What Are You Listening To?

[CMB1888]

The Whiten Stripes - De Stijl

- now with added nostalgia

[CMB1888]

really like this album as well!

[CRAZY-HORSE]

THE JIM JONES REVUE "burning your house down",2010, cd.

when i first read about The Jim Jones Revue in november-ish 2010 they were touted as "the new Little Richard!", now, this tag given to them had me in two minds.firstly, it got my curiousity up, and secondly, i was more than a bit suspect of the tag as labels and tags are thrown around far too often and far too quick in regards to bands nowadays....
but anyway, curiousity got the better of me and i watched a few tracks by the band on youtube and eventually had the cd in my possession by xmas 2010, ive only got to hear it over the last few days and was pleasantly surprised.
yes, there are similarities between the vocals of the band and Little Richard on occasions, yes, there are a few "Ooohs" and "woo hoos", and yes there is a lot of piano pounding reminiscent of not only Little richard but also the other rockin' pianist, Jerry Lee Lewis.
along with that the music bears a slight resemblance to the Clash's heavier moments in parts, all of which makes for interesting listening and a fairly unique sound.
the album itself, lasts little over thirty minutes and doesnt let up from beginning to end. it was produced by Bad Seeds/Grinderman drummer Jim Sclavunos.
the two best tracks here, unfortunately, have no links and there are only links for half the albums songs...but that is probably enough to whet your appitite...or supress it???
by chance, while searching the links i found a fairly good cover version of Elvis' "big hunk of love" performed live by the band, i guess that shows their inspiration is based in 1950s rock 'n' roll

I LIKE THIS ALBUM

worst track: foghorn
best track: stop the people

tracks:

1. dishonest john**
2. high horse**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru92Y49DLIw live, above two tracks
3. foghorn*
4. big len**
5. premeditated***
6. burning your house down**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPVi8BBQWeI live
7. shoot first**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYOZpCLvX1U live
8. elemental**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3ur6QowQbM video
9. killin' spree**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uHOMN0pGCw live
10.righteous wrong**
11. stop the people***

bonus link big hunk of love http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae5d7DqgpNw live

3s=2
2s=8
1s=1

rating 2.0

[Music Head]

from my library (cd)



Another of those $5 purchases I picked up a few weeks back. Probably not worth much more than that. Although it is a little better than the debut I got at the same time. This is the groups third album. A couple of nice tracks but with 16 tracks it wears thin. A lot of mid range tracks but neither of these 2 albums I've bought inspires me to pursue the band any further. Ok fine, maybe at the $5 price, but certainly not retail. Apparently the public saw more than I did here, as the album went to #3 here in the U.S. and #8 in the U.K. Single of I Just Wanna Live screeched to a halt at #51 here. A hidden track which was ok and thanks for the 2:30 of silence to get to it.

I LIKE THIS ALBUM

Worst Track - Once Upon A Time: The Battle Of Life And Death

Best Track - I Just Wanna Live

I need an alarm system in my house
So I know when people are creepin' about
These people are freakin' me out (these days)
It's getting hectic everywhere that I go
They won't leave me alone
There's things they all wanna know
I'm paranoid about the people I meet
Why are they talkin' to me
And why can't anyone see

I just wanna live
Don't really care about the things that they say
Don't really care about what happens to me
I just wanna live

Just wanna live (6x)

I rock a law suit when I'm goin' to court
A white suit when I'm getting divorced
A black suit at the funeral home
and my birthday suit when I'm home alone
talking on the phone
Got an interview with the Rolling Stone
They're sayin' "Now you're rich and now you're famous
fake ass girls all know your name and
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,
Your first hit it, aren't you ashamed
Of the life, of the life, of the life We're livin"

I just wanna live
Don't really care about the things that they say
Don't really care about what happens to me
I just wanna live

Stop ~your~ messin' around boy
Better think of your future
Better make some good plans boy
Said every one of my teachers
Look out, you better play it safe
You never know what hard times will come your way
We say, where we're comin' from
We've already seen the worst that this life can bring

Now we expect it everywhere that we go
All the things that they say
Yeah we already know

I just wanna live
Don't really care about the things that they say
Don't really care about what happens to me

(Just wanna live [3x])

I just wanna live
(just wanna live [3x])
I just wanna live
(just wanna live [3x])
Don't really care about the things that they say
(just wanna live [3x])
Don't really care about what happens to me
I just wanna live

1) Once Upon A Time: The Battle Of Life And Death - *
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3gRyrZF0x8
2) The Chronicles Of Life And Death - **
video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cqKCb8Ydpc
3) Walk Away (Maybe) - **
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrjmmvE1nQo
4) S.O.S. - **
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adCCgXthH9k
5) I Just Wanna Live - ***
video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rISYCquFeI8
6) Ghost Of You - ***
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1z_23nMI3Y
7) Predictable - **
video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js8pCCxcVuc
8) Secrets - *
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaAmZye6Ut8
9) The Truth - **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsWo1ariMTE
10) The World Is Black - **
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z14LROPxfGY
11) Mountain - **
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc6ovqs5cUo
12) We Believe - **
video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ELD1Ye_pws
13) It Wasn't Enough - *
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI-Wdre74Us
14) In This World (Murder) - **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwYB2p9lTwk
15) Falling Away - *
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q2PkPfc_VU
16) Wounded - **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3iBYNvhoE4

3's - 2
2's - 10
1's - 4

Grade - 1.9

[CRAZY-HORSE]

like you, im not really a fan of this band, had a couple of ok singles but thats it for me.

with the 2:30 of silence between the last track and the hidden track...dont you hate that???? Alanis Morrissette "jagged little pill" album has the same problem in the lead up to the hidden track...its so annoying to say the least!

[Music Head]

from my library (cd)



Leonards second album, with a softer sound than the debut. I preferred the first over this one, yet it still scores up there. Whatever you like Leonard. You da man. Probably one of his most well known tracks here with Bird On The Wire, yet still not known by the masses. Leonard never made music for the asses.....uh....I mean masses. typo there. That's probably the only track on here that anyone other than a Cohen fanatic would know. One thing I don't like here is the presence of that Jews harp on many tracks. He must have had a fondness for it here. I don't. Other than that, mostly superb tracks. Surprising to me that country boy Charlie Daniels plays bass on the album. Two bonus tracks on this cd version which are actually are just earlier versions of Bird On The Wire and You Know Who I Am and I do not include them in the grade or track listing. Kind of pointless to me. The album reached #63 in the U.S. and a surprise to me of a #2 in the U.K. Kickass rockin' hoedown live clip on that last track.

I LOVE THIS ALBUM

Worst Track - The Butcher

Best Track - Seems So Long Ago, Nancy

It seems so long ago,
Nancy was alone,
looking ate the Late Late show
through a semi-precious stone.
In the House of Honesty
her father was on trial,
in the House of Mystery
there was no one at all,
there was no one at all.
It seems so long ago,
none of us were strong;
Nancy wore green stockings
and she slept with everyone.
She never said she'd wait for us
although she was alone,
I think she fell in love for us
in nineteen sixty one,
in nineteen sixty one.
It seems so long ago,
Nancy was alone,
a forty five beside her head,
an open telephone.
We told her she was beautiful,
we told her she was free
but none of us would meet her in
the House of Mystery,
the House of Mystery.
And now you look around you,
see her everywhere,
many use her body,
many comb her hair.
In the hollow of the night
when you are cold and numb
you hear her talking freely then,
she's happy that you've come,
she's happy that you've come.

1) Bird On The Wire - ***
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjem3G_QsKA
2) Story Of Isaac - ***
video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIQOmbIMYls
3) A Bunch Of Lonesome Heroes - **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adZkLeX9YRE
4) The Partisan - **
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_223jKXKgQ
5) Seems So Long Ago, Nancy - ***
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVXsuJkrkBY
6) The Old Revolution - **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNN0804olxw
7) The Butcher - **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoArm1nkTnA
8) You Know Who I Am - ***
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPkUyPU6nw4
9) Lady Midnight - **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGjoyKTX2w4
10) Tonight Will Be Fine - ***
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBdSr1v641s

3's - 5
2's - 5
1's - 0

Grade - 2.5

[Music Head]

from my library (vinyl)



Sure not much available on this album. Only one recorded with The Shot. Brinsley Schwartz is still with him here. Don't know the others, but it does say they had played with him previously. This album contains Grahams biggest U.S. single of Wake Up (#39), which is also my favorite, and the album went to #57 here. Graham was never a big success here, except to me. Don't see that the album charted in the U.K. How is he viewed over there? One other excellent track on here for me, with a couple of bombs to average it out to an even like status. Youtube sure let me down on this one. Nothing for my favs with only two available, and they are live clips from recent shows, so not very representative of the album.

I LIKE THIS ALBUM

Worst Track - Take Everything

Best Track - Wake Up (Next To Me)

I can't have no objection to the world outside
I don't have no complaints against life's one way ride
I know I'm sleeping with an angel and this devil's in luck
Oooooooh wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up
I've been dreamin for too long
I guess something's always wrong unless I
Wake up, next to you, I wanna
Wake up, next to you you
Oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh oooh
Oooh ooh, ooh ooh, ooh ooh, ooh ooh, yeah
The Summer's left a spell on us, magic and gold
The tarmac's cracked and shimmering, up on the road
I know I'm walking with an angel down a hot avenue
Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up
I've been dreamin for too long
I guess something's always wrong unless I
Wake up, next to you, I'm gonna wake up
Wake up, next to you ooooooo (Sax solo)
You know what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna pick up the telephone
Right now and I'm gonna call information and I'm gonna say to 'em
"Where is she right now? Cause I want you and I need you"
And I wanna hear her say: "Hey baby, Wake up!" (bass riff from
"must be my imagination")
Wake up, next to you, I'm gonna wake up
Wake up, next to you you
Oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh oooh
Oooh ooh, ooh ooh, ooh ooh, ooh ooh, yeah

1) Break Them Down - **
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDW90zcbjEI
2) Mighty Rivers - **
3) Lunatic Fringe - **
4) Wake Up (Next To You) - ***
5) When You Do That To Me - *
6) The Weekends Too Short - **
7) Take Everything - *
8) Black Lincoln Continental - **
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quZCr-7aj5w
9) Canned Laughter - **
10) Everyones Hand Is On The Switch - ***
11) Locked Into Green - **

3's - 2
2's - 7
1's - 2

Grade - 2.0

[Tiggi]

^ I'd say Graham Parker used to be critically revered over here, but hasn't really seen much significant popular success at all.

Squeezing Out Sparks caught the New Wave zeitgeist, and became mandatory listening for about six months, but he's been pretty much underground since.

[Music Head]

from my library (vinyl)



Another one where if you would have asked me if I owned it, before I pulled it out of the box, I would have probably said no. A live album, yet nothing to indicate that until you play it. Not that it's bad, rather good for a live album to me. Not a huge setting so audience impact is minimal. Recorded at the Marque in London. Includes tracks back from his Soft Boys days up through the latest studio release at the time. A little more rock than I am used to the group being, but that's probably normal for their live performances. No surprise to me, the album never charted anywhere I can find. Still it comes out with a pretty good score for a live album. The included clips are not live as would be heard from this album.

I LIKE THIS ALBUM

Worst Track - Brenda's Iron Sledge

Best Track - Heaven

You've got heaven
Heaven in your hand
You've got heaven
Running through your land
Why don't you fight for it?
You're right for it, you know
Why don't you kill for it
Get ill for it also?

You've got heaven
You've got heaven
You've got arms and you've got legs and you've got heaven

Heaven in your eyes
You've got heaven
Don't you recognize?
And when you wake for it
You'll ache for it all night
And when you dream for it
You'll scream for it all right

You've got heaven
You've got heaven
You've got arms and you've got legs and you've got heaven

You've got heaven
Every single time
You've got heaven
Every single climb
And when you seek for it
You peak for it all day
And when you choose for it
You'll ooze for it, I'll say

You've got heaven
You're just heaven
You're just heaven
You've got arms and you've got legs and you've got heaven
You've got arms and you've got legs and you've got heaven
You've got arms, legs, heaven
You've got arms, you've got legs, you've got heaven
You've got arms
You've got legs, and you've got heaven
Arms, use your legs, and you've got heaven

1) Sometimes I Wish I Was A Pretty Girl - **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaGXwyWhAVI
2) Kingdom Of Love - **
3) Acid Bird - **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXTAo5TRPBw
4) The Cars She Used To Drive - *
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c53JPVdY-A
5) My Wife And My Dead Wife - ***
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypvBLRJnbrQ
6) Brenda's Iron Sledge - *
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckpRHX880Po
7) Leppo & The Jooves - **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4SJTkkohMw
8) America - **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaaOrWRb_qc
9) Heaven - ***
video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5jo1WRanF8
10) Listening To The Higsons - *
video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrBy4zvBZVw
11) The Face Of Death - **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ3QFDzQ_ws

3's - 2
2's - 6
1's - 3

Grade - 1.9

[CRAZY-HORSE]

not bad at all MH, never heard of them, just checked my 'bible' and they had a minor hit here in 1988 called "balloon man"...never heard that one either until i looked it up on YT while looking at your links.
has similar vocal quality to Paul Kelly IMO...gonna have to check 'em out further on w'end