Album Reviews

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Album Reviews
Linda Thompson turns on the lights
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 19, 2003  |  0 comments

Maybe you've heard this story before: after Richard and Linda Thompson's legendary 1982 Roxy performance in support of their Shoot Out the Lights album, Linda collapsed backstage and was spirited off to Malibu by Linda Ronstadt. Thompson's marriage was breaking up before the tour and singing songs about a breakup, which Richard insisted at the time were not autobiographical, was just too much for her. It was easily one of the most memorable live musical experiences I've had-especially since I went with my ex-girlfriend who'd broken up with me a few months earlier.Maybe you've heard this story before: after Richard and Linda Thompson's legendary 1982 Roxy performance in support of their Shoot Out the Lights album, Linda collapsed backstage and was spirited off to Malibu by Linda Ronstadt. Thompson's marriage was breaking up before the tour and singing songs about a breakup, which Richard insisted at the time were not autobiographical, was just too much for her. It was easily one of the most memorable live musical experiences I've had-especially since I went with my ex-girlfriend who'd broken up with me a few months earlier. That allowed me to double the intensity of the pain emanating from the stage.

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Album Reviews
Link Wray's Swan Singles From Sundazed
Michael Fremer  |  Sep 01, 2004  |  0 comments

Mining America's musical blue highways is Sundazed's specialty. This collection of Wray's Swan singles, “A” and “B” is a perfect example of what the label does best. Best known for his classic hit, the trend-setting, iconic “Rumble,” the guitar twanger had a long, if not quite as successful recording career afterwards, specializing in rock'n'surf tinged, raunchy instrumentals. When he did sing, it was Elvis all the way-and a good Elvis it was, augmented by some hard-edged falsetto screaming.

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Album Reviews
LiPuma Production and Al Schmitt Recording Get Deserved Analog Treatment
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 01, 2009  |  0 comments

Krall’s cool, detached yet available look on the front and back covers of this popular 2002 release let you know from whence the emotions flow here. She sells these standards intimately yet barely rising above a warm smolder, leaving you to crack the code.

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Album Reviews
Little Boy Lost Takes Himself Even More Seriously in Mono
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 01, 2011  |  2 comments

It's easy to understand why some youngsters don't get Dylan. Everybody sings like him now but no one did back then and at first only a few could take the unadorned voice (referencing the Dylan on these old recordings, not the current croaker).

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Album Reviews
Live Double LP Picture Disc Set Is A Gift For Hardcore Fans
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 01, 2007  |  0 comments

This live set pressed as two picture discs is little more than a souvenir "audio tour book" from a band to its loyal fans. Picture discs don't usually sound good and this one is no exception, though the records are quieter than some normal black ones I've bought lately.

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Album Reviews
Long Delayed "Greatest Hits" Album From Neil Young Finally Issued on Double AAA Vinyl: You'll Feel Like Getting High!
\  |  Oct 01, 2005  |  0 comments

The problem with “greatest hits” packages issued by (or for) by rock artists who flourished during the golden age of album artistry (1967-1991 give or take a few) is that they inevitably shortchange the musician and the music-not to mention the fans.

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Album Reviews
Long Lost Bennett/Brubeck Collaboration Found
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 01, 2016  |  3 comments
On August 28,1962 Dave Brubeck's "classic" quartet and Tony Bennett backed by The Ralph Sharon Trio performed separately on the stage of the Sylvan Amphitheater at the base of the Washington Monument and then in an act of daring spontaneity, Brubeck and company backed Bennett on four unrehearsed tunes, all of which was captured to tape by. Columbia Records' remote recording team.

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Album Reviews
Long Sought After Mercury Cut From Original Master Tapes
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 01, 2005  |  0 comments

As you'll read in James Lyons's Iiner notes for this disc, Respighi was a nostalgic artist who preferred the melodic, romantic music of a bygone era to the atonal, serial, avante-garde constructions popular when these retro-impressionistic compositions were written in 1927.

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Album Reviews
Lori Lieberman’s Exquisite Album of Loss and Regret
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 23, 2020  |  2 comments
Cushioned by the Netherlands-based Matangi String Quartet, plus bass drums, percussion and occasional guitar, singer/songwriter/pianist Lori Lieberman delivers a tender, occasionally excruciatingly intimate song cycle replete with regret, heartache, abandonment, longing and loss.

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Album Reviews
Los Lobos's Kiko Makes Its 180g Vinyl Debut
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 01, 2014  |  10 comments
Nothing Los Lobos recorded previous to 1992’s Kiko could have prepared anyone for this piece of sustained, surreal brilliance. Dreamlike sonic vistas, ominous lyrical horizons, mysterious musical crevices, and spring-like rhythmic compressions and extensions combine to create a dayglo, funhouse-like environment filled with familiar, but oddly drawn musical elements.
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Album Reviews
Los Lobos’ Benchmark 1992 Album Kiko Reigns Supreme on RSD 30th Anniversary Tri-Gatefold 3LP Set That Features Expanded 2LP Version of the Original Album Plus a Bonus LP of Outtakes and Studio Jams
Mark Smotroff  |  Dec 15, 2023  |  4 comments

Los Lobos’ benchmark 1992 album Kiko reigns supreme on its 30th anniversary tri-gatefold 3LP Record Store Day set that features an expanded 2LP version of the original album plus a bonus third LP of outtakes and studio jams. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see why you need to find a copy of this special 3LP edition of Kiko for your collection, ASAP. . .

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Album Reviews
Louis Armstrong’s Live 1968 BBC TV Performance Is Restored and Updated for a Stunning New 180g Verve LP, Louis in London
Mark Smotroff  |  Jul 26, 2024  |  4 comments

In the world of popular music, few names are as iconic as Louis Armstrong. His influence is undeniable as one of the founding fathers of jazz, and while there is no shortage of posthumous releases issued since Armstrong’s passing at age 69 in 1971, that wealth of music can also make the process of discovery daunting for new listeners trying to figure out where to begin — or where longtime fans can continue. Read Mark Smotroff’s review of the newly released 180g 1LP Louis in London set on Verve to see why this live performance he did for BBC TV in 1968 is a great place to start and/or resume. . .

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Album Reviews
Louis On the Road Tapes Get "Complete" Treatment Decades Later
Michael Fremer  |  Sep 01, 2011  |  1 comments

Still raw from 9/11? It's difficult to believe a decade has passed. So imagine this Louis Armstrong concert from 1956. For most of the audience, and for much of America, except for the "Baby Boomer" youngsters too young to remember, World War Two and the enormous human toll it took on families across the country was still a current event.

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Album Reviews
Love's "Forever Changes" Finally Gets Long Deserved First Class Vinyl Reissue
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 26, 2012  |  14 comments
The late Arthur Lee exited a California prison in December of 2001, having served more than five years of a twelve year sentence for negligent discharge of a firearm. The long mandatory sentence resulted from California's ridiculous, now repealed "three strikes you're out" law.

Before being incarcerated Lee had resurrected his moribund career by teaming with a talented group called Baby Lemonade (named for a Syd Barrett song) much as had Brian Wilson with The Wondermints. Once out of prison, Lee took up where he left off, touring the world as Arthur Lee and Love.

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Album Reviews
Love's Final Elektra Release is Better in Retrospect
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 01, 2004  |  0 comments

While Four Sail was an obligation owed to the old label (Elektra) after Lee had signed a new contract with Blue Thumb, and while Lee shows signs of losing his muse, the album has actually added luster over the years, as in hindsight, the brilliance of Lee’s eclectic, restless mind comes through with greater clarity, even as the originality hangs mostly on his arranging skills.

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