This compilation includes outtakes, rehearsals, and alternative takes from Dylan’s Shot Of Love, Infidels, and Empire Burlesque period. This box came out in 2021 and I brought it to the Desert Sessions in 2022 as one of the starters to birth that collection. I listened to it a couple times in the winters of 2022 and 2023. I am spinning it again this winter and it sounds cooler than I remember, especially the Third Man box portion (there is a 2-LP set that is similar to the sampler on streaming services and a 4-LP set that Third Man put out – together you get most of the CD box). Here is the link to my original blog post from September 2021.
What are my impressions this time around?
- Bob was searching for where to take his music in the 80s, a rough decade for his generation of musicians, and so there are experiments here. It is fun to witness the process. Despite the experimental nature of this collection, there are some absolute gems.
- Dylan was phasing out of his Christian period and returning to secular music. Despite the Christian period being maligned at the time, it has stood the test of time – the Christian era invigorated Dylan. He returns to secular music with renewed energy as a songwriter, vocalist, and entertainer. The re-entry is fun to witness.
- He may be confused, but he has not lost his songwriting mojo – the songs from the three studio album period are solid. As usual, Dylan had some quality “rejects.”
- Dylan was doing a bunch of covers in the studio (rehearsals) – some are inspired and some are goofy – all are delightful.
- This compilation resonates with me now. I wasn’t ready until now – my mind is now right to receive it. Not sure why it has taken so long for this compilation to sink in as the three studio albums from this period were important to me when they came out.
The various Dylan Bootleg albums are absolute revelations. Dylan, Inc. is managing the legacy and archive masterfully. This early 80s period of Dylan means a lot to me as this is when I was witnessing Dylan in real-time. I know the studio albums really well. To have a peek at what else was going on behind the scenes is amazing.
I happen to have Shot Of Love as part of the Desert Sessions. It is a pretty great record. I have a very vivid memory of waiting outside the Wax Museum in Minneapolis on release day (August 12, 1981) for the store to open so I could snag a copy. I had gotten into Dylan in the spring of 1978 via Uncle Paul while a freshman in college. 3 years later I was all in on Born Again Bob. The Christian phase did not bother me. I was pretty serious about figuring out Christianity for myself at the time, so no problem that Bob was Born Again. But the real bonus was the Christian phase reinvigorated Bob: his songwriting was inspired, his live performances were spirited, and his vocals were fantastic – he was in full rock star mode with a Christian twist. It was all pretty brilliant and I was all in on Slow Train Coming and Saved so I couldn’t wait for Shot of Love.
The first listens of Shot of Love were unimpressive, Bob was crashing from his Born Again high. He was moving back to rock stylings from the gospel styling of the prior two albums. I was not alone in my disappointment, critics shit on Shot of Love when it came out.
As time passed I came to appreciate Shot of Love. Why? My ears have seriously matured and learned. I was very ignorant in 1981. There has been a lot of Bob material that took years to sink in. Add Shot of Love to that list. Today, Shot of Love sounds rock, almost punk (in The Clash sense) – something I can fully appreciate now. The point of all of this Shot of Love talk is that I am in a receptive place to enjoy this box set. At some other time, I will revisit Infidels and Empire Burlesque.
The 25-song sampler of Springtime In New York that is available on steaming services does a nice job of capturing the box:
In the fall of 1977, I entered the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul Minnesota (now the University of St. Thomas) as a Roman Catholic seminarian (that is worthy of another post). Fast forward two years and I was totally disillusioned with the seminary and decided to move on. I also figured it was a good time to drop out of college because, without the Archdiose’s financial aid, I didn’t want to waste money on college as I was clueless about my future and what I wanted to get out of college – it was time to find myself.
Finding myself meant getting a day job, moving into a duplex with an old friend (Jon), and partying like a rock star. Jon had cool music taste and at the time was obsessed with Elvis Costello (EC) – he dressed like EC, had glasses like EC, sang like EC, and constantly played EC on the stereo. I didn’t get EC at first: he had a funny voice, a sort of punkish style, and too many words (even for a Dylan fan like me). When EC’s 4th album, Get Happy, came out in February of 1980 it was in constant rotation by my roommate Jon. I was either going to become an EC fan or a hater. At first, I was a hater, but later that year, when the compilation of mostly B-sides came out, Taking Liberties, I was converted. Something about that collection of songs softened me to EC.
At this point I went back and re-listened and learned to appreciate the first three albums: My Aim Is True, This Year’s Model, and Armed Forces – one of the greatest three-album pop career starts. This Year’s Model has one of my favorite songs of all time: the “Subterranean Homesick Blues” inspired stomp “Pump It Up.”
The next couple of albums, Trust (1981) and the pseudo-country album Almost Blue (1981) deepened my interest in EC. Almost Blue was my introduction to Gram Parsons and George Jone. But it was Imperial Bedroom, released in the summer of 1982, that put me over the top and turned me from a respectful admirer to a hardcore fan.
I loved the baroque rock of Imperial Bedroom. I have never tired of the album and listen to it at least once a year to this day – that is a pretty good four-decade run. Imperial Bedroom is EC’s Sgt. Pepper’s: the arrangements are sophisticated and sonically adventurous. EC and his label boldly promoted the album as a “masterpiece” (I have the promotional poster – see below).
The next couple of albums, Punch the Clock (1983) and Goodbye Cruel World (1984) did not resonate with me. Although Punch the Clock’s “Everyday I Write the Book” and Goodbye Cruel World’s “The Only Flame in Town” are classic EC singles.
1986’s King of America brought back my enthusiasm for EC. It is a brilliant collaboration with T Bone Burnett that resulted in a great Americana album when that genre didn’t yet exist. Costello performs in several styles over the 15 songs – but is always Elvis Costello. Instead of Costello’s usual band (The Attractions), T Bone used a group of American session musicians dubbed “the Confederates” including Ray Brown, Earl Palmer, and former members of Elvis Presley’s TCB Band. The songs are brilliant, the vocal performances are inspired, and the arrangements are exquisite. At this point in his career (10th studio album), Costello was at the height of his powers. I can’t emphasize how great his vocals are. As always the songwriting is top-notch. King of America, like Imperial Bedroom, is an album that has stayed in regular rotation over the years.
EC has remained prolific, artistically ambitious, and adventurous. I have remained interested in every new album. None have sucked, but some have resonated with me more than others. But the first decade of EC albums are the ones I consistently go back to. Thanks, Jon for force-feeding me Elvis Costello in 1979.
Postscript: I was chatting with Jon on Facebook and he reminded me:
“When I moved in with Catchgroove we were musical opposites. He was all about Dylan. Dylan this, Dylan that. Not a Brit in the mix. I, on the other hand, might as well have an expat from across the pond. When we came together it was like the Revolution. We stood face to face volleying back and forth. The cut wars that transpired in that house were epic. In the years that followed, I discovered American music. I even developed a grudging appreciation for Dylan. He had a weird voice, bizarre phrasing, obscure references, and was the counterpart to my Elvis idiocy. My thanks go out to Catchgroove for his (not so gentle) shepherding of me into a broader musical spectrum of appreciation.”
Postscript #2 (crate digger’s gold): I visited Dead Wax for the first time recently – Dead Wax is a new(ish) record store in Goodyear AZ. I was in an EC state of mind and they had near-mint used copies of Imperial Bedroom and King Of America at reasonable prices and so I snatched them up for the Desert Sessions.
I was impressed by Dead Wax. It is small with a pretty thin inventory (my guess is the store’s size could easily accommodate double the inventory). But what they had was very good. About half used and half new, I could have easily bought 25 records there. I restrained myself to three used albums (including the two EC albums). A bonus is it is an aesthetically nice store. Prices are high but fair. Used wax is high quality and they include audiophile-quality sleeves and are wrapped in reusable cellophane – a nice touch. They had $1 crates on the floor, but I was too lazy to dig in them. I will be back to check out the buck crates (and regular crates). Dead Wax has crate digger’s gold!
The cheapest way to become an audiophile is to get some good headphones (AKA “cans”). Fortunately, audiophile headphones can be purchased for under $100. The easiest and cheapest audiophile solution is good headphones, a portable DAC, a smartphone, and a high-resolution streaming service.
The DROP.com + HiFiMan HE5XX Planar Magnetic Headphones are the best sounding and most comfortable cans I have ever owned. And they are reasonably priced too!
Recently I decided to upgrade my Grado SR80 that are part of the Desert Sessions:
The Grados are a great example of an inexpensive audiophile headphone – they are $125 and they sound great. However, they are a bit uncomfortable – not terrible – they are fine for about an hour. I have had them for several years and I am curious to try some other cans so I decided to get some new headphones and double the budget to $250.
I have had good luck in the past with Drop.com. I bought the Drop + Sennheiser HD 6XX headphones a few years back and loved the quality and reasonable price combination. I considered repurchasing the Sennheisers, but I wanted to taste a different flavor. For similar reasons, I dismissed upgrading with the Grado product line. I have been intrigued by the HiFiMan brand, specifically the He5XX model. Per the Drop website:
“…the open-back HE5XX pairs powerful, speaker-like audio with new ultra-light components to maximize both fidelity and comfort. We worked closely with Dr. Fang—founder and head engineer at HIFIMAN—to drastically reduce weight on the classic dual-sided planar magnetic design through thinner double magnets and Nano Diaphragm membranes. The result? A brighter, more neutral take on the trademark HE500 Series sound, with upgraded efficiency and a better fit than ever before.
I was also intrigued that the HiFiMan were magnetic planar vs dynamic speakers. I will not try to explain the difference between magnetic planar and traditional dynamic speakers. I realize the quote above is subjective marketing BS, but speakers and headphones are subjective. Planar cans are intriguing, per the website HomeAudioBasics.com:
…planar magnetic headphones offer several advantages over dynamic headphones, including more natural sound reproduction, enhanced realism, a wider soundstage, better resolution, improved bass response, and superior instrument timbre.
I purchased the HiFiMan HE5XX and auditioned them with two sources: high-resolution streaming and vinyl for the Desert Sessions rig described above. I listened to a variety of genres. Here are my impressions:
- First, they are the most comfortable headphones I have ever used.
- They are an open-back style which means they are not very sound proof and they are audible to anyone sitting nearby. My experience is that despite these “features,” open-back headphones sound more natural than closed-back-back cans and so it is worth it.
- As suggested in the above quote: they do have a “natural sound reproduction, enhanced realism, a wider soundstage, better resolution, improved bass response, and superior instrument timbre.”
- These are the closest headphones to the loudspeaker experience – it feels like you’re listening in a room rather than the normal headphone bubble.
- They don’t need a lot of power. I only need my Schitt Vali 2 headphone amplifier set at low gain and only a quarter of a turn on the volume control.
- I hate too much bass and the HiFiMan is just right. With bass-heavy music, like hip hop, they still have plenty of punch, but not the artificial boom of popular headphones like Beats.
- I tried the cans with a portable DAC hooked to my iPhone. There was a noticeable fidelity drop. I see this as a positive feature of the HiFiMan as they are brutally honest – the portable rig is an inferior configuration to the Desert Sessions rig and so the headphones should pick up the difference. This is not as noticeable on the Grados and Sennheisers.
- Finally, the cans are low fatigue. Often between lack of physical comfort and having speakers blasting directly into your ears, I get hearing fatigue. I have listened with the HiFiMan cans for several hours without fatigue.
For a $250* purchase (including shipping and tax) these are great cans. They sound better and are way more comfortable than my Grados (not fair as they are twice the money). They sound better and are more comfortable than my similarly priced Sennheisers (a conventional dynamic headphone).
*Postscript: A few days after the headphones arrived in the mail, I noticed on the Drop.com site that the headphones were now on sale. I contacted Drop.com customer service and they quickly got back to me and let me know they would credit me for the difference. Wow – that is some great customer service.
As noted in a previous musical memoir post, I was not into pop music. However, given the monoculture of the late 60s and the 70s, I was not unaware of pop music. One place where I was exposed to pop music was summer camp. I loved going away to camp as a kid. First, because it was a chance to get away from my parents. Second, I lived in the city, and getting out into nature was a big attraction. Third, the lawlessness of the Lord of the Flies summer camp environment was a huge attraction. Finally, I was exposed to new music.
My first camp musical memory was at Watson’s Gymnastic Camp (William Watson and all his crazy shenanigans are a topic for another post someday). One of the camp counselors had a pickup truck with an 8-track player. I distinctly remember he had Deep Purple’s Machine Head (1972) and Alice Cooper’s School’s Out (1972). Those albums were amazing. Deep Purple had huge riffs that were so seductive. “Smoke On The Water” not only had the riffs, but it was also a cool story of a fire during the recording sessions. The opening of “Smoke On The Water” was truly an epic guitar riff and guitarist Richie Blackmore claimed it was popular due to it being simple and based around four notes, comparing it to the opening of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The cover art on the tape made the band look spooky. The music sounded dangerous and something adults would disapprove of. Deep Purple played hard rock, which was a foundation of what later became heavy metal (eventually just metal). It certainly sounded “hard” Machine Head actually deserves to be called a classic. It is an album that never gets old – even after 50 years!
I have never taken Alice Cooper seriously. He has always seemed like a novelty act. The makeup and the horror movie visuals made him seem like a cartoon. That being said, he made some amazing singles, and the song “School’s Out” is really good. It captures the ecstasy of childhood at the end of the school year. I didn’t hate school, but I preferred summer without school all the same. I don’t recall another song on the album, but that one song was worth it all. Later when I got into vinyl, I appreciated the great album art/packaging which was a defaced school desk. Cooper was also considered hard rock. And like Deep Purple, this music sounded dangerous. Whenever I hear “School’s Out” it makes me smile and I want to scream along to the chorus.
I missed several Boy Scout summer camps due to gymnastic camp, but once I quit gymnastics I started to go to Boy Scout camp with my local troop. The first time I went was at a camp in Isabella MN. The camp had a dormitory-style setup. Somebody had a greatest hits tape of Tommy James and the Shondells. The songs were all great, but the one that caught my attention was “Crimson and Clover.” The tremolo effect on the vocals rocked my young teenage mind. I remember pinching the skin over my Adam’s apple and wobbling my throat to create a similar effect. Despite the big impact that Tommy James and the Shondells had on me that summer, I didn’t really catch the pop music bug and when I returned home I was back to my usual musical interests.
But campfire songs were the most significant musical experience at Boy Scout camp. My Scout troop had about 25 songs in our collective repertoire. None of them were written down – it was a true oral tradition. I can’t remember many of the songs, but the ones I remember are:
“Titanic”– this was my favorite campfire song. It told the story of the sinking of the Titanic. The best part was the chorus:
It was sad, so sad.
It was sad, so sad.
It was sad when the great ship went down (to the bottom of the….)
Uncles and aunts, little children lost their pants.
It was sad when the great ship went down.
We would sing those last two lines in multi-part harmony (actual multi-part dissonance) with immature hilarity.
There were more like: “Head Shoulders Knees and Toes,” “John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt,” “Dem Bones (Gonna Rise Again),” etc. I still remember how fun it was to shout out those songs, we rarely truly sang, around a blazing campfire. We would do skits and recount the adventures of the day. Then we would end with the singing of “Taps:”
Day is done, gone the sun,
From the hills, from the lake, from the skies.
All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.
Attending summer camp was one of the great memories of my childhood. I loved it enough that, when I became a teenager and young adult, I worked at Boy Scout summer camps.
I am a longtime fan of Circles Around The Sun (CATS), but somehow I missed their 2023 release Language. It is a relatively short album by CATS standards – clocking in at just under forty minutes – practically an EP.
CATS is an instrumental band that started as a one-off gig for guitarist and singer-songwriter Neal Casal (Blackfoot, Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Ryan Adams And The Cardinals, etc.). The original Neal Casal led band created and performed incidental music for the Dead’s “Fare Thee Well” tour (2015). That music and subsequent album did well enough for CATS to become a real band. Then there was the tragic death of Casal (2019). The band has managed to more than carry on after the death of Casal, they have grown and thrived.
On Language, the jam band Grateful Dead vibe of their origin has evolved into Pink Floyd crossed with a ‘70s soul/funk/jazz-fusion groove. It manages to be spacey and funky. It is a new sound, but not out of character for the band. I like it a lot. Per the band’s website:
“The new material finds them oscillating through hybrid strains of disco-funk, soul jazz, and psychedelic rock, harnessing their stylistic lanes into a singular, intoxicating brew.“
Since the death of Neal Casal the band has managed guitar duties by committee. Language introduces John Lee Shannon as the permanent CATS guitarist (although he was the guitarist on the CATS 2022 live album too: Live At The Charleston Pour House 11/12/21). Shannon, a one-time Casal collaborator, brings both Neal’s spirit and his own voice to the proceedings. Given this album sounds different from prior CATS releases, I assume his role is more than hired gun.
The harpist Mikaela Davis is a guest on the final and titular track. Her harp is a perfect touch of spice for the band. Evidently, she has been opening for CATS on the road.
I am sorry to have missed this in 2023, it would have been on my best-of list for sure. This is gentle enough to be background music, but sophisticated enough for intentional listening.
Ryan Adams is a hard recording artist to keep up with because he is painfully prolific. For example, he dropped four new studio albums and a live version of 2017’s Prisoner on streaming services on New Year’s Day 2024 (and on vinyl via Pax Am). Each studio album has a unique style/genre, yet all sound distinctively like Ryan Adams. I like this set of studio albums more than the tsunami of releases (both original material and covers) he has released over the last few years. This is a nice comeback.
Heatwave is heavy rock with a sprinkle of pop-punk to give it a more contemporary sound. This is a sound Ryan has done before and it works well for him.
Star Sign is soulful roots rock. It has kind of a Van Morrison vibe. This is my favorite of the four studio albums.
Sword & Stone sounds like a conventional (if there is such a thing) Ryan Adams album. It leans into his Americana sound. This album is challenging Star Sign as my favorite of the four.
1985 is a long-rumored follow-up to Ryan’s 2014 eleven songs in less than fifteen minutes hardcore punk “album” 1984. 1985 is twenty-nine songs in just under thirty-five minutes. Like his inspiration, Hüsker Dü, Ryan’s version of hardcore is highly melodic – bubblegum with buzz saw guitars. Although, this is well executed, this is not a style that resonates with me.
Prisoner was released in 2017. I couldn’t find any information about the source of this live version. The live version is a sparse arrangement: guitar and keyboards compared to the full band performance on the studio album. Prisoner was a middling Ryan Adams album, so having a live version is not essential.
This barrage of releases is a welcome addition to the Ryan Adams catalog. Two of the four studio albums (Star Sign and Sword & Stone) will be in my regular rotation for the next few months.
P.S, here is a great thought piece from The Federalist on Ryan Adams.
This release was on my backup plan for Record Store Day 2023 (RSD)- assuming Taylor Swift was sold out. I assumed this was a mini compilation from the mega box of the 20th-anniversary edition of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (YHF), I figured it would be a nice addition to the Desert Sessions as I have the mega box in Minneapolis. Instead, Crosseyed Strangers is a unique compilation originally released as a bonus CD with the September 2022 edition of Uncut magazine. Taylor Swift ended up being sold out on RSD so I picked up Crosseyed Strangers on vinyl.
The recent mega box of Wilco’s YHF is almost too much. Crosseyed Strangers is a nicely curated alternative YHF in an easy-to-digest format. It is a wonderfully oddball juxtaposition of Jeff Tweedy’s solo material, live Wilco (from both 2002 and 2022), and original YHF session alternate takes. It is not on steaming services (however, all songs, except for the live cuts from 2022 are on steaming in various collections).
- “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart” is from Jeff Tweedy’s 2017 debut solo album Together at Last
- “Camera” is taken from the Wilco compilation Alpha Mike Foxtrot (Rare Tracks 1994-2014)
- “Radio Cure” is a live cut from a show at United Palace Theater (NYC 4/19/22) where Wilco is augmented by the Aizuri Quartet.
- “War on War” is an alternate take from the original YHF sessions.
- “Jesus, Etc.” is also from the 2022 United Palace Theater show.
- “Ashes of American Flags” is also from Tweedy’s Together at Last.
- “Heavy Metal Drummer” is a live cut from The Pageant (St. Louis, MO 7/23/02).
- “I’m The Man Who Loves You” is another alternate take from YHF sessions.
- “Pot Kettle Black” is another 2002 live cut from The Pageant.
- “Poor Place” is another live cut from the 2022 show at United Palace Theater.
- “Reservations” is another live cut from the 2022 show at United Palace Theater.
I am a Wilco obsessive fan and so in hindsight, I am glad I was “forced” to buy this as some of this is material (2022 live cuts) I could not source from anywhere. It is nice to have this as a vinyl LP to go with the original vinyl LP that is part of the Desert Sessions.
My daughter recently sent me this text: “My work boys are requesting a review of the latest Rhianna album.” I was confused by this request:
- Nobody has ever requested a review – I am amazed anyone reads my blog let alone request a review.
- I have never listened to a Rihanna album in my life.
- I am pop music literate enough to know Rihanna hasn’t had a new album in a long time. When she performed at the 2023 Super Bowl everyone assumed a new album and/or tour was imminent – neither materialized. So what new album? Turns out they were referring to 2016’s Anti.
So I will give it a go. Let me remind you I have no context. I listened to the top streamed Rihanna songs and I didn’t recognize any of them. I have obviously heard of Rihanna. I know she is a huge pop star and she is in the contemporary R&B/hip hop lane. I know what she looks like. That is about it.
My reactions to Anti:
- I don’t hate it.
- I see how Rihanna is influential – Anti’s “Same Ol’ Mistakes” could be on an Arlo Parks album (and I am a huge Arlo fan). Interestingly enough this song is a Tame Impala cover of “New Person, Same Old Mistakes.”
- We used to call this kind of R&B “quiet storm” – a style of R&B that I like. It is R&B music to sway to vs. dance to.
- On Anti Rihanna has an interesting mix of somnolent beats and narcotic vocals – she has a hipster slacker vibe to her performance that comes off as cool. When she copped this attitude at the 2023 Super Bowl I was unimpressed, but now that I understand this is her schtick I get it. Listening to her hits on streaming, Anti seems like a change in direction.
- Some of these songs, for example, “Love on the Brain” could be presented in a more conventional R&B arrangement and would be old-school bangers – I can imagine Aretha or Tina doing this song. This second half with a retro arrangement could be an Amy Winehouse album.
- It is a pleasant sound, but personally, I don’t find it engaging. I could easily nap to this album. It would be nice background music at a dinner party.
- Again I don’t hate it, but it is not my thing. A few rotations through the album for this review are enough for me. I won’t be buying any Rihanna LPs anytime soon or returning to her catalog for pleasure (although it is a bit of a grower – every listen sounded more appealing).
- I appreciate the challenge from my daughter and her friends, I feel a little irresponsible as a musichead that I have had this blind spot.
Beyond these initial reactions, I don’t have much more to say about Rihanna or Anti. That being said, I can imagine hearing one of these songs in a movie, a TV show, a club, or a store and liking it enough to Shazam the song only to be surprised it is Rihanna.
The movie The Sting came out on Christmas 1973. I assume I saw it in early 1974 when I would have been 15 years old and in 9th grade. It made a big impression on me, especially the ragtime songs on the soundtrack. I bought a copy of the soundtrack LP from The Optic Nerve, a small record store across from my high school (Minneapolis West). The movie was a big success and won several Oscars including Best Picture.
The soundtrack album included several Scott Joplin ragtime compositions adapted by Marvin Hamlisch. “The Entertainer” really grabbed me (Hamlisch also won an Oscar for the music in the movie).
Later that year, I was working a shit job at AARCEE Rental. I cleaned camping tents and sleeping bags (the sleeping bags were occasionally as disgusting as you can imagine). One of the older guys who worked there became aware of my budding interest in ragtime and convinced me that The Sting renditions of Scott Joplin were watered-down crap and that I needed to get a copy of a respectable performance of Joplin’s catalog. He recommended that I acquire Joshua Rifkin’s solo piano performances of Joplin’s Rags on Nonsuch (which was mainly a classical label at the time). He insisted I buy it, from what he felt was the best record store in Minneapolis, The Wax Museum, so I did.
The Rifkin album was released in 1970, but after the success of The Sting, it became Nonsuch’s first million-seller. Clearly, I was not the only person who had been entranced by Joplin’s Rags in the movie. I don’t recall any of my friends being fans of ragtime – so again my music tastes were not part of the teenage mainstream.
As promised the Rifkin rags were fantastic. They were well recorded, yet sounded like an accidentally found treasure or relic.
Joplin’s tunes are almost baroque fugues. To my ignorant ears, Joplin is similar to Bach. There is a playfulness to Joplin’s rags. They sound joyful and fun. Ragtime puts you in a good mood. However, listening to the recordings now, they sound like novelties. Something I might play once every few years or that would bring a smile if I heard the Rags in the background. They are not something that would be in my regular rotation. But back in 1974, they were an amazing “discovery.”
A recent New York Times music podcast (Popcast) is titled: “Do We Need Album Reviews Anymore?” Popcast host Jon Caramanica had a conversation with writer and musician Jamie Brooks about the history and future of album reviews. Brooks recently tweeted about whether music journalism was too concerned with reviewing individual albums and thereby focused less on more holistic, bigger-umbrella approaches to covering artists and scenes. It was a fascinating conversation and got me thinking about the role of album reviews in my life as a 65-year-old musichead.
My music education was primarily album reviews from professional music critics published in music magazines. My main sources were Down Beat (jazz), Rolling Stone (pop), Spin (pop), Musician (pop and jazz), and Stereo Review (an audiophile magazine that had excellent album reviews of a wide range of genres). I lived for album reviews from those magazines. The music I was interested in was not on the radio. I had to buy a physical LP (a record) for a substantial dollar amount ($30-$35 in 2023 dollars – remarkably close to what new wax costs now). Often my only information about an album was album reviews, band profiles, and interviews in music magazines. I would read reviews and if the review piqued my interest in that album I would spend my meager wages to buy the LPs (later CDs – then LPs again). Album reviews were a critical resource in helping me to decide and prioritize what to buy.
Fast forward to today, I no longer rely on record reviews – I just stream. Each Thursday I look at the new releases on the Electric Fetus’ website and pick some albums that intrigue me. Then starting on Friday at midnight Eastern Time, I stream those selected new releases. I don’t need an album review, I can just sample it (and because I am an audiophile, I prefer to stream in high resolution – at minimum CD quantity). If I like an album I buy the vinyl to support my obsession with owning physical media and my sentimental love of listening to vinyl on a good stereo (I would be lying to claim buying the LP was an act of benevolence toward the artist, but that is a bonus too).
How do I decide what new music to stream?
◦ Artists that I am already familiar with (who I keep track of primarily on social media)
◦ Artists that have come to my attention by surfing the internet, social media, podcasts, online newspapers, and magazines (there are record reviews I read here – but mostly ignore those reviews until I write my own review*)
◦ Suggestions from my streaming services
◦ Suggestions from family and friends
Even though album reviews are not important to me, I write reviews and post them on my blog and social media (primarily Instagram @catchgroove and Facebook at Jim Welby). I write reviews not to be read, but as a kind of music listening journal. Writing a review helps me critically listen to an album.
I agree with Jamie Brooks that the traditional album review is obsolete. There is still a purpose for professional music critics, for example, concert reviews, artist profiles, scene profiles, biographies, etc. Again, the conventional album reviews are no longer necessary. In light of this conclusion, I will reevaluate what I am doing on my blog and social media. But again I mainly write record reviews as a means to more engaged and active listening.
Axl's Catch Groove 