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Another Grey Area - Graham Parker. His first solo record. "Temporary Beauty" is a real stunner. The video of him carving the ice statue w/a torch is waycool. I hung out with some 40ish people who had this on a mix tape. Overall a good record, just not up to his standards.
Avalon - Roxy Music. Very mellow for them; extremely pretty tuneage. "More than this" covered by 10,000 Maniacs. Good album as background for romantic interludes...
Built for Speed - Stray Cats. Liked several songs. Must admit the guitaring was a breath of fresh air among the ever-increasing synthesizer lot.
Combat Rock - The Clash. "Ghetto Defendant" remains one of my favorite Clash songs. Not as bad an album as we say, but yeah, compared to their previous jewels. "Rock the Casbah" I still say got people to notice them and get their other stuff played. Played "SHould I Stay" in a band.
Days of Wine & Roses - Dream Syndicate. Decent live. Paisley Underground innovators. One clunky guitar, one fuzzed-up. Love the multi-tracked feedback figures on "Tell Me When It's Over."
December - George Winston. Classified New Age, this is just a dude and a piano playing variations on classical themes and Yuletide carols. He played at our local high school earlier this year, in overalls, a flannel shirt and no shoes. I play this one to death every Christmas. Last year when we got our new cat, it was snowing out and we all hung out listening to George; it was cool.
Diver Down - Van Halen. Their best album, I thought. Four really good covers and emphasis on the fun of rock'n'roll. Eddie V.'s theatrics a little tuned-down here.
Drums Along the Hudson - Bongos. Imagine REM and the Smiths with singers that liked girls and hung out in clubs getting drunk as hell, playing their music 100 miles an hour. There are like 20 songs, under 2 minutes a pop.
English Settlement - XTC. A subtle album for them. It has the Lennon influence. THese guys always used elements of ska rhythms in rock. "English Roundabout," "Down inthe Cockpit" "Fly on the Wall" are good examples. The UK version is a double album, has the better stuff. Think that's how the CD is printed now.
Forever Now - Psychedelic Furs. Personal favorite of theirs. "Love My Way" and the title track always heard in clubs. "Run and Run" a good song and video how I prefer: shots of the band live, then clowning around; here throwing snowballs at each other and the camera.
Friend or Foe - Adam Ant. As good as "Kings of the Wild Frontier," but more orchestrated, arranged and less atonal stuff. His first "solo" and last decent effort. MTV ruined this mother, I swear.
Green Light - Bonnie Raitt. The voice of honey. One of the few slide guitar players I can stand. She does some NRBQ covers that are decent. More rock, almost no country influence. "Keep This Heart In Mind" a great single.
Imperial Bedroom - Elvis Costello & the Attractions. His old lady hit the trail and it's obvious he was getting way plastered. Seriously introspective stuff, although we played the peppy "Loved Ones" in a band. "Pidgin English" and "Man out of Time" have that rare Costello feature: really clever puns and rhymes just this side of too smarty.
Long After Dark - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. Saw the concert of this tour. One of the best live performances I've seen. "Deliver Me" and "You Got Lucky" stand out to me. "The Waiting" was on the previous lp. Live, it was just vocal and guitar on a dark stage until the solo when the band crashed in with lights.
Night & Day - Joe Jackson. Much preferred "I'm the Man" at the time, but respected the songs here, all done with no guitars. Many people adored him at the Mosque/the volume was just right.
Shabooh Shabah - InXS - A Jagger swagger and intertwined guitars & keys. "Don't Change" was a great song to which we danced spastically in Hard Times at closing time. X-raves cover of it was decent.
Special Beat Service - English Beat. Last release; 2nd best only to debut (middle album not so great). Less ska, more soul. I mailed a mix tape to Rob W in NY. His metal-head friend said "I Confess" changed his whole musical tastes.
The Gift - The Jam. Their most diverse (and last) lp. Calypso, 60s Modrock, Motown, New Wave and Funk are all explored with heavy social commentary. "Town Called Malice" was the hit. Snappy drumming throughout. "Ghosts" is the other hidden treasure here.
The Other Policeman's Ball - Various Artists. Good acoustic stuff by Sting, Bob Geldof, etc. Phil Collins' detractors might be impressed with his acoustic stuff here.
Too-Rye-Ay - Dexy's Midnight Runners. "Come On Eileen" was pretty silly, but there's good Celtic soul here. "Dance Stance" is my all-time favorite of their tunes.
Urgh! A Music War - Movie Soundtrack. International punk sampled. Movie's worth seeing. Some reggae.
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