The Albums that Changed My Life: #4, Who’s Next by The Who

On By kruekuttIn Rock and Roll4 Comments

by Rick Krueger

“Rock ‘n’ Roll might not solve your problems, but it does let you dance all over them.” — Pete Townshend of The Who on Good Morning America, 1978.

From the 1960s through the early 1980s and beyond, Michigan loved The Who.  The only place their first single “I Can’t Explain” was a hit in the USA was Detroit.   Flint’s Holiday Inn became infamous as the hotel where, according to legend, Keith Moon drove a Lincoln Continental into its swimming pool on his 21st birthday.  Their 1975 show at the Pontiac Silverdome briefly held the record for largest indoor concert.

So it wasn’t as if I hadn’t heard songs from Who’s Next before I went to college in 1979; at that point, “Baba O’Riley,” “Behind Blue Eyes” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” were inescapable on FM radio.  But it was at the end of my first term away from home that the 1971 album became something more to me.

Continue reading “The Albums that Changed My Life: #4, Who’s Next by The Who” →

Rick’s Quick Takes: The Pineapple Thief, Where We Stood (In Concert)

On By kruekuttIn Progressive rockLeave a comment

by Rick Krueger

Today is — well, sort of —  the official release day for The Pineapple Thief’s Where We Stood concert video.  Turns out that, while vinyl and downloadable/streaming audio versions are now available, the Blu Ray, DVD and CD versions have been delayed until early October.  Kudos go to the fine folks at Burning Shed for sending along mp3s of the full concert to folks who pre-ordered in those formats!

After just one listen, I’m mightily impressed.  Back in my eMusic subscriber days, I ran across the Thief via the albums Tightly Unwound and Someone Here Is Missing, enjoying them thoroughly.  A decade ago, high quality new prog was still scarce enough that I absolutely delighted in hearing Bruce Soord and company plowing similar furrows to Steven Wilson in Porcupine Tree.  Unfortunately, the follow-ups All the Wars and Magnolia were, as our head Progarchist put it last year, good but bland.  Thankfully, 2016’s Your Wilderness was a major step back up, as Gavin Harrison’s stylish, tasty drumming slotted in with Soord’s sleek new tunes and moody guitar lines to hypnotic effect.

So Where We Stood is the right move at the right time, capturing the re-energized Pineapple Thief onstage in London, with an enthusiastic crowd egging them on.   Harrison is astonishing and impeccable as always, driving the band with relentless grooves and jaw-dropping fills, locking tight with Jon Sykes’ powerful bass lines.  While Steve Kitch’s keyboards conjure impressive atmosphere, Darran Charles and Soord seamlessly slide from badass surf music riffs to full-on metal chording, inspiring Soord to new heights of vocal power and expression.  This Thief rocks hard, with guts and class, in the service of first-rate songs from throughout their checkered career.

I’m optimistic that the visuals of Where We Stood will match the excellence of the music; in my opinion, the chance to see Gavin Harrison weaving his percussive magic in close-up is gonna be worth the wait all by itself.  Plus the Blu-Ray also includes Your Wilderness, 8 Years Later and bonus acoustic tracks in 24/96 stereo and surround.  If you haven’t ordered this baby yet, what are you waiting for?

 

King Crimson, Sailors’ Tales (1970-1972) and Earthbound (Expanded)

On By kruekuttIn Progressive rock1 Comment

by Rick Krueger

Autumn is coming; can a Big Box Set o’ King Crimson be far behind?  In recent years, we’ve seen multiple-disc, multiple-format bundles based on Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Red, Starless and Bible Black, and THRAK, along with a package focused on the 1980s albums (Discipline, Beat, Three of a Perfect Pair).  Each set has yielded an surfeit of riches: the 40th anniversary stereo and surround mixes of the studio albums; album rehearsals, outtakes and alternate mixes; and (for my money, the best part) more live performances, on both audio and video, than you can shake a stick at.

Robert Fripp has called the period covered by Sailors’ Tales (1970-1972) King Crimson’s “interregnum.”  After Ian McDonald, Michael Giles and Greg Lake left the original band, Fripp and lyricist Peter Sinfield struggled to assemble a Crimson that would stay together long enough to record and tour.  In the Wake of Poseidon (1970) mixed players and ideas from the 1969 band with new material and musicians, including stunning saxophone work from Mel Collins.  Lizard  (1971) spun in a more avant-garde direction; the cream of British free jazz players sat in, but vocalist Gordon Haskell quit before the album was even released.  (Is this why Yes’ Jon Anderson sings lead on one track?)  For Islands (1972), a solid line-up finally coalesced: Fripp, Collins, vocalist Boz Burrell (taught to play bass parrot-fashion for touring) and drummer Ian Wallace.  This Crimson proved ferocious live, but as they downplayed the new album’s pastel romanticism in favor of straight-up blues/jazz improv, friction mounted again.  Sinfield was forced out; the remaining quartet fell apart, then did a contractual-obligation US tour (documented on the bargain live album Earthbound), then tried to reform, then broke up for good.

No wonder Fripp basically disowned this era of Crimson for years; it took his 1990s reconciliation with Collins and Wallace, the release of multiple 1971-72 concerts through the King Crimson Collectors’ Club, and Steven Wilson’s revelatory remix of Lizard to ultimately change his mind.  With the current Crimson regularly performing music from all three albums (and Fripp and Collins both tearing up these selections onstage), the time is ripe for the rest of the world to find out why.

Thus, Sailors’ Tales.  As spelled out in the DGM press release:

  • 3 CDs feature Steven Wilson and Robert Fripp stereo mixes of In The Wake Of Poseidon, Lizard and Islands plus additional tracks.
  • 6 CDs feature the Islands line-up’s early concerts from Germany (new to CD) and the UK (1971).
  • 9 CDs feature live recordings (several new to CD and/or previously unreleased in any format) from the 1972 US tour, including a new stereo mix of Summit Studios and an expanded Earthbound.
  • 3 CDs feature auditions for the Islands band and two further, as yet, unidentified concerts from 1972 (all previously unreleased).
  • 3 Blu-Ray discs contain the main studio albums in 5.1 Surround Sound, recent stereo editions mixed by Steven Wilson and Robert Fripp, 30th anniversary masters of the original stereo albums mixes (all in 24/96 hi-res), plus extensive additional material with each disc also featuring a complete alternate album and a further selection of additional, related studio/live material in hi-res.
    • The Lizard Blu-Ray also contains the audition material from CDs 19/20.
    • The Islands Blu-Ray also contains the following concerts in stereo: Zoom Club (4 shows), Marquee Club, Plymouth, Glasgow, Detroit all from 1971.
  • A 4th, Earthbound Tour Blu-Ray disc features an expanded version of the original album, Summit Studios gig in Stereo and Quadraphonic (newly mixed), the “Schizoid Men” sequence from the Ladies of the Road album, 2 newly discovered concerts in hi-res stereo and every existing soundboard concert recording from the 1972 US tour: Wilmington, NYC (2 shows), Chicago (2 tracks only), Detroit, Jacksonville, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Peoria, Indianapolis & Denver (2 shows).
  • 2 DVDs feature the expanded Earthbound, Summit Studios, “Schizoid Men,” New York 1972 and the recently discovered live concerts.
  • Presented in a 12” box with booklet, memorabilia, a further downloadable concert, and sleeve-notes by Sid Smith, Jakko Jakszyk and David Singleton.

Too much?  The budget option is a new CD/DVD edition of Earthbound, expanded from 5 to 12 tracks as on Sailors’ Tales, with the DVD also containing Summit Studios and “Schizoid Men.”

Both Sailors’ Tales and Earthbound are available for preorder from DGM and Burning Shed.  Release date is Friday, November 3 — my birthday.  Hmm … anybody feeling especially generous?

earthbound

Czukay Canned

On By Dr NickIn Progressive rockLeave a comment

The Grim Reaper continues to exact a heavy toll in 2017: now Holger Czukay, a founder member of the influential German band Can, has left us…

The Guardian has an excellent obituary, featuring this memorable quote:

The bass player’s like a king in chess… He doesn’t move much, but when he does he changes everything.

Happy 50th Birthday, Brad Birzer, Über-Progarchist!

On By carleolsonIn Progressive rock6 Comments

bbirzer_1987Today is the birthday of Dr. Bradley Birzer, co-founder, lead editor, and driving force behind this little gem of a website. Happy Birthday, Brad!

Brad and I first met when I interviewed him about one of his many fine books (about Christopher Dawson, if I recall correctly), back in 2008. We quickly found out that we had much in common when it came to theology, philosophy, literature, and, yes, music. We began to share notes and thoughts about music, and eventually I suggested that we should consider putting together a site dedicated to any and all thoughts we had about music. The next day—the next day!—Brad sent me a link to Progarchy.com. Apparently he had stayed up most the night creating it. So when I think of Brad, these following descriptives come to mind: tireless, passionate, honest, brilliant, funny, self-effacing, joyful, and bursting with life.

I’m not sure of the exact date, but Brad created this site sometime in either late September or early October 2012. So we are now at the fifth anniversary. And anyone who pays attention to the site knows that Brad has been the heart and soul of what we do here. Thank you, Brad!

I hope Brad won’t mind, first, that I used one of his Facebook photos for this post: of the young Birzer in college thirty years ago. And, secondly, this playlist that he posted today:

Rush—Tom Sawyer
BBT-Hedgerow
World Party—Is it Like Today?
XTC—Then She Appeared
Beethoven’s 6th
Kevin McCormick—Solearas
Matt Stevens—Into the Sea
Cosmograf—The Vacuum That I Fly Through
The Tangent—The Canterbury Sequence
Echo—The Killing Moon
Flower Kings—I Am the Sun
King Bathmat—Sentinel
Mew—Snow Brigade
Marillion—Ocean Cloud
NAO—Wires
Peter Gabriel—Rhythm of the Heat
Porcupine Tree—Time Flies

Happy Birthday, Über-Progarchist!

Drifting Sun at Twilight: An Inter-Review

On By Bryan MoreyIn Progressive rockLeave a comment

Drifting Sun, Twilight (2017)

Tracks: Twilight(9:27), Wings of Hope (5:13), Mystery of Lies (5:46), Soldiers (7:23), Summer Skies (10:49), Remedy (5:19), Outside (5:24), Remain, (8:11)

Drifting Sun have made another leap forward with their latest album, Twilight. With their last two albums both reviewed favorably here at Progarchy, that is no light praise. A UK based studio project, Drifting Sun has re-emerged over the last few years from their initial formation in the early 1990s to produce high-quality music worthy of any progressive rock fan’s collection.

The lineup has remained relatively stable since their last album, 2016’s Safe Asylum, with only one member changing: Mathieu Spaeter replaces Dan Storey on guitars. Other members include founder and keyboardist Pat Sanders, vocalist Peter Falconer, bassist Manu Michael, and drummer Will Jones. All of these guys are at the top of their game. Throughout the album I found myself thoroughly enjoying the musical complexity of drums, guitars, keyboards, and bass. New guitarist Spaeter adds a classic touch of rock brilliance to the band’s overall sound. Furthermore, Peter Falconer has a fantastic voice with a remarkable range. At times smooth and others times rough, his voice matches the music perfectly.

Continue reading “Drifting Sun at Twilight: An Inter-Review” →

R.I.P. Walter Becker

On By Dr NickIn Progressive rock1 Comment

Alas, another legend passes. Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker died today, aged just 67.

Read Rolling Stone’s report of his passing, and Donald Fagen’s tribute.

soundstreamsunday: “I Can See Clearly Now” by Johnny Nash

On By Craig BreadenIn pop, reggaeLeave a comment

johnnynash1Four months after Bill Withers hit number one with “Lean on Me,” Johnny Nash climbed to the top of the charts with the rocksteady/reggae pop of “I Can See Clearly Now.”  Unlike Withers, who seemed to appear out of nowhere, Nash had maintained a fairly solid chart presence since 1957, and by November 1972, at the age of 32, he was also a seasoned veteran of the biz side of the music biz, creating his own label and signing pop acts like the Cowsills.  He traveled to Jamaica in the late ’60s in an attempt to bring rocksteady to the U.S., for a time working with Bob Marley and the Wailers.  In a sense the sessions weren’t successful, illustrating the difference between Nash’s American AM-radio “hit” perspective and the maturing album-oriented FM-radio vision that Marley, and Chris Blackwell of Island Records, had for reggae.  And yet the association was significant for both Nash and Marley, taking them to London in early 1972 in an attempt to break reggae outside of Jamaica.  It was in England that Nash recorded his best album — relying heavily on Marley’s songwriting and the musicians that made up the Wailers and the Fabulous Five — and where Marley and the Wailers would meet Blackwell.

It’s hard to imagine a greater musical uplift than “I Can See Clearly Now.”  With that title and the refrain “it’s gonna be a bright, bright sunshiney day,” there’s more than a hint of Nash’s commercial reach, but he was clearly inspired by his work with Marley:  the tune’s simple reggae backing and the sincerity of the performance saves it from the treacly precipice.  When the bridge — itself a grand gesture — gets keyboardy and spacey it feels like there must have been something going on in the studio to fit the song, with its monumental groove and smile diminishing whatever adversity might be at hand.  This is a song about happiness in the moment, the rain lifting, and seeing the obstacles for what they are.

soundstreamsunday presents one song or live set by an artist each week, and in theory wants to be an infinite linear mix tape where the songs relate and progress as a whole. For the complete playlist, go here: soundstreamsunday archive and playlist, or check related articles by clicking on”soundstreamsunday” in the tags section.

Hamilton Live On Stage: “Sufficient to Strike Astonishment into Angels”

On By kruekuttIn pop, vernacular musicLeave a comment

By Rick Krueger

Hamilton at the Private Bank Theatre, Chicago, August 30, 2017.

On August 31, 1772 (245 years ago today — wild, huh?) a hurricane ravaged the West Indies island of St. Croix.  Seven days later, a orphaned young man living there set the precedent for every newshound who’s camped out in Texas this past week.  He wrote a letter describing his experiences at the heart of the maelstrom, along with the whipsaw play of his emotions in its wake.  “It seemed as if a total dissolution of nature was taking place,” he wrote, “… sufficient to strike astonishment into angels.”

The businessmen of St. Croix were so impressed that they tracked down the letter’s anonymous author, took up a collection, and sent him off-island to be educated.  And Alexander Hamilton emigrated to New York City,  just as the nascent American Revolution began to gather speed.

Continue reading “Hamilton Live On Stage: “Sufficient to Strike Astonishment into Angels”” →

Weezer delivers song of the summer as next album preview

On By Time LordIn Progressive rock2 Comments

The White Album was a total triumph last year from Weezer, usually a hit-and-miss kind of band. It got me excited about what every-track-is-fantastic album they might come up with next.

And then when in March of this year I heard “Feels Like Summer” as an advance preview track from their next album, well, let’s just say I couldn’t even get past the 30-second clip. It sounded so annoying and dopey. (Sort of like the new Taylor Swift single, which is much worse.)

So imagine my surprise when this month Weezer released the second preview track, “Mexican Fender,” which is truly superb and everything you want in a rockin’ summer tidal wave of power chords.

The song is so good it even got me to give “Feels Like Summer” a second chance, and it turns out now I kind of like it. (It gets better as it progresses and more power chords get mixed into the contemporary sonic novelties.)

Maybe it’s because my own Stratocaster is a Mexican Fender, but I like the lyrics to the song a lot. Really clever and catchy, it’s a perfect song about summer love.

Note that the video (thankfully) has nothing to do with the lyrics and story of the actual song. But it is nonetheless kind of a hilarious cartoon that should get people listening to the song, by way of its amusing visual tale.

Better yet, turn up the music and close your eyes to do air guitar. Who needs video when you have such great audio? Either way, I think this is the song of the summer, perfect for those convertible top-down cruises by the bay. (But keep your eyes open while driving.)

As for album of the summer, my vote goes to Lana Del Rey’s Lust for Life, which finally ascends into perfect songwriting and delivers on the previously unfulfilled promise of all her earlier albums. Every track shimmers with transcendent moments. But that’s a topic for another post. Meanwhile, enjoy Weezer’s brilliant guitar sunsets…