Click here for my review of Preservation: Act I. It goes deeper into the history of the project, its origins, production, release, and reception. You know, the worst thing you can say about Preservation: Act II (PA2 for the rest of this review) is that it really stinks, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.…
By 1973 Ray Davies seemed ready to wash his hands entirely of The Kinks; that is to say, The Kinks of the late 60s through early 70s. Or maybe just popular rock music as a whole. The band’s 1970 album Lola versus Powerman and the Money-Go-Round, Part One was a monster seller for the band and gave them some…
Paul McCartney’s 1970 solo debut album is a homespun, eclectic collection of songs that surprised (and somewhat delighted) many with its low-key charms.
The First Great Kinks Album! OK well obviously that’s entirely up to debate and purely a matter of opinion, but wow if this album doesn’t deliver one fine listening experience. Everything — the songwriting, vocals, musicianship, album production — is elevated to an entirely new level with Face To Face. 1966 was a good year…
Tug of War is a career high-point for McCartney. Reuniting with George Martin, Paul produced a strong, assured, confident record throughout.
It’s safe to say that those who unfairly decry Paul’s solo career as lightweight, unmemorable tripe probably envision his entire career as the Wings at the Speed of Sound album.
The five Beatle movies are not only essential threads in the entire Fab Four tapestry, they hold a deep personal connection to me and my experience with the band. Having been born in 1971, I wasn’t even alive until nearly a year after my favorite Liverpudlians had disbanded. Therefore the concept of “The Beatles” during…
So it’s 1967. The so-called “Summer Of Love” is in full swing. Bands are taking advantage of new-found artistic freedom to explore their musical boundaries, and the shift from singles-oriented bands to album-based music is already in full bloom. Psychedelia is the order of the day, or so it seems anyhow. So what were The Kinks…
Ray Davies was NOT particularly happy with the music industry, and certainly let his feelings known on The Kinks’s 1970 album Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One — which will hereby be shortened to Lola vs. Powerman for the purposes of this review, because even with cut-and-paste, it’s still a bother to reproduce…
To chart my hard rock/heavy metal development, I would have to start as a budding young KISS devotee as a child in the late 70s. In 1981 I discovered AC/DC, having pretty much worn out my dog-eared “Back In Black” cassette tape through massively repeated listens on any boombox I could get my hands on.…