Tag: rock

537. Elton John

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(December 2023) Episode 537 is ELTON JOHN. In third grade, the quiz on the playground was “Elton or Elvis.” I answered Elton, of course, because I wasn’t a loser. This anecdote tells how absolutely huge he was in the mid-1970s, to be put on par with the King. I like Elton John, but never collected his albums or sought out his music; it was always on the radio. His popular songs remain enjoyable classics. But there’s a reason it took 537 episodes for me to get to this megastar. I anticipated I would be bored by most everything after Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. And so I was. It seems sacrilegious to say this, but much of his stuff is crap. I’m not drawn to piano troubadour acts, so it’s not a surprise my favorite song of his is guitar-led. Even so, Sir Elton’s music, showmanship and longevity well earn him the title of Elder Statesman of Popular Music.

Note on favorite album choice: Elton’s first recordings in 1968 were psychedelic/baroque pop songs in fashion in the wake of Sgt. Peppers, which explains the copy-cat album title, Regimental Sgt. Zippo. Producers felt this wasn’t the right sound for him and they were shelved in favor of the piano songman approach of his first issued album, Empty Sky, and onward. This early collection wasn’t released until 2021. I list it as my favorite because I happen to love that particular kind of late 60s music. But that album is not representative of the rest of his work and far from his best album.

Favourite album: Regimental Sgt. Zippo

Best album: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Favourite song: Saturday’s Alright for Fighting

Favourite ballad: Love Song

Worst album (among many) Duets

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: It suffice to have a greatest hits album of his big hits from the early 1970s.

535. Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich

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(December 2023) Episode 535 of the “opus project” is DAVE DEE, DOZY, BEAKY, MICK & TICH, the biggest mouthful of a band name I’ve reviewed since King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (episode 255). They emerged within the British Invasion of the mid-1960s, although they didn’t make a mark in the USA much beyond an obscure reference in a Quentin Taratino film (extra credit if you can name the film). Their sound is on the lighter pop side of the Invasion-era sound (closer to Herman’s Hermits than the Rolling Stones) but it features some nice hooks. Like so many contemporaries, they kept with the fad by recording an obligatory psychedelic-ish album (Fresh Ear), which is my favorite of their recordings but not representative of their sound.

Favourite album: Fresh Ear (as D,B,M&T)

Favourite song: She Was A Raver

Favorite song (of their usual sound): Hold Tight

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: Not really necessary unless you like deep tracks of the British Invasion

530. Butthole Surfers

~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(October 2023) Episode 530 is the BUTTHOLE SURFERS. Based on long-ago exposure to their first EP, I thought they were a punk band. That was true in that moment, but over their career they were a lot else, and that else is hard to characterize. It’s a mishmash of rock, noise, metal, psychedelic, experimentalism, tape collages. The attitude was irreverent and inflammatory, designed to shock and offend. I had no idea until now that the 90s alt-rock hit “Pepper” was by the same dudes who gave us “The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey’s Grave.” Butthole Surfers is a group that earns its cult following. I love bizarre stuff but on first listen I’m not sure it’s my kind of bizarre. Ask me after a few more listens, I may change my mind.

Favorite album: Locust Abortion Technician

Favorite EP: Butthole Surfers

Favorite song: P.S.Y.

Favorite freak-out covers: Hurdy Gurdy Man and American Woman

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: Per above, I’ll need more to pass judgment. but I got enough to say that they deserve their cult following.

527. Blue Öyster Cult

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(October 2023) Episode 527 is BLUE ÖYSTER CULT. I was not into BÖC back in the day other than hearing their songs on FM radio. About a dozen years ago I tried out a couple albums but couldn’t understand their raison d’être and set them aside. But after seeing Blue Öyster Cult listed as an influence for several hard rock and heavy metal groups I’ve covered, I reviewed them for this project. I still don’t get it. Their music doesn’t easily fit in any category but also never develops its own identity. I suppose lacking an identity can be its own identity. I gave them my best shot but as a result I was bored.

Favorite album: Secret Treaties

Favorite song: Godzilla

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: Pass, but I’m open to arguments from fans in case I’m missing something.

526. The Youngbloods

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Episode 526 is THE YOUNGBLOODS. You’ll recognize them from the hippie anthem “Get Together.” They are labeled a folk-rock band, staying on the lighter side of the counterculture-era musical spectrum, akin to the Lovin’ Spoonful, the Association and country-ish Byrds. They recorded five albums from 1967-1972. The music is fine, but to me it never coalesces into a musical identity.

Favorite album: The Youngbloods

Favorite song: Get Together

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: It’s OK to take a pass.

525. Cactus

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(September 2023) Episode 525 is CACTUS, a blues-and boogie-rock band from the early 70s that began as a deferred collaboration with Jeff Beck and comprised members of Vanilla Fudge and the Amboy Dukes. While boogie-rock bores me quickly, I took an interest in Cactus because their sound is heavy, accentuated by the singer’s gravelly vocals. But this is not ground-breaking material. They regrouped in later decades for three albums of forgettable bar band music.

Favorite album: Cactus

Favorite song: Let Me Swim

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: For those exploring deep cuts only.

522. Greta Van Fleet

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(September 2023) Episode 522 is GRETA VAN FLEET. This was a disappointment. I tuned in because they have been compared to Led Zeppelin, which was both very apt and promising based their initial, enjoyable EPs. But the three LPs that followed mostly bored or annoyed me. I’m not sure whether they were trying to move beyond the comparison* or embrace the epic aspects of LZ by ditching the gritty bluesy sound, but it didn’t work for me. It comes off as prog rock which, combined with the singer’s (unfortunate) choice to stay in the high register, makes them sound more like Triumph than Zep.

Favorite album: From the Fires (double EP)

Favorite song: Safari Song

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: I’d stick to the EPs, but you should try the LPs in case something grabs you that didn’t for me.

* a blatant case of homage can be found in the drum intro on “Sacred the Thread” from the third album, ripped directly from “When the Levee Breaks.”

520. The Silver Apples

~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(September 2023) Episode 520 of the “opus project” is THE SILVER APPLES. This duo is known for being one of the first groups to use electronically-generated sound (via a home-made proto-synthesizer) as the basis for pop/rock songs, through a couple of obscure late 1960s albums that were later seen as influential in the development of electronic and synth music.  “Pop/rock,” however, is misleading as the songs are unconventional, even avant-garde, with surreal lyrics. They reunited in the 1990s for a reissue and some new, similarly eclectic, recordings.  This music is unique.

Favorite album: The Silver Apples

Favorite song: Oscillations

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: Mostly of historical interest I think, although those who appreciate enigmatic music may want to check it out.

519. The Muffs

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(September 2023) Episode 519 is THE MUFFS, the perfect combination of pop-punk and power-pop,* melding the tone of the former and the melodicism of the latter.  Kim Shattuck’s snotty snarl hits just the right attitude which, along with the unadorned delivery, makes it endearing. Their kicker tempo is what brings you in, but it’s Shattuck’s gift for melodic lines (and lyrics) that will keep you and make you want to revisit.

Favorite album: Blonder and Blonder

Favorite song: Agony

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: I do. I wish I had known them (and seen them) in the 1990s rather than finding them decades later.

* I know some people might say one is a subset of the other, but it’s my blog = my definitions.

516. Steppenwolf

~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(August 2023) Episode 516 is STEPPENWOLF. Their fame is well-earned from two big hits, the anthemic “Born to be Wild” with its proto-metal riff and the psychedelic funk of “Magic Carpet Ride.” Steppenwolf’s late 60s albums of slightly acidic rock epitomize the sound of the Woodstock era, including some political messaging. Other than those hits, though, there is little to distinguish the music, other than John Kay’s gravelly baritone. They continued through some forgettable albums into the mid-70s.

Favorite album: The Second

Favorite song: Magic Carpet Ride

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: I own their greatest hits record but realize I haven’t put it on in decades, so I guess that tells me that the two hits are enough.