|
|
Where to buy the best albums? Great vinyl records!
 |
Spyro Gyra - Rites Of Summer - Vinyl LP on MCA Records
1998's Rites of Summer is the album on which Spyro Gyra once and for all abandons every pretense toward being anything other than a slickly commercial instrumental pop outfit with occasional feints toward the smoothest of smooth jazz. As always with Spyro Gyra, the slower and more impressionistic tunes are much more interesting than the upbeat songs. Where "Daddy's Got a New Girl Now" sounds like the backing track to an unreleased Deniece Williams single and "No Man's Land" and "Captain Karma" sound as if they were written as background music for the local forecasts on The Weather Channel, "Claire's Dream," by bandleader and saxophonist Jay Beckenstein, is haunting and memorable, and keyboardist Tom Schuman's "Innocent Soul" is a downright lovely mélange of Brian Eno and Erik Satie at their most lyrical. Fans who admired the more complex and occasionally even edgy sound of Spyro Gyra's earliest albums will be disappointed, but those who liked the rest of their '80s releases will find this comfortingly familiar.
|
 |
The Screaming Tribesman - Bones plus Flowers - Vinyl album on Rykodisc Records 1988
Bones plus Flowers is the most appealing effort by Australian combo Screaming Tribesmen - a melodic pop album that resembles a muscular Let's Active. I've Got a Feeling was distributed internationally and featured on MTVs 120 Minutes at the time, and the Tribesmens appearance in the midst of the Church's breakthrough with Starfish seemed to presage an Australian Invasion that never came to pass. Screaming Tribesmen might have better reached the alternative audience if they hadn't looked like a heavy metal band; likewise, the band's name and album art didn't come close to matching the mood of their music. The Tribesmen didn't last long after the commercial disappointment of Bones plus Flowers, but the album remains a sturdy collection of recordings, with the catchy, jangly Girl in My Dreams and Dream Away as highlights.
|
 |
Rig - Belly To The Ground - Vinyl album on Cruz Records
California industrial-punksters Rig first appeared on a split 7-inch single with Oiler on the flipside. Mr. Ibarra (megaphone vocals), Mr. Wabschall (bass, vocals, programming) and Mr. Palacios (guitar, programming) were then signed to Cruz Records; their full-length debut, Belly to the Ground, was produced by Greg Ginn. King of the Soft Serve followed in 1997.
|
 |
Level 42 - The Pursuit Of Accidents - Vinyl LP on Polydor Records UK
At the beginning of their career, Level 42 was a jazz-funk fusion band, following in the footsteps of such pioneers as Stanley Clarke. By the end of the '80s, they were a pop-R&B band with a number of hit singles to their credit. Featuring Mark King (bass, vocals), Phil Gould (drums), Boon Gould (guitar), and Mike Lindup (keyboards), the band formed in 1980. Before they released their first single, "Love Meeting Love," the band was pushed to add vocals to their music in order to give it a more commercial sound; they complied, with King becoming the lead singer. Released in 1981, their self-titled debut album was a slick soul-R&B collection that charted in the U.K. Top 20, resulting in the release of The Early Tapes by their former record label, Polydor. Level 42 had several minor hit singles before 1984's "The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up)" hit the British Top Ten. Released in late 1985, World Machine broke the band worldwide; "Lessons in Love" hit number one in Britain and "Something About You" hit number seven in America. Their next two records, Running in the Family (1987) and Staring at the Sun (1988), were a big success in the U.K., yet only made some headway in the U.S. Both of the Gould brothers left the band in late 1987; they were replaced by guitarist Alan Murphy and drummer Gary Husband. Murphy died of AIDS-related diseases in 1989; he was replaced by the renowned fusion guitarist Alan Holdsworth for 1991's Guaranteed. The band followed Guaranteed in 1995 with Forever Now
|
 |
Sky - The Mozart Album - Classic rock vinyl album on Mercury Records
SKY is a British-Australian classic rock band formed in London in 1978 by classic guitarist John Williams (not to be confused with the American movie score composer of the same name), keyboarder Francis Monkman (of Curved Air fame), guitarist Kevin Peek, bassist Herbie Flowers and drummer Tristan Fry. Their unique style combined with the virtuosity of the individual members and easy accessibility of the compositions quickly gained them a huge and steady fan base. The absolute highlight of this era was a concert in Westminster Abbey in February 1981 (in fact the first ever rock concert there) which was video taped by BBC.
|
 |
Preacher Jack - Rock 'N' Roll Preacher - Vinyl LP on Rounder Records
Preacher Jack is the stage name of John Lincoln Coughlin (born February 12, 1942), who is an American pianist. Coughlin taught himself piano growing up in Malden, Massachusetts, and became an underground success playing in Boston in the 1960s and 1970s. George Thorogood heard him play and had him signed to Rounder Records, for whom he would record two albums in the 1980s. He took an extended break from recording in the 1990s and continued touring, finally releasing new material, including another album on Rounder, late in the decade.
|
 |
Bob Franke - Brief Histories - Vinyl album on Flying Fish Records
Bob Franke's plans to become a priest were altered by his decision to become a singer/songwriter. But, in the more than two decades since, Franke's songs have continued to reflect his deep-rooted spiritual commitments. While his acoustic melodies and poetic lyricism are tied to the singer/songwriter tradition, his use of Biblical imagery and Christian sensitivity give his tunes their unique vision. His ability to address moral issues without sounding proselytizing or dogmatic has enabled his songs, including "The Great Storm Is Over," "For Real," "Thanksgiving Eve" and "Beggars to God," to be covered by a lengthy list of folk-rooted artists, including Claudia Schmidt, Tony Rice, Lui Collins, June Tabor, John McCutcheon, David Wilcox, Garnet Rogers and Peter, Paul & Mary.
|
 |
Marshall Chapman - Take It On Home - Vinyl album on Rounder Records 1982
She was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the daughter of a cotton mill owner. In 1957, she was taken to an Elvis Presley concert. This, she claims, changed her from a southern debutante to a nascent rock and roller. She went to Vanderbilt University in 1967 and majored in French. Her songs have been recorded by such diverse artists such as Conway Twitty, Joe Cocker, Sawyer Brown and Emmylou Harris.
|
 |
The Chameleons - The Fan And The Bellows : A Collection Of Classic Early Recongs - UK import vinyl album on Hybrid Records
The Chameleons (called The Chameleons UK on some American releases) were a dream pop/post-punk band that formed in Middleton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England in 1981 (see 1981 in music). They consisted of singer and bassist Mark Burgess, guitarist Reg Smithies, guitarist Dave Fielding, drummer John Lever as well as keyboardists Alistair Lewthwaite and Andy Clegg. Their body of work is still critically acclaimed within the music press and influenced bands as diverse as The Smiths, Protokoll, The Comsat Angels, Puressence, Interpol, Editors. Through Mark Burgess' penetrating vocals and dark and ironic lyrics, their songs often dealt with personal themes of childlike innocence and a reverence for nostalgia. Musically, perhaps most notable in their work was the band's innovative and distinctive use of dual guitar melodies, courtesy of Reg Smithies and Dave Fielding, as opposed to the traditional rhythm-and-lead guitarist format prevalent in rock music even to this day. These arrangements were often characterized by the use of delay and choral effects. The Chameleons' unique sound is quite often compared to U2's The Edge.
|
|
