Album Review: “Kinda Kinks” — The Kinks (1965)

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…

Album Review: “Headquarters” — The Monkees (1967)

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…

Concert Review: “The Monkees” — Boca Raton, FL (07/29/2013)

It’s all my wife’s fault. No but really, I always liked The Monkees. I first discovered them in the early 80s the same way most people in my generation did: afternoon syndicated TV in the summer on a local UHF channel. Does anyone under the age of 25 even know what UHF was? No? Moving on… I…

Album Review: “Kinks” — The Kinks (1964)

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.…

Album Review: “Unmasked” — Kiss (1980)

By the time 1980 rolled around, Kiss was in a really strange space. For them, anyhow. The mid-to-late 1970s had been their playground: Platinum records, hit songs, massive tours, constant exposure on both TV and radio… the world was not just their oyster, it was an entire raw bar and the cigarette machine down the…

Album Review: “More Of The Monkees” — The Monkees (1967)

Released three months after their debut album, More of the Monkees continues the band’s trend of crafting catchy pop tunes written by a host of great songwriters and… wait, doesn’t that album cover just REEK of being a photo from a Sears catalog? Well, you’d be close. It was taken from a J.C. Penney clothing ad.…