Content tagged 'aod'

With its sophomore effort, the double album BEING THERE, Wilco maintained the gravitas of roots music it established on its debut without being hemmed in by it, creating a 21st century version of folk music that mixes happy-go-lucky rockers (“Monday”) and ballads (“Red-Eyed And Blue”), with two signature songs from the Wilco canon – “Misunderstood” and “Sunken Treasure.” The new 5-CD Deluxe Edition of the 1996 collection builds on the original with 15 bonus tracks released for the first time, including alternate versions of tracks “I Got You” and “Say You Miss Me,” as well as Wilco’s 20-song performance at the Troubadour from November 12, 1996, and four songs the band played on radio station KCRW the next day. BEING THERE has been cited by both Rolling Stone and Pitchfork as one of the 100 best albums of the 1990s, and this is the definitive look at the seminal album.

Previously known as The Tikis, Harper's Bizarre was one of the leading exponents of “sunshine pop” during the latter half of the 1960s. Following a hit cover of Simon & Garfunkel's “The 59th Street Bridge Song,” the quintet carved out a niche at Warner Bros. Records with several breezy albums of richly layered harmony vocals and beautiful arrangements. The group's second album, 1967's ANYTHING GOES, features 14 songs split between vintage standards like the Cole Porter title track and new material from the likes of Randy Newman, Van Dyke Parks and band members Dick Scoppettone & Ted Templeman (yep, the future hit producer).  ANYTHING GOES celebrates its 50th anniversary this month, but its distinctive mix of pre-rock and pre-singer-songwriter material gives it an ageless appeal.

Emmylou Harris' talent was evident when she was singing in the shadow of Gram Parsons, and grew undeniable as her solo career progressed. Her second album, ELITE HOTEL, was released this month in 1975, and shows that Emmylou has a great ear as well as a great voice; the songs here offer an engaging mix of Parsons' cosmic Americana, pop-rock (a wonderful take on The Beatles “Here, There And Everywhere”) and country standards from decades past (“Sweet Dreams” and “Together Again,” both No.1 Country singles). Harris and producer Brian Ahern assembled a pretty hot band for these sessions, including James Burton, Byron Berline and former Eagle Bernie Leadon – not to mention Rodney Crowell and Jo-El Sonnier, who appear on the two bonus tracks of the Expanded & Remastered Edition of ELITE HOTEL.

Dokken's meteoric rise through the 1980s L.A. glam metal scene reached its apogee with BACK FOR THE ATTACK. The 1987 Elektra album shows the quartet blazing through 13 melodic headbangers including “Kiss Of Death,” “Burning Like A Flame” and “Dream Warriors” (the latter immortalized in an installment of the Nightmare On Elm Street film franchise). Anchored by a tight rhythm section, namesake frontman Don Dokken and guitarist George Lynch both soar to new heights, and fans responded, driving the album to #13 on the Billboard chart and platinum sales certification. The final studio set before Dokken's 1989 split, the ambitious and enjoyable BACK FOR THE ATTACK remains a fan favorite.

From the first show the Grateful Dead played in St. Louis in 1968, local fans knew that the Gateway City’s rich musical heritage had a unique way of coaxing the best out of the band. Now available as a 3-CD or 5-LP set, FOX THEATRE, ST. LOUIS, MO (12/10/71) features the original Grateful Dead lineup of Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan and Bob Weir, plus newcomer Keith Godchaux on piano. While the previously unreleased concert includes such Dead classics as “Casey Jones,” “Sugar Magnolia” and “Truckin’” (as well as a Christmastime tip of the hat to native legend Chuck Berry on “Run Rudolph Run”), the jamming is the real treat here, ebbing and flowing like the mighty Mississippi River. FOX THEATRE, ST. LOUIS, MO (12/10/71) shows an inspired band eager to grow and take their fans along for the ride.

Always a critical favorite, Roberta Flack had also become a commercial force by the time of her sixth studio album, BLUE LIGHTS IN THE BASEMENT. Accordingly, Atlantic lavished plenty of attention on the 1977 set, recruiting a legion of top instrumentalists (like Hugh McCracken, Ronnie Foster and Steve Gadd) well attuned to the performer's distinctive blend of R&B, jazz and singer-songwriter intimacy. Co-producer Gene McDaniels penned three of the ten tracks, including standouts “Why Don't You Move in with Me” and “25th of Last December,” but it was the Donny Hathaway duet “The Closer I Get to You” that scored on the singles chart, reaching #2. On the album chart, BLUE LIGHTS IN THE BASEMENT made the Top 10, and the richly romantic collection is a great way to warm up a cold evening.

While Led Zeppelin cut some of the greatest records in history, the band also helped launch other hitmakers through its label, Swan Song. Among those was U.K. supergroup Bad Company, formed by ex-members of Free, King Crimson and Mott The Hoople. Bad Company's eponymous debut must have had Page and Plant looking over their shoulders as the set soared to No.1 on the chart on its way to platinum sales status. Of the eight tracks on the album, more than half would spend years in rotation on AOR and classic rock radio - “Rock Steady,” “Ready For Love,” “Movin’ On,” the title song and “Can’t Get Enough,” which hit #1 on the Cashbox singles on this day in 1974. Surely the quartet's finest hour, BAD COMPANY remains at the pinnacle of blues-based hard rock.

To date the final album from one of the most popular bands of the rock era, LONG ROAD OUT OF EDEN is the Eagles doing what they do best. The band's first studio double-length set shows every facet of their sound, from riff-driven rockers (“Frail Grasp on the Big Picture”) to country influenced gems (“How Long”) to peaceful, easy balladry (“I Don't Want to Hear Anymore”), and members Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit all get a chance to shine. While the sometimes topical lyrics leave no doubt that this is a contemporary recording, these songs would've been right at home on one of the group's classic albums of the 1970s – particularly when their trademark harmonies kick in. The multi-platinum LONG ROAD OUT OF EDEN peaked at #1 on the Billboard 200 this month in 2007, and it's a career coda worthy of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.

Nearing the end of her Asylum contract, Joni Mitchell felt the freedom to stretch a bit musically, and the double album DON JUAN'S RECKLESS DAUGHTER was the result. Her love affair with jazz continues on the 1977 collection, which features four members of Weather Report as backing musicians (bassist Jaco Pastorius' playing is simply sublime). But Chaka Khan and Eagle Glenn Frey are also guests – this is a set that's impossible to pigeonhole, particularly when you hit the percussion-driven “The Tenth World” or the side-long “Paprika Plains,” a spoken piece with improvised piano and orchestration. Mitchell's lyrical insight remains strong, and if it's not the usual gateway to the legendary singer-songwriter's work, DON JUAN'S RECKLESS DAUGHTER is a fan favorite for good reason.

Cut during the European leg of their HEAVY HORSES tour, BURSTING OUT is the definitive live Jethro Tull album. With deeper cuts peppered in among such favorites as “Aqualung,” “Thick as a Brick” and “Locomotive Breath,” the song selection touches on blues, folk and progressive rock, showcasing every facet of the U.K. group's music. The well-recorded Chrysalis collection was produced by frontman Ian Anderson, whose flute work - and between-song banter - is terrific throughout, as is Martin Barre's guitar playing and the powerful rhythm section of drummer Barriemore Barlow and bassist John Glascock (who died of congenital heart failure on this day in 1979). Anyone curious about what made Jethro Tull one of the most popular arena attractions of the 1970s need look no further than BURSTING OUT.