Well, the Preservation project failed. A noble effort, maybe, but a total freakin’ mess by any commercial, critic, or artistic standards. At least Ray got all that “theatrical presentation” stuff out of his system, right? Well, Ray’s not here right now. In his place is some whackadoo Starmaker dope who conceived and wrote the worst Kinks…
So here we are in late 1965, and The Kinks have effectively been banned from performing the US, reportedly due to onstage fights and antics and what-not. But ever since the release of their previous LP Kinda Kinks, the band had remained quite active. Aside from constant touring and recording, they managed to release the…
The Beatles. aka “The White Album”. My God. Where do I even begin with this record? First off, an admission of sorts: I am a huge sucker when it comes to big, bombastic, self-indulgent classic albums. Whenever the artist or band has decided to take control of their music and explore their creative boundaries, despite the…
A Hard Day’s Night is a landmark album for the Fab Four. Ostensibly it was their first “soundtrack album”, featuring seven songs from their debut film of the same name (or eight, depending on how you look at it). More importantly, it was the first Beatles album that consisted entirely of original songs from the…
Creatures Of The Night is one of the great ’80s hard rock albums. And easily one of the best Kiss records. On a personal note, Creatures Of The Night is a big nostalgic favorite. Even though I was only 11 when it came out in 1982, I had already zoned out of Kiss after Dynasty in ’79.…
Pipes of Peace was a stepdown from its predecessor, consisting of several leftover tunes and a few new ones. Yet it is still rewarding in parts.
Kinda Kinks followed the band’s debut album and the Kinksize Session EP, with The Kinks rolling off some serious heat and momentum. As it were, the band was forced to rush the recording sessions to hit a quick release date, and between late 1964 and early 65, recording the album before, during, and after a whirlwind…
After two albums that were designed and marketed as tie-in product for the television show, The Monkees really had something to prove. To their audience, to rock critics, to themselves maybe, but they were hungry to contribute more of their own talents to their albums. That’s not to say Monkees and More of the Monkees…
The Kinks’s debut album is pretty remarkable in the fact that its not all that remarkable. Which is not to say it’s a bad album… as a representative of the British Invasion’s first wave, it’s a hardy mix of blues rock, rockabilly, and that overall Merseybeat flavor that mixes R&B, skiffle, rock, and the like.…
McCartney gets all the credit in the world for indulging in experimentation and attempting something new, but McCartney II is a bit of a low point for him.