Red Mosquito

Ha! Fair. It’s yet another band I only ever known the big hits.

Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell

Another classic album I am inexplicably hearing for the first time, though probably the explanation is that in the mid-90s I did not get swept up in the craze around I Would Do Anything For Love. Yet here we are. This is quite the operatic album, everything as over the top as possible, it’s as if Elton John and Billy Joel decided to band together and record with the ambition of Yes with the drama of Queen. And granted, that’s all good company, and the highs here are pretty fabulous in the title track and Paradise By the Dashboard Light, singular Odysseys all their own. But for all that, there’s still too much of For Crying Put Loud, which might have wound down more times than Return of the King. I would definitely ultimately recommend the album, but there’s some patience needed.

The Essential Track: Paradise By the Dashboard Light

Up Next: Chicago XI

Chicago XI

I know I have noted plenty that Chicago is a maddening band. They certainly have all the goods, yet somehow these albums splinter into a mix of exceptional and unlistenable. Takin’ It on Uptown is phenomenal. Baby, What a Big Surprise awful. Mississippi Delta City Blues awesome. Little One boring. So is the way with Chicago, who made lots of money balladeering even though it’s the hardest thing to listen to in their repertoire.

The Essential Track: Takin’ It on Uptown

Up Next: The Doobie Brothers - Living on the Fault Line

The Doobie Brothers - Livin’ on the Fault Line

This truly feels like the moment Micheal McDonald took over for the Doobie Brothers. Nothing embodies that more than the hit song off this album, You Belong to Me, which is a soft rock classic - and this album seems to really toss aside any blues roots for jazz inflected yacht rock, as it would be later known for better or worse. There’s some real moments of brilliance on this thing though, especially when the jazzier side of things push through, as in the instrumental breakdown on Need a Lady, or the album raw and dare I say nearly improvisational feel of the title track. Even if some of their roots were melting away, they could still play.

The Essential Track: Need a Lady

Up Next: Jimmy Buffett - Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude

Jimmy Buffett - Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes

I have really only heard a handful of Jimmy Buffett songs, and most of them were at Margaritaville restaurants in airports. But that notwithstanding, I wanted to give this one a go, and I was pleasantly surprised. For an artist completely engulfed in easy and breezy music, this sort of sticks to the bones, particularly Tampico Trauma and of course Margaritaville. And it’s wonderfully escapist, the kind of thing where it makes no sense to feel stressed with it on - and sometimes that’s just what you need.

The Essential Track: Margaritaville

Up Next: Elvis Costello - My Aim is True

Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True

It’s been a little bit since I have revisited Elvis Costello (I did that long journey on his albums a few years ago), and I have always had a soft spot for this album because it hits like a bolt of lightning. Costello here exists in some pocket in between a rollicking Buddy Holly and the propulsion of The Ramones (I made that connection a few albums back). It’s really sort of a near perfect spot to play in, making the music fun and easy while also serving as a preview of the cavernous landscape of Costello’s endless muse. Welcome to the Working Week and Mystery Dance are about a minute and a half each and yet both are essential blasts of energy. Blame It On Cain and Less Than Zero are a slightly less straightforward but still have good energy while bonus track Watching the Detectives has a reggae like quality. On this listen, (The Angels Wat Wear My) Red Shoes came out on top, but really any of these are worthy contenders.

The Essential Track: (The Angels Want to Wear My) Red Shoes

Up Next: Marcio Montarroyos - Stone Alliance

Marcio Montarroyos - Stone Alliance

This is fabulous jazz album that seems to run the gamut of jazz trends from cool jazz to Latin, and fusion. It reminded me a lot of Miles, particularly the period in and around Bitches Brew. The start had me thinking this was definitely going in the Latin Jazz territory, but A Child Is Born makes a pivot toward a more traditional jazz structure that largely maintains for the remainder of the album with trumpet, with a slight echo, improv over inventive structures. The kind of stuff that drew me in months ago. Great recommendation and a highly expressive work.

The Essential Track: On the Foot Peg

Up Next: Peter Gabriel 1: Car

Peter Gabriel 1: Car

Truth be told, I haven’t been all that smitten by the Genesis stuff I had been listening to. An album or two made a little breakthrough but nothing to keep me invested. This debut solo album from Peter Gabriel is basically what I wish Genesis would sound like. It’s dynamic and takes some twists and turns, and it has some real gems on here. It’s essentially not so brainy as to lose its heart, but just thought provoking enough to make you want to go right back. He’ll, that back end, with Waiting For the Big One, Down the Dolce Vita, and Here Comes the Flood is epic and just plain awesome. Solsbury Hill is a bona fide classic. Moribund the Burgermeister and Excuse Me are weird in fun and interesting ways. Basically this album is just fantastic.

The Essential Track: Solsbury Hill (by a hair)

Up Next: Crosby, Stills, and Nash - CSN

Crosby, Stills & Nash - CSN

Seems like a long time ago that we last covered CSN. I actually had to listen to this one twice because I wasn’t really paying attention driving through a vicious downpour, and I am glad I went back. While I am never going to be the biggest fan, I did find this to be a strong collection of songs, headed by Shadow Captain, Fair Game, Dark Star, Run from Tears and I Give You Give Blind. Just the right balance of those harmonies but with a bit more driving rock than I was expecting.

The Essential Track: Dark Star

Up Next: The Congos - Heart of the Congos

The Congos - The Heart of the Congos

This is a snapshot of late 70s roots reggae captured by Lee “Scratch” Perry. The album is really solid front to back working off standard reggae rhythms in most cases, but there are moments, like Congoman, La-La Bam Bam, and Can’t Come In where it feels fresh and interesting. This was a good recommendation - not an album I knew about before reaching out for suggestions but something I am glad I jumped into.

The Essential Track: Can’t Come In

Up Next: James Mason - Rhythm of Life

James Mason - Rhythm of Life

This was another phenomenal suggestion amongst the group. Melding jazz and funk and soul into one fantastic package, this album delivers a jazz album that’s infectious front to back, and given its shorter track times and strong elements of contemporary songwriting, it’s not in the least set up as an obvious challenge of a listen, even where rhythms and bass licks go haywire in some pretty killer moments. Everything here is great, but the title track is a beast, and in a category all its own. Loved this one.

The Essential Track: Rhythm of Life

Up Next: Art Farmer - Crawl Space

Art Farmer - Crawl Space

This seems like a deeper dive into funk and soul jazz fusion, but more towards the jazz perspective. This is another where nearly everything on here is phenomenal, and the playing is just plain amazing from everyone. The task of trying to figure out which track is the most mind-blowing is sort of a silly enterprise, but even moreso here where the high quality is evident from the first notes through the end, and just the kind of improvisation within a given arc that’s right up my alley. Yet another excellent suggestion.

The Essential Track: Crawl Space

Up Next: Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue

Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue

Speaking of albums I never even heard of…a founding member of The Beach Boys delivers what is a decidedly heavy album. River Song and What’s Wrong set the table as decidedly different than what you’d think a Beach Boys is going to deliver - an almost ominous vibe, with the same sort of sonic adventurousness that defined peak era Beach Boys but without the pop sound of that band. Dreamer, the second half of Time both awesome. Yet another great suggestion from the folks here that I would have never heard otherwise. Thanks again!!

The Essential Track: Dreamer

Up Next: Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

So glad you dug those last two!

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

This is one of the most famous and infamous albums ever recorded. Part pop genius, and part soap opera, the various intra-band conflicts and relationships seem to boil over in real time, as if each of the singers here sing at each other. It creates the palpable tension that is the heart of the record, that propels it from a collection of great songs to a fully formed great album. Nearly each of these songs are instantly recognizable in their catalogue as classics, and it’s an album that never lets up in that regard. Second Hand News is the perfect opening statement of what’s coming. Dreams, Don’t Stop, Go Your Own Way, The Chain, You Make Loving Fun, and Gold Dust Woman are forever etched into classic rock radio and for good reason. There’s basically no shortness of great pop music on this, and everyone’s personality shines here, from Lindsay Buckingham’s dramatic big sound to Christine McVie’s pop leanings and Stevie Nicks’s sultry and impactful delivery. Certainly and must and the essential Fleetwood Mac album.

The Essential Track: The Chain (on the bass line in the bridge alone)

Up Next: Tom Waits - Foreign Affairs

Tom Waits - Foreign Affairs

Tom Waits is a really interesting artist to follow here. His shift here is a bit more subtle than I would have expected, which results in a different product than the last couple of albums. The lounge club singer in an empty bar vibe is still ever present, but this one is soaked in some lush arrangements, and in part nearly recalls a Duke Ellington like jazz orchestra. There’s a lot of ballads here, and they are good, but the scenes Waits sets in I Never Talk to Strangers and Potter’s Field are so vivid and powerful that they seemed to overshadow the rest of the album - just because they are THAT good. I will say I also really enjoyed Cinny’s Waltz as an opener, Muriel, Medley: Jack & Neal/California Here I Come, Burma-Shave, and Barber Shop, but those two tracks I mentioned up top are on a pretty amazing level.

The Essential Track: Potter’s Field

Up Next: Billy Joel - The Stranger

Really enjoyed Art Farmer - Crawl Space.

Very cool one.

Billy Joel - The Stranger

Working through a bunch of his albums here to maybe try to convince myself that Billy Joel is more than a collection of greatest hits, and admittedly, the albums so far have been much better than I thought. This one, the most easily listenable thus far front to back, has made the best case thus far. Doesn’t hurt that something like half the album is hits, from Moving Out (Anthony’s Song), Just the Way You Are, Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, Only the Good Die Young, and She’s Always a Woman. And I think that’s often rightly the focus, but here I really like the title track which just unfolds very nicely. Not quite as viscerally exciting as Only the Good Die Young though. Either way we have some pretty great songs here, even if I am not sold on the last third of this. The rest is great though.

The Essential Track: Only the Good Die Young

Up Next: David Bowie - Low

We’re getting closer to finishing up ‘77, so on to ‘78 in a few albums. Here’s what I got so far:

Bob Dylan - Street-Legal
Neil Young - Comes a Time
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - You’re Gonna Get It
Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town
Jerry Garcia Band - Cats Under the Stars
Dire Straights
Bob Seger - Stranger in Town
Doobie Brothers - Minute By Minute
Boston - Don’t Look Back
Foreigner - Double Vision
Genesis - And Then There Were Three
Rush - Hemispheres
Rainbow - Long Live Rock & Roll
The Who - Who Are You
Kraftwerk - The Man-Machine
Brian Eno - Music For Films
Brian Eno - Ambient 1: Music for Airports
Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove
Christopher Cross
Rolling Stones - Some Girls
Elvis Costello & The Attractions - This Year’s Model
Tom Waits - Blue Valentine
Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy
Van Morrison - Wavelength
Big Star - Third/Sister Lovers
The Clash - London Calling
Queen - Jazz
Blondie - Parallel Lines
The Cars
Devo - Q: Are We Not Men, A: We Are Devo
Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings and Food
Wire - Chairs Missing
Television - Adventure
The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms
Patti Smith - Easter
Van Halen
Grateful Dead - Shakedown Street
Bob Marley and the Wailers - Kaya
The Police - Outlandos D’Amour

X-Ray Spex - Germfree Adolescents
Boney M. - Nightflight to Venus