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At Budokan
However much they may offend purists, these latest live versions of his old songs have the effect of liberating Bob Dylan from the originals. And the originals — however lasting, however beautiful — constitute a terrible burden. The effect of Dylan's revisionist efforts, beginning at the time of the 1974 "comeback" tour with the Band […]
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Armed Forces
Consider "Oliver's Army," the pièce de résistance on Elvis Costello's Armed Forces, an album that's a killer in several senses of the word. The tune sounds bright and bouncy, with a jangly keyboard riff along the lines of "Here Comes Santa Claus," and it's enough to make you want to rock around the room. But […]
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Blondes Have More Fun
If blondes have as much fun as Rod Stewart's new record insists they do, no wonder they're exhausted when they stagger into the studio. Even so, Stewart's current anemia is a hard thing to understand. Never before has he attacked such uncertain material with so little gusto or levity — for once, his trademarked "Whooo!" […]
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London Town
In an interview two years ago, Paul McCartney was asked some chestnut of a question about the plight of the aging rock star. He replied thoughtfully and sympathetically, but without much concern for his own situation. He could see how worrisome it might be to grow long in the tooth and still pass oneself off […]
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Boys in the Trees
In an interview two years ago, Paul McCartney was asked some chestnut of a question about the plight of the aging rock star. He replied thoughtfully and sympathetically, but without much concern for his own situation. He could see how worrisome it might be to grow long in the tooth and still pass oneself off […]
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Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
In retrospect, Blue turns out to have been the album that displayed Joni Mitchell at her most buoyant and comfortable — with herself, with the nature of her talents, and with the conventions of pop songwriting. From that happy juncture, she has moved on to more graceful and sober self-scrutiny (For the Roses and Court […]
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On The Border
Most of the ten songs here are in some way related to escape, or to the failures that necessitate it. But the Eagles' point of view toward their material varies so wildly that it's hard to believe even they take it seriously. "My Man," Bernie Leadon's gentle epitaph for a "very talented guy" (who seems […]
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Buddha And The Chocolate Box
The last really good Cat Stevens song, two albums back, was appropriately titled "I Can't Keep It In." Since then he's been pouring out separate streams of interesting melody and dubious verbiage, streams that never converge. That would not necessarily be a problem — Stevens remains a gifted composer no matter what — were it […]
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The Beach Boys In Concert
This is simply everything a live album should be, and then some. Most of the performances hold their own beside the quality of the originals (even in those stubborn, hard-to-get-at places — "Marcella," "Heroes And Villains," "Funky Pretty") and yet they're never static. They remain faithful without becoming plodding or repetitive. The production is Carl […]
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For Everyman
For inwardly panoramic songwriting of an apocalyptic bent, Jackson Browne's second album is rivaled only by his first (the second one wins), and Jackson himself is rivaled by nobody. His work is a unique fusion of West Coast casualness and East Coast paranoia, easygoing slang and painstaking precision, child's-eye romanticizing and adult's-eye acceptance. He can […]
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