album reviews
The Jackson 5
Greatest Hits
Greatest hits albums usually lack focus. Time after time, for some obvious reasons, andsome mysterious ones, the essence and real greatness of the group or individual artist eludesattempts at collections. The Jackson Five, one of Motown's most commercially successful groups,suffers dramatically from this process. On this package the limitations of the group — mainly theslickness and vapidity of some their AM material, and the immaturity and shrillness of Michael'svoice —... | More »
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt has run through three different producers with her last three albums, and it's easy to see why she wears them out so fast. Of the three, not one of them has had much luck with the considerable job of imposing any direction or discipline on Linda's seemingly boundless raw energy. She has yet to find someone who can shape up a whole album to match the best of her individual performances on isolated cuts. Hand Sown ... Home Grown was the roughest, loudest, loosest and m... | More »
Quicksilver Messenger Service
Quicksilver
Quicksilver is Dino Valenti's album. He wrote all the songs but two (by drummer Gary Duncan), he takes the vocals with that quavering breathy echo-laden whine which metamorphoses into an acceptable shout when he gets to screwing it on. But 'tis not on the basis of vocal or instrumental talent alone that Dino has assumed such a heavy role in the band's music. Above all, he is an enthusiastic practitioner of the Good Time Rock Star Ogle, a showman, a front man who steals the lime... | More »
Curtis Mayfield
Roots
Roots, Curtis Mayfield's third solo album, is a confused and confusing record. It's undoubtedly been influenced, both conceptually and technically, by Marvin Gaye's What's Going On? Gaye's record surprised a lot of people by its strong religious content, coming from someone who had previously recorded only love songs. Curtis, on the other hand, wrote and sang, with the Impressions, many religious and quasi-religious songs like "People Get Ready" and "Keep On Pushing."... | More »
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt's debut album features an unusual collection of songs performed by an unusual assortment of musicians. And Bonnie is something out of the ordinary herself. She has been traveling the blues-festival circuit since 1968, playing the Boston-New York-Philadelphia folk run, since 1970. Now she has done something unusual with her first Warners album. In August, Bonnie rented a fishing camp on a Minnesota island, solicited the production services of Willie Murphy, the musical talen... | More »
George Harrison
Concert For Bangladesh
The Concert for Bangla Desh is rock reaching for its manhood. Under the leadership of George Harrison, a group of rock musicians recognized, in a deliberate, self-conscious, and professional way, that they have responsibilities, and went about dealing with them seriously: My friend came to me, With sadness in his eyes, He told me that he wanted help, Before his country died, Although I couldn't feel the pain, I knew I'd have to try, Now I'm asking all of you, To help us... | More »
Al Green
Gets Next To You
When the impact of Memphis soul music resounded through the world rock community several years back, the sound of Hi Records was barely audible. Today, no one carries the weight of the music as mightily as they, and their product uniformly represents all that is best in contemporary southern soul. No small credit must be given the house band. The fact that the guitar, bass, and organ are played by, brothers (Mabon, Leroy, and Charles Hodges, respectively, along with drummer Howard Grant) is ... | More »
The Kinks
Muswell Hillbillies JVC Compact Discs
Can you tell the Kinks apart in the picture on the cover of their new album? No, of course. Except for Ray, they all look the same these days. Faceless. Their music has also been sounding that way lately. Still, they're a heap better than most other groups you could ever name. Musically, the Kinks' roots in the British Music Hall tradition really show up strongly on Muswell Hillbillies. At least five songs could be described as this type, and when the country-ish material is added,... | More »
Cream
Disraeli Gears Reaction
Within the grooves of this record are miles of listening pleasure. Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker are simply superb musicians with the gift of unending virtuosity. The title of the album, as Eric explains it, is a pun. The group was driving along one day trying to think of names for the record, coming up with things like "Elephant Gerald" (Ella Fitzgerald) and hit upon "Disraeli Gears," a word play on English racing bicycles which have derailer gears. Unfortunately the album does ... | More »
Carole King
Music
Anyone who failed to follow up an album that had sold four million copies with a very similar album would have to be either a fool or Bob Dylan. Carole King is neither, and her new album Carole King Music, follows with gingerly tread in the footsteps of Tapestry. The spirit of her music remains warm and strong, her lyrics still carry personal messages of friendship and loyalty, and the same musicians are playing in back of her. Despite the similarity between the two albums, the songs on Carol... | More »
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