)

Live At The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 19th October 1968

01. White Room (07:02)

02. Politician (06:53)

03. I'm So Glad (09:13)

04. Sitting On Top Of The World (04:55)

05. Crossroads (04:22)

06. Sunshine Of Your Love (06:39)

07. Train Time (08:06)

08. Toad (12:46)

09. Spoonful (17:21)

Live At Sports Arena, San Diego, CA, USA, 20th October 1968

01. White Room (06:40)

02. Politician (06:52)

03. I'm So Glad (07:22)

04. Sitting On Top Of The World (05:45)

05. Sunshine of Your Love (05:21)

06. Crossroads (04:05)

07. Train Time (09:43)

08. Toad (13:51)

09. Spoonful (14:49)

Live At The Royal Albert Hall, London, UK, 26th November 1968

01. Introduction (01:47)

02. White Room (06:02)

03. Politician (06:29)

04. I'm So Glad (06:59)

05. Sitting On Top Of The World (04:56)

06. Crossroads (04:35)

07. Toad (11:13)

08. Spoonful (16:05)

09. Sunshine Of Your Love (08:04)

10. Stepping Out (04:37)

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Black Sabbath - The Eternal Idol [Deluxe Edition 2CD] (1987)

Year: November 1987 (CD 2010)
Label: Sanctuary Records (Europe), 2752460
Style: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
Country: Birmingham, England
Time: 50:13, 41:41
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 349, 284 Mb

The album sleeve erroneusly credits Dave Spitz as bass player: the bass was actually played by Bob Daisley. Eric Singer played the drums, with the percussion credit for Bev Bevan being for a few cymbal overdubs on "Scarlet Pimpernel".
The album was originally to be recorded with Spitz and vocalist Ray Gillen. The former was replaced by bassist/lyricist Bob Daisley during initial sessions on Montserrat with producer Jeff Glixman. According to Daisley, Gillen had struggled with the lyrics, and management was not paying him or the rest of the band. Gillen quit shortly after their return to England. Daisley worked on the album as a session player, turning down an offer to join the band as he was already commited to working with Gary Moore. Gillen and Eric Singer (who left the band right after he finished his drum parts to join Daisley in Gary Moore's touring band) later joined the band Badlands.
Tony Martin was hired and reconstructed the vocals under the guidance of Chris Tsangarides at Battery Studios shortly before production ended. Most tracks were written by Tony Iommi and Bob Daisley (the vinyl version states that all songs were written by Iommi) although some lyrics were modified by Geoff Nicholls. Martin said he "only sang on, and had no part in writing" The Eternal Idol, but nonetheless "thought [it] was one of the better albums of the band."
The song "Nightmare" was initially written for the 1987 film A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors.
After Daisley's and Singer's departure, bassist Dave Spitz returned and drummer Bev Bevan, who had previously been a member of Black Sabbath during mid 1983-early 1984, was hired for a 1987 tour in support of the album; however, soon Bevan backed out on learning that Sabbath had booked dates in South Africa during the apartheid crisis.
Bevan was replaced by former Clash drummer Terry Chimes, who appears in the music video for "The Shining". Spitz played bass for a few shows before Jo Burt (formerly of Virginia Wolf) was hired as the new bass player. The video for "The Shining" was filmed in-between Spitz's departure and Burt's arrival. In 1993, Martin recalled, "The bass player in the 'Shining' video was some guy that we dragged off the street. I can't remember his name but he looked the part. He said that he was a guitarist. I remember he was always talking about how he was a Red Indian, thus all the turquoise he wore! We never saw him again."
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eternal_Idol)

01. The Shining (05:59)

02. Ancient Warrior (05:34)

03. Hard Life To Love (04:59)

04. Glory Ride (04:49)

05. Born To Lose (03:43)

06. Nightmare (05:21)

07. Scarlet Pimpernel (02:07)

08. Lost Forever (04:05)

09. Eternal Idol (06:36)

10. Black Moon ['The Shining' Single B-Side] (03:39)

11. Some Kind Of Woman ['The Shining' Single B-Side] (03:15)

01. Glory Ride (05:21)

02. Born To Lose (03:41)

03. Lost Forever (04:17)

04. Eternal Idol (06:48)

05. The Shining (06:30)

06. Hard Life To Love (05:19)

07. Nightmare (04:49)

08. Ancient Warrior (04:54)

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