Record Reviews
📝 2096 reviews| Artist | Title | Review |
|---|---|---|
| Lyle Lovett | Anthology, Volume 1: Cowboy Man | <p>Check the subhead in the title — yes, this may be an anthology, but this isn't a greatest hits, it's a collection of songs that emphasize Lyle Lovett's country side and, therefore, is pitched directly at the country audience that never had much truck with him after he started singing "Stand By Your Man," playing with His Large Band, and indulging his passion for Randy Newman. In other words, it's not really representative, particularly in how it consciously avoids his status as a leader of the alt-country movement in the first Bush era. His Large Band, Joshua Judges Ruth, and I Love Everybody are entirely avoided (perhaps saved for Vol. 2), and even good portions of Lovett's country work are ignored, such as "You're Not From Texas" and the rest of The Road to Ensenada, for that matter. That's not really a complaint, but their absence feels more puzzling since two new songs are thrown in for good measure (the really good "The Truck Song," plus "San Antonio Girl"). In any regard, this is a good summary of Lovett's first two albums, containing most of the great songs from those records — "God Will," "This Old Porch," "If I Were the Man You Wanted," "If I Had a Boat," "Walk Through the Bottomland," and "LA County" are as good as music got in the '80s, and it's a pleasure to hear them in any context. Even so, it's hard to shake the nagging feeling that the whole story isn't told with this collection, and it's even harder not to notice that Lovett hasn't released a collection of original songs since 1996 — and, for the hardcore fans who are suckered in by the two new songs, it'll be hard not to wish that a full-fledged album is around the corner sometime soon.</p><p>— <strong>Stephen Thomas Erlewine</strong></p> |
| Lyle Lovett | My Baby Don't Tolerate | |
| Nick Lowe | The Abominable Showman | |
| Graham Lowndes | Mouthmusic | |
| Lonnie Mack | Hills Of Indiana | |
| Uncle Dave Macon | Laugh Your Blues Away | |
| Magic Sam | All Your Love | |
| Taj Mahal | Taj Mahal | <p>Taj Mahal's debut album was a startling statement in its time and has held up remarkably well. Recorded in August of 1967, it was as hard and exciting a mix of old and new blues sounds as surfaced on record in a year when even a lot of veteran blues artists (mostly at the insistence of their record labels) started turning toward psychedelia. The guitar virtuosity, embodied in Taj Mahal's slide work (which had the subtlety of a classical performance), Jesse Ed Davis's lead playing, and rhythm work by Ry Cooder and Bill Boatman, is of the neatly stripped-down variety that was alien to most records aiming for popular appeal, and the singer himself approached the music with a startling mix of authenticity and youthful enthusiasm. The whole record is a strange and compelling amalgam of stylistic and technical achievements -- filled with blues influences of the 1930s and 1940s, but also making use of stereo sound separation and the best recording technology. The result was numbers like Sleepy John Estes' "Diving Duck Blues," with textures resembling the mix on the early Cream albums, while "The Celebrated Walkin' Blues" (even with Cooder's animated mandolin weaving its spell on one side of the stereo mix) has the sound of a late '40s Chess release by Muddy Waters. Blind Willie McTell ("Statesboro Blues") and Robert Johnson ("Dust My Broom") are also represented, in what had to be one of the most quietly, defiantly iconoclastic records of 1968.</p><p>—<strong>Bruce Eder</strong></p> |
| Taj Mahal | Taj Mahal | <p>Taj Mahal's debut album was a startling statement in its time and has held up remarkably well. Recorded in August of 1967, it was as hard and exciting a mix of old and new blues sounds as surfaced on record in a year when even a lot of veteran blues artists (mostly at the insistence of their record labels) started turning toward psychedelia. The guitar virtuosity, embodied in Taj Mahal's slide work (which had the subtlety of a classical performance), Jesse Ed Davis's lead playing, and rhythm work by Ry Cooder and Bill Boatman, is of the neatly stripped-down variety that was alien to most records aiming for popular appeal, and the singer himself approached the music with a startling mix of authenticity and youthful enthusiasm. The whole record is a strange and compelling amalgam of stylistic and technical achievements -- filled with blues influences of the 1930s and 1940s, but also making use of stereo sound separation and the best recording technology. The result was numbers like Sleepy John Estes' "Diving Duck Blues," with textures resembling the mix on the early Cream albums, while "The Celebrated Walkin' Blues" (even with Cooder's animated mandolin weaving its spell on one side of the stereo mix) has the sound of a late '40s Chess release by Muddy Waters. Blind Willie McTell ("Statesboro Blues") and Robert Johnson ("Dust My Broom") are also represented, in what had to be one of the most quietly, defiantly iconoclastic records of 1968.</p><p>—<strong>Bruce Eder</strong></p> |
| Taj Mahal | Giant Step | <p>In less than 24 months, Taj Mahal (guitars/vocals/banjo/harmonica) had issued the equivalent of four respective long players. The electric Giant Step (1968) was released alongside the acoustic and decidedly rural De Ole Folks at Home (1968). The nine cuts on Giant Step feature support from the instrumental trio of Jessie Ed Davis (guitar/keyboards), Gary Gilmore (bass) and Chuck Blackwell (drums). They back Taj Mahal on a wide selection of covers ranging from Carole King and Gerry Goffin's "Take a Giant Step" to the upbeat and soulful reading of the Huddie Ledbetter blues staple "Keep Your Hands off Her." The arrangements are unique and offer the artist's distinctive approach. Nowhere is this more evident than the practically jovial mid-tempo "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" or the freewheeling abandon that is brought to the 18-wheeler anthem "Six Days on the Road," recalling the version of "Ain't That a Lot of Love" from Taj Mahal's preceding effort Natch'l Blues (1968). Additionally, Blind Willie Johnson's "You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond" stands out with a strong and soaring gospel-flavoured score. Giant Step concludes with "Bacon Fat," a number attributed here via Garth Hudson and Robbie Robertson of the Band. That said, it may be better-known from the man they called Mr. Rhythm, Andre Williams, whose scattered down-home spoken interludes punctuate his February 1957 Top 10 R&B hit -- which incidentally was created under the working title "Diddle, Diddle Womp, Womp." Parties searching for an apt introduction when discovering Taj Mahal's voluminous catalogue are encouraged to consider Giant Step as a highly recommended reference point.</p><p>—<strong>Lindsay Planer</strong></p> |
| Taj Mahal | Sounder | <p>On his first film score, Sounder, Taj Mahal mixes a handful of originals with fragmented sound effects and incidental passages. Certainly not an easy listen, this is one of his more indulgent studies.</p><p>—<strong>Rovi Staff</strong></p> |
| Taj Mahal | Recycling The Blues | <p>The title Recycling the Blues & Other Related Stuff certainly sums up the album quite well -- that's exactly what Taj Mahal has been doing for several years by this point. The first side features laidback in-the-studio work with some nice gospel-inflected back-up from the Pointer Sisters. The second (and preferable) side offers a good look at Mahal's stage show.</p><p>—<strong>Rovi Staff</strong></p> |
| Taj Mahal | Oooh So Good 'n Blues | <p>Ooh So Good 'N' Blues, takes a more straightahead approach that, with the exception of the the jazzy mis-step titled "Teacup's Jazzy Blues Tune," keeps the experimentation down to a minimum. As a result, this is one of his most consistently enjoyable and even albums.</p><p>—<strong>Rovi Staff</strong></p> |
| Taj Mahal | Taj's Blues | |
| Taj Mahal | Mo' Roots | <p>Mo' Roots finds Mahal stepping away from the blues, choosing instead to focus on reggae. While he can often be faulted for his all-too-academic approach, with Mo' Roots he turns in an album that truly expresses his appreciation and connection with the music.</p><p>—<strong>Rovi Staff</strong></p> |
| Taj Mahal | Legendary Taj Mahal | |
| Mahavishnu Orchestra | Inner Mounting Flame | |
| Mahavishnu Orchestra | Mahavishnu Orchestra | |
| Mahavishnu Orchestra | Birds Of Fire | |
| Mahavishnu Orchestra | Birds Of Fire | <p>Emboldened by the popularity of <i>Inner Mounting Flame</i> among rock audiences, the first Mahavishnu Orchestra set out to further define and refine its blistering jazz-rock direction in its second -- and, no thanks to internal feuding, last -- studio album. Although it has much of the screaming rock energy and sometimes exaggerated competitive frenzy of its predecessor, Birds of Fire is audibly more varied in texture, even more tightly organized, and thankfully more musical in content. A remarkable example of precisely choreographed, high-speed solo trading -- with John McLaughlin, Jerry Goodman, and Jan Hammer all of one mind, supported by Billy Cobham's machine-gun drumming and Rick Laird's dancing bass -- can be heard on the aptly named "One Word," and the title track is a defining moment of the group's nearly atonal fury. The band also takes time out for a brief bit of spaced-out electronic burbling and static called "Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love." Yet the most enticing pieces of music on the record are the gorgeous, almost pastoral opening and closing sections to "Open Country Joy," a relaxed, jocular bit of communal jamming that they ought to have pursued further. This album actually became a major crossover hit, rising to number 15 on the pop album charts, and it remains the key item in the first Mahavishnu Orchestra's slim discography.</p>&mdas; <b>Richard S. Ginell</b> |
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