Frank Zappa 54: The Yellow Shark

Throughout his entire career, all Frank Zappa wanted was to work with a collective that was not only capable of playing his more sophisticated musical pieces, but enthusiastic about doing so, and willing to help finance them to fruition. In 1991, he found one in Ensemble Modern, a Frankfurt-based outfit that dove into the challenge. Compositions old and new were arranged and tweaked, culminating in a series of concerts entitled The Yellow Shark. An album culled from these shows was released one month before Zappa succumbed to prostate cancer.

As his classical-type albums go, it’s enjoyable unless you don’t like classical-type albums. Following a brief introduction by the composer (who was too sick to do much of the actual conducting) they go into “Dog Breath Variations” and “Uncle Meat”, both also familiar from previous orchestral excursions. “Outrage At Valdez” was written for a Jacques Cousteau documentary about the Exxon oil spill in 1989, and is suitably grave; along the same lines, two different pieces called “Times Beach” refer to a different chemical emergency that affected ordinary folks. One of the more daring pieces is “The Girl In The Magnesium Dress”, originally composed and played on the Synclavier but here executed by actual people who could replicate the sound of cats running up and down piano keyboards and vibraphones simultaneously. “Ruth Is Sleeping” had a similar birth, but is slightly more musical. “Be-Bop Tango” gets a chance to breathe without the choreographed distractions of the Roxy era.

The four movements from “None Of The Above”, a string quartet originally written for and performed by the Kronos Quartet, appear in a different order than supposedly written, and aren’t immediately melodic. Because he never wrote a skit he didn’t want to perform, this album has two. “Food Gathering In Post-Industrial America, 1992” is recited by a female viola player, punctuated by the sounds of mechanical sewage; then the federal customs form is the basis for “Welcome To The United States”, read in a thick German accent with comical vocal and instrumental responses from the band. (“Louie Louie” makes an appearance.) It’s followed by “Pound For A Brown” and “Exercise #4”, another Uncle Meat refugee. Despite its title—derived from an early version that used only the white keys on the piano—“Get Whitey” is very melodic and almost pretty. Finally, “G-Spot Tornado” is another Synclavier piece newly arranged, and it’s excellent. Still, it would be nice to have something after the nearly two-minute standing ovation at the end.

The Yellow Shark would not be the last major work he completed before his death, but it certainly got a lot of attention. For several years his estates teased a sequel of sorts; when Everything Is Healing Nicely finally appeared, it turned out to be something of an “audio documentary” of the ensemble’s earliest rehearsals and experiments with him. Moreso than The Yellow Shark, it’s generally for completists, beginning as it does with “Library Card”, mostly recited in German with Lumpy Gravy-style accompaniment. (“Master Ringo” and “Wonderful Tattoo” use a genital piercing enthusiast magazine for their lyric sources.) Luckily, the rest is a lot less silly.

“This Is A Test” is a brief experiment that deserved to be further developed, while “Jolly Good Fellow” is a conducted improvisation that plays on that familiar melody. “Roland’s Big Event/Strat Vindaloo” is a clarinet solo followed by Frank duetting on guitar with L. Shankar. “T’Murshi Duween” is a Roxy-era piece that usually followed “Penguin In Bondage” and would have been very well received at the shows. The appropriately titled “Nap Time” is based around the Alpine horn while two Japanese poems are recited quietly in the background. “9/8 Objects” features more L. Shankar, and “Naked City” is something of a guitar concerto (not played by Frank). “Whitey (Prototype)” is a brief rehearsal, while “None Of The Above (Revised & Previsited)” juxtaposes a rehearsal with live performance. “Amnerika Goes Home” also comes from the concerts, being an arrangement of a Synclavier piece used as bedding on Thing-Fish.

Between the two albums there is some very enjoyable music showing another side of Frank, but one must endure some of his more idiosyncratic tendencies to get to them. It’s a shame the collaboration didn’t get to go further.

Zappa/Ensemble Modern The Yellow Shark (1993)—3
Zappa Everything Is Healing Nicely (1999)—3

Jimi Hendrix 10: The Jimi Hendrix Concerts

Alan Douglas was still in charge of the Hendrix vaults, and following his controversial reimagining of leftovers, he did something of a service with a pair of compilations. The Essential Jimi Hendrix was a two-record set that sampled the first three albums chronologically, ending with tracks from the first three posthumous studio albums. A year later, Volume Two offered one side of songs from the first album plus “Crosstown Traffic”, while the other served up “Wild Thing” from Monterey, “Machine Gun” from Band Of Gypsys, and “Star Spangled Banner” from Woodstock. A bonus one-sided 45 featured a previously unreleased cover of “Gloria”. Basically the Hendrix equivalent of the Red and Blue albums, they provided a good introduction. (Both volumes would make it to a combined double CD in 1989, the studio tracks re-arranged chronologically and ending with the live tracks and “Gloria”.)

For his next trick, Douglas went back to the vaults for something of a sequel to Hendrix In The West. Labeled on the back over as “a collection of his most exciting performances”, The Jimi Hendrix Concerts was another double album, mixing tracks from eight different concerts over three years. In addition to the soon-to-be familiar sources of Berkeley, the Albert Hall, and San Diego, four shows from his 1968 residency at San Francisco’s Winterland Arena were utilized for the first time.

Following an introduction from Bill Graham, that’s where “Fire” comes from, then it’s over to San Diego the next year for Mitch Mitchell’s extended intro to “I Don’t Live Today”. Jimi stretches out on this one too, with a detour into “Star Spangled Banner” and then quoting from “Tomorrow Never Knows”. A year after that, it’s “Red House” from the New York Pop Festival. “Stone Free” had already been extended onstage past its radio-friendly length, and here goes for ten (edited) minutes. It leads well into the freakout intro for “Are You Experienced”.

There’s been a lot of fancy fretwork so far, which makes the comparative restraint in “Little Wing” very welcome. We hear just a few notes of “You Got Me Floatin’”, a song never otherwise known to be played live, then it’s into a furious “Voodoo Chile [sic] (Slight Return)”. “Bleeding Heart”, here subtitled “Blues In C Sharp”, is slow and sinewy. “Hey Joe” comes from Berkeley, one of his last concerts, and they apparently couldn’t do anything about the radio interference in the first verse. “Wild Thing” descends into chaos fairly quickly, and “Hear My Train A Comin’” (here subtitled “Gettin’ My Heart Back Together Again”) ends it all with another long blues.

To make The Jimi Hendrix Concerts a listenable experience (sorry) for newbies and collectors alike, Douglas edited out some jamming and drum solos, and used echo as well as stage patter from San Diego throughout to add to the mirage. But even despite the range of sources—and Billy Cox instead of Noel Redding on two tracks—it worked. (This too was released in CD in 1989, sporting a bonus track in “Foxey Lady” from the LA Forum, an addition that would add even more value to the box set that came out a year later. All are out of print now, so it’s moot.)

Jimi Hendrix The Essential Jimi Hendrix (1978)—4
Jimi Hendrix The Essential Jimi Hendrix Volume Two (1979)—4½
Jimi Hendrix The Jimi Hendrix Concerts (1982)—4
1989 CD reissue: same as 1982, plus 1 extra track
Current CD equivalent(s): none

Tears For Fears 9: The Tipping Point

Considering how long they’d generally taken to make their albums even when they were more relevant, nobody was really expecting much from Tears For Fears, especially considering how tiny a splash their first reunion made. But they were able to keep in the public’s mind through touring, and deluxe expanded repackages of their ‘80s albums; meanwhile Curt Smith released two more solo albums. Even when they spoke of writing new material, people weren’t cancelling dinner plans. And frankly, “I Love You But I’m Lost”, one of two new songs added to the 2017 Rule The World compilation, was mostly of appeal to diehard nostalgists and Pet Shop Boys fans. (The other was “Stay”, and will be discussed shortly.)

Yet when The Tipping Point finally appeared after even more delays, the media received it like a gift, with the boys making the rounds of the talk shows, speaking openly about their own professional difficulties and personal travails. Curt looked as chiseled as ever, while Roland Orzabal embraced his own silver mane and beard. Aging and mortality were the main topics among the songs, many of which were collaborations with Charlton Pettus, who produced the last album, and hit songwriter Sacha Skarbek.

The simple acoustic strum of “No Small Thing” is proof right away that they’d evolved. A mention of New Mexico suggests a south-of-the-border influence, but another rhythm comes in to take it somewhere else entirely, escalating toward a frantic and sudden end. The title track eases its way in until hitting tempo with a drum track that sounds exactly like it was lifted from “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”, whereupon it gets very busy and doesn’t let up. It’s easy to read into the lyrics of “Long, Long, Long Time”, but the changing meters keep you guessing in the meantime. “Break The Man” was written by Curt and Pettus—without Roland—and is straightforward pop without too much decoration, in contrast to “My Demons”, an excellent lyric tethered to a robotic mix.

“Rivers Of Mercy” is much more gentle than anything we’ve heard yet, with gospel touches addressing the worldwide turmoil of 2020. “Please Be Happy” is unique in their catalog as it addresses someone else’s pain and suffering, as opposed to their own or that of the world at large. With horns and subtle orchestral touches, it’s quite lovely. By the time “Master Plan” arrives with its overt Beatle references, it’s welcome, and nicely sets up the catchy, raspy soul of “End Of Night”. Finally, “Stay” sounds wonderful in the context of the album, moreso than it did as a carrot on a hits collection. The other song written by just Curt with Pettus, it was directly inspired by his own doubts about continuing with the band, and nicely caps a strong second side.

While we’re still partial to earlier albums, The Tipping Point does succeed with its breadth of style. Keeping mostly away from the Beatles and Brian Wilson playbooks certainly helped, as did keeping it down to a manageable LP length.

Of course, as had become an annoying trend among “legacy” artists, the album was released by retailers in different territories with exclusive bonus tracks, with all included on a very limited deluxe edition. “Secret Location” is a sop for those who want to dance: “Let It All Evolve” is more tense, based around acoustic chords and a drone, but with a decent chorus; “Shame (Cry Heaven)” has a lovely stark piano beginning, but soon detours into plastic soul and an ill-advised tempo change. They are merely extras.

Tears For Fears The Tipping Point (2022)—3

Yes 10: Going For The One

Whether or not their self-imposed break did them any good, Yes was back after a nearly three-year gap in a musical climate that had little patience for prog. They did some kickstarting, first booting Patrick Moraz in order to get Rick Wakeman back in, and ran off to Switzerland like good tax exiles to record there without Eddy Offord. Once Going For The One appeared in stores, fans would likely have been shocked to find that Roger Dean didn’t do the elaborate triptych cover, his sci-fi landscapes replaced by skyscrapers courtesy of Hipgnosis. (Their Gill Sans typeface contrasts with his logo.)

The music was a little different, too. After an audible count-in, the title track just plain rocks, with lots of slide guitar but enough Jon Anderson and keyboards to keep it sounding like Yes. His words go by too fast to discern at times, but listen closely and you’ll hear a sense of humor about himself in the third verse. All the while, Steve Howe goes nuts on the slide. “Turn Of The Century” is more like what people would expect, Jon singing wistful mystical lyrics over layered acoustic guitars. A piano solo threatens to drive the whole band into gear, but that doesn’t happen, and it just fades away. Then “Parallels” rocks almost as hard as the title track, even with the prominent church organ, and we can hear Chris Squire letting loose on his while singing (this being a leftover from his own solo album). Most of it drives in four-four, but by the end everybody’s accents—especially Steve’s constant soloing—are competing with Alan White’s busy meter.

We hear Beatlesque touches in the verse of “Wonderous Stories”, a happy hymn along the lines of “And You And I” and “Your Move”. It’s even short enough to be a hit single. But just in case you thought they’d forgotten their roots, “Awaken” runs for 15 minutes, almost as if to prove they could still do complex epics. It begins with a grandiose Wakeman piano part, then Jon wafts in before the rest of the band appears at another brisk (for them) tempo. If anything, the band sounds a little bit like recent Zeppelin. That church organ returns in the mid-section, not as grandiose as on “Parallels” but augmented by Jon’s new harp and even two real choirs (as opposed to voices from a Mellotron) as the band fills in the space. And just when you think it’s all ending on a grand major chord, Jon comes back for a coda that we think resembles post-Gabriel Genesis.

So while it had every reason to be awful, Going For The One isn’t, seeing as it contributes two standbys of Classic Rock radio and uses everyone’s strengths without being a retread. In fact, the only thing really wrong with the album is Alan White’s mustache. (The eventual expanded CD was packed to the gills, with three interesting albeit previously released outtakes, plus extended rehearsals of four of the album’s tracks, including an electric take of “Turn Of The Century”.)

Yes Going For The One (1977)—3
2003 remastered CD: same as 1977, plus 7 extra tracks

Brian Eno 29: Forever And Ever No More

Since the start of the century’s second decade, Brian Eno had kept up a fairly consistent release schedule, showing no signs of slowing down as he approached and hit his 70s. Maybe time spent locked down during the Covid pandemic inspired him to start singing again. But while ForeverAndEverNoMore indeed has vocals and lyrics throughout, it’s in no way a throwback to his first solo albums, nor even Another Day On Earth. For one, it’s very slow.

“Who Gives A Thought” rumbles into place over an ambient bed, and his sad melody wonders about the fate of the planet. The melody finds a major key for the more hopeful “We Let It In”, his daughter Darla providing the key (in this case, the sun). “Icarus Or Blériot” goes dark again, ruminating on whether we should really be exploring the skies, while “Garden Of Stars” envisions a horrible end to it all as the music increases in static and tension. The all-instrumental “Inclusion”, with violin and viola played by a musician who’d also worked for Bryan Ferry, provides respite from the gloom.

With the sounds of birds subtly in the mix, “There Were Bells” is almost poetic as it surveys the scenery, whereas “Sherry” resembles a haiku, the piano following his vocal closely. Darla returns to color “I’m Hardly Me”, her soprano helping disguise his bleak and slow words. “These Small Noises” is sung partially as a duet with Irish musician Clodagh Simonds taking the lead over Jon Hopkins’ stately, almost hymnal piano. While mostly ambient, “Making Gardens Out Of Silence In The Uncanny Valley” sports the processed voice of occasional collaborator Kyoko Inatome, whom he first met when she was a waitress at a sushi restaurant he frequented. (No, really.) It’s even more soothing than “Intrusion”, and a wonderful way to end the album. (Also, the eight-minute streaming version is five minutes shorter than the CD version.)

Just because he could, the album was remixed, tracks retitled, and released six months later in the Forever Voiceless edition, giving listeners the opportunity to get lost in the music without worrying about the planet or vocal distraction. (His, anyway; some of the other vocalists remained in the mix.) Here the album becomes a sequel more obviously in the tradition of the longer interludes on The Ship or the busier moments on Reflection—occasionally pleasant, sometimes dark.

Brian Eno ForeverAndEverNoMore (2022)—3

Slim Dunlap: The Old New Me and Times Like This

By all accounts, Bob Dunlap was a highly likeable guy about the Minneapolis music scene whose life changed when he was asked to join the Replacements as their lead guitarist. And that’s not all: because he was replacing the irreplaceable Bob Stinson, the ‘Mats insisted he go by Slim Dunlap, as if anyone would be confused otherwise.

His time in the band only lasted a couple years and a few albums, but he was welcomed by the fan base, and folks were naturally concerned for his welfare once the ‘Mats split up. He spent a bit of time touring with the also-newly solo Dan Baird from the Georgia Satellites, and while he had no desire to be a frontman, he had enough support in the Twin Cities to finance a solo album, albeit via an offshoot of Twin/Tone. The Old New Me even beat Paul Westerberg’s solo debut into stores by a few months; Westerberg is vaguely credited among the performers, one of which is future Jayhawk Tim O’Reagan.

The album is a pleasing blend of Stonesy chords and riffing (best exemplified by “Rockin’ Here Tonight”) and sh-t-kicking honky tonk. In other words, fun. “Isn’t It” is a wonderful groove with a roller-rink organ for accent. “Partners In Crime” sounds like Westerberg is in the mix, and his influence is felt on “Taken On The Chin”. The best song is “The Ballad Of The Opening Band”, a tender tribute to all those also-rans from a man who knew them well. It’s followed by a rendition of the obscure James Burton instrumental “Love Lost” for a wonderful coda.

Three years later Times Like This slipped out, with a little more money spent on the packaging, and more experimental, almost lo-fi tracking, as on the clattery “Jungle Out There” and “Chrome Lipstick”. There’s also more self-referencing of life as a working musician this time, from the first half of the band-setting-up medley of “Not Yet/Ain’t No Fair (In A Rock ‘N’ Roll Love Affair)” through “Nowheres Near” (Westerberg shows up here too) to “Radio Word Hook Hit”, which doesn’t have one. The album’s not as fun, and a little more jaded, though people like it. Bruce Springsteen even recorded a yet-to-be-released cover of “Girlfriend”.

From there he gave up on superstardom and mostly gigged around Minneapolis in between day jobs until a stroke felled him in 2012. Musicians and friends rallied to help with his medical bills, which led to the “Songs For Slim” project. The first release was a covers EP credited to the Replacements, which was mostly Westerberg and Tommy Stinson, except for Chris Mars’ one-man band rendition of “Radio Word Hook Hit” (he also did the artwork); similar benefit singles by other friends and admirers would follow, eventually collected on a double LP. His two albums were also repackaged for the first time on vinyl for a Record Store Day as My Old New Records; following his death in 2024, the going rate of his catalog, new or used, skyrocketed.

Slim Dunlap The Old New Me (1993)—3
Slim Dunlap Times Like This (1996)—2½
The Replacements Songs For Slim (2013)—2½

Van Morrison 49: Latest Record Project

As if the record business didn’t annoy him enough, Van Morrison was forced to curtail his performing career by the rude intrusion of the worldwide Covid pandemic. Naturally, he took it personally. Denied the right to play shows he released three singles in succession—“Born To Be Free”, “As I Walked Out”, and the more pointed “No More Lockdown”—as well as a collaboration with Eric Clapton on “Stand And Deliver”, as if these two guys alone were hit hardest by the crisis.

Van’s attitude extended to the title of Latest Record Project Volume 1, with cover art that resembled a multitrack tape box. Having had two years since his last album, he managed to come up with over two hours’ worth of material, and just shoved it out there. (None of the 2020 singles nor the Clapton collaborations were included.) Our first thought was this was a similar tack he took with Hymns To The Silence, and then we reeled at the concept of that album being thirty years old already.

The title track is along the lines of his other rants about the futility of the business he’s chosen, and made longer by singing it a few words at a time with the band repeating each line. “Where Have All The Rebels Gone?” is a pertinent question, except that his immediate answer is “hiding behind computer screens.” Beyond that it’s a one-chord groove with tasty rockabilly guitar. “Psychoanalysts’ Ball” would be lovely if it were about anything else, and the decent soul groove of “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished” can’t hide the fact that most of the lines don’t bother to rhyme. “Tried To Do The Right Thing” restates the thesis better, musically as well as lyrically, and sticks to romance.

It’s back to complaining on “The Long Con”, a long 12-bar blues about being a “targeted individual”, the victim of whoever’s “pulling the strings”. He finds the joy in music in “Thank God For The Blues”, but it’s hard to think of “Big Lie” as anything else but a modern rant for which he roped in British blues belter Chris Farlowe. If only he’d left out the first verse and called it something else. “A Few Bars Early” is a clever idea, and suitably brooding.

We would bet actual money that Van was familiar with the blues standard “It Hurts Me Too”, but based on his song of the same name, he missed the point (hint: it’s called empathy). “Only A Song” seems to suggest that he can’t be held accountable for whatever he’s spewed, but at least he plays a decent alto sax. “Diabolic Pressure” must have kept him limited to two chords and a variation thereof outside of the bridge, “Deadbeat Saturday Night” is full of obvious rhymes, and we get the point by the time of “Blue Funk”, an otherwise decent song—the slap at “mainstream media” aside—but we’re only halfway through this album.

The message of “Double Agent” is muddled, with its slaps at MI5 and Kool-Aid, and “Double Bind” (which begins with the revelation that “mind control keeps you in line”) is just as paranoid. “Love Should Come With A Warning” is very welcome change of pace, and “Breaking The Spell” finds comfort in nature, even if the chorus is unoriginal. “Up County Down” is just plain confusing; there are lots of Irish references in the lyrics, along with calls back to earlier points in his career, but he couldn’t be bothered to add more than a mandolin and banjo to the R&B combo, and the chorus is about as inspired as “Blowin’ Your Nose” or “Nose In Your Blow”.

“Duper’s Delight” would be a wonderful reverie straight off of Into The Music or No Guru, No Method, No Teacher but for its diatribe against the lies “they” (probably female newscasters) are telling you. He strums a fine guitar on “My Time After A While”, another competent blues otherwise tainted in this context, and while no sax player is credited, that sounds like him too. “He’s Not The Kingpin” is sung in unison with P.J. Proby, another special guest forced to sing about the media’s agenda. “Mistaken Identity” is yet another example where he insists that we don’t really know him, which is laughable considering his slanted material.

The home stretch isn’t promising. The Bo Diddley retread “Stop Bitching, Do Something” might as well have been titled “Put Up Or Shut Up”. “Western Man” has a mild country swing but again is too busy hurling insults to attempt to rhyme. No points for guessing what “They Control The Media” is about, but there’s no beating “Why Are You On Facebook?” for inanity. Finally, “Jealousy” is his answer to anyone who’s still on his lawn, in case “Mistaken Identity” didn’t make it clear.

Anyone who’s followed Van’s career closely to this point will have already realized he is possibly the grumpiest millionaire this side of a Dickens novel, and it’s hard to imagine anyone taking his side. Six songs out of 28 isn’t even a decent batting average, but if he’d taken those and found other lyrics to the likes of “Duper’s Delight”, we might have actually had a concise album worthy of his voice, which is still as strong as ever. But no.

Van Morrison Latest Record Project Volume 1 (2021)—2

Jane’s Addiction 2: Nothing’s Shocking

Thanks to a major label deal and a lot of press, Jane’s Addiction broke into mainstream success with Nothing’s Shocking. And right out of the gate, they were controversial, with cover art and lyrics requiring the now ubiquitous parental advisory sticker. That didn’t distract too much from the music, which sported plenty of guitars, electric and acoustic dynamics, and a vocal delivery that garnered more complimentary comparisons than other children of Led Zeppelin at the time.

The album begins, as many of their songs do, with a simple Eric Avery bass riff that barely hints at what’s to follow. A few power chords are hit and held, then drums join to match the rhythm and a melody appears. After some riffs and lyrics consisting of “here we go” and “home”, and that’s “Up The Beach”. An Arthur Lee-style acoustic intro belies the power of “Ocean Size”, and while it does reappear to help the verses breathe, it’s mostly a chance for Perry Farrell to yell in between Dave Navarro’s fretwork. “Had A Dad” is the first real song with non-abstract lyrics, in this case, the grunge generation ongoing absent parent issues. Stephen Perkins gets to explore his kit at the start of “Ted, Just Admit It…”; besides showing their predilection for ellipses, an actual soundbite from Ted Bundy is added to enforce the thesis that sex is violent and provide the album title. The double-time coda takes the tune to the next level. “Standing In The Shower… Thinking” sports a scratchy funk rhythm that would become their trademark.

It’s been something of an aural onslaught, so the dreamier, romantic “Summertime Rolls” provides a welcome change of pace, though it too amplifies for a spell. “Mountain Song” brings back the aggression big time, then to double down on the funk, “Idiots Rule” sports a horn section courtesy of two guys from Fishbone and the Chili Peppers’ Flea playing a very accomplished trumpet. “Jane Says” is upgraded from the first album, given a boost with very melodic steel drums for percussion, and still remains catchy despite, again, two chords. “Thank You Boys” is a snappy goof that serves to close the album, but only on the vinyl. Both cassette and CD got a bonus in a remake of “Pigs In Zen” for another profane rant.

While this summation may not be as descriptive as we like, the music really does speak for itself. Nothing’s Shocking deftly straddled heavy metal and college alternative, making them a band to watch. And for a while, they were. All these years later it still sounds fresh, and free of the trappings of ‘80s production standards. Not bad for a bunch of kids and their older frontman.

Jane’s Addiction Nothing’s Shocking (1988)—4

Elton John 26: Live In Australia

Elton’s 1986 tour of Australia followed almost immediately on the world tour he’d started the year before, which was initially in support of Ice On Fire but went on to attempt to put some life into Leather Jackets. What was different about the leg down under was the approach: 26 performances were spread throughout five venues, and each featured his band in the first half, then Elton performed accompanied by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra while bedecked in powdered wig, beauty mark, and colonial costume a la Mozart.

Such an event was just screaming to be documented, and the following year a live album highlighting the orchestral portion appeared, alongside a home video with selections from both halves. In the US, the album was pointedly released on MCA, signaling that he too had had it with being on Geffen. (A few songs weren’t included, partially due to the then-limited capacity of a CD.)

From the start he sounds raspy; indeed he would have throat surgery immediately after the tour. But it’s an adventurous program, beginning with three deep cuts from his second, eponymous album. The grand spectacle of “Tonight” is followed by the more recognizable “Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word” from the same album. “The King Must Die” goes back to the second album, and does the more rocking “Take Me To The Pilot”, and by now he’s really enjoying himself. The band nicely balances the orchestra on “Tiny Dancer”.

“Have Mercy On The Criminal” was one of Elton’s personal favorites, he says, specifically because of the original Paul Buckmaster arrangement, fleshed out here but still with plenty of space for Davey Johnstone to solo. “Madman Across The Water” has power but not enough menace for our taste, but the surprise hit single was “Candle In The Wind”, performed by Elton solo with some keyboard help (plus vintage Marilyn Monroe footage in the video). This would become the song’s go-to version for the next ten years. “Burn Down The Mission” gets a little derailed at the end with backing vocalists chanting “burn it down,” but “Your Song” is treated a little more respectfully. While “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” was the standard closer, here it’s omitted and replaced by “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”.

After the embarrassment that was Leather Jackets, Elton was back, so to speak. He’d insist he was never away, but Live In Australia was still a nice reminder of what he could do as well as what he had done, and managed to please long-suffering fans along with new converts.

Elton John Live In Australia With The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (1987)—3

John Cale 8: Guts and The Island Years

By 1977 John Cale was the definition of a cult figure, but he was gaining notice as a daring live performer, whether beheading chickens or inspiring Jason Voorhees by wearing a hockey mask onstage. This was likely the reason why his label decided to release the Guts compilation. Put together by soon-to-be-legendary A&R man Howard Thompson, it focused on Cale’s more aggressive recordings. (The back cover also kindly listed every musician who had played on them.)

For collectors, it offered quite a bit. After opening with the “title track”, “Mary Lou” was a rockin’ outtake from Helen Of Troy, then three more songs are included from that non-U.S. album, including the suddenly rare “Leaving It All Up To You”. Side two is split between tracks from Fear (the title track being the most comparatively quiet part of the album, until its end, of course) and Slow Dazzle. All together it was listenable, and certainly very representative, if a little constricted.

Fast forward to 1996, when Cale was more respected as an elder statesman and an inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame with the Velvet Underground. The Island label had already done a nice job anthologizing many of their artists, and while they could have reissued his albums individually with bonus tracks, they made the smart economic move to maximize disc length with The Island Years, which fit all three albums onto two CDs—although “The Jeweller” was shorter for some reason—fleshed out with outtakes and rarities in context. The lovely “Sylvia Said” is a remix of a B-side, and very much along the lines of the poppier songs on Vintage Violence and Paris 1919. So too are “All I Want Is You” and “Bamboo Floor”, which would have stuck out on Slow Dazzle. Ensuring “Leaving It All Up To You” stays in context, the edgy “You & Me” and “Mary Lou” bookend “Coral Moon”. All together, a very busy two years. (Rhino’s 1994 Seducing Down The Door compilation sampled the same period but within the context of the rest of his solo career, up to his 1990 collaborations with Lou Reed and Brian Eno, so this was certainly preferred.)

John Cale Guts (1977)—3
John Cale The Island Years (1996)—3

Queen 11: Greatest Hits

At the start of the ‘80s, Queen was still huge, the Flash Gordon soundtrack notwithstanding. As they had more than enough for a greatest hits album, their label went ahead and released not just one, but different sequences in different countries, depeding on what qualified. And here’s where it gets confusing.

In the US, side one began with “Another One Bites The Dust”, having been so huge here, before going back to “Bohemian Rhapsody”, which opened the set practically everywhere else. “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” brought it current again, then it was back to “Killer Queen”. “Fat Bottom Girls” and “Bicycle Race” are still in the wrong order to these ears, but the real draw was “Under Pressure”, the brand new (and stellar) collaboration with David Bowie. After the one-two punch of “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions” starting side two, the single version of “Flash” doesn’t sell that album very well, but “Somebody To Love” and “You’re My Best Friend” are always welcome. The single version of “Keep Yourself Alive” is still a kicker, though “Play The Game” is still kinda underwhelming. The packaging was not elaborate but still nice, with custom labels and an inner sleeve that helpfully said what songs came from what albums.

Eleven years later, after Freddie had died, their American distribution changed, and Wayne’s World revived interest in the band, the label wanted a companion to the previous year’s Classic Queen, which mostly focused on the later years of the band but still included “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Under Pressure”, and “Keep Yourself Alive”. So the updated Greatest Hits repeated and reshuffled the rest of the first one (save “Flash”) and included songs that were on the British version of the first hits album, such as “Don’t Stop Me Now”, “Save Me”, and “Now I’m Here”, but also threw in “Body Language” and “I Want To Break Free”. The older additions were welcome, but three songs stuck on the other album were missed. (New cover art underscored that this was not the original 1981 sequence.)

It wasn’t until 2004 that the original UK sequence was released in America, with three odd extras: “I’m In Love With My Car”, and two songs from that year’s release of their 1982 Hollywood Bowl concert of the album. But for those of us who loved that first US hits album, there’s always Spotify.

Queen Greatest Hits (1981)—4
Queen Greatest Hits (1992)—4
Current CD availability: none