NewBeats

Tom Petty
Highway Companion
American
By David Chiu

Consistent is what best describes Tom Petty’s music in the 30 years since his debut album with the Heartbreakers. Petty has never deviated from the Byrds/Rolling Stones/roots-rock influenced sound that has marked his best works. Highway Companion, his third outing without the Heartbreakers, is a modest-sounding rock effort that finds Petty reuniting with producer and fellow Traveling Wilbury, Jeff Lynne. No, this isn’t a retread of Full Moon Fever, Petty’s classic solo debut; surprisingly, Lynne, holds back the grandiose pop ambitions he has been renowned for from his ELO days as he and Petty allows a spare, sonic backdrop. Petty, along with instrumental assists longtime cohort Mike Campbell and Lynne, play mainly intimate roots rock with pleasant results: the chugging and carefree “Big Weekend” (which echoes the Wilbury’s “End of the Line”), “Saving Grace,” ; Petty is also at his loveliest with ballads “Square One” and “Down South.” He’s matured a long way from the loner angst and desperation found on his earlier work such as “Refugee” and “You Got Lucky,” but it doesn’t mean he’s mellowed lyrically as Highway Companion’s aching “Damaged by Love.” In essence, despite the pop sheen of the album, it conveys a world-weary point of view. The record is classic Petty at his best and the poster boy of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
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Old 97’s
Hit By a Train: The Best of Old 97’s
Elektra/Rhino
By David Chiu

Old 97’s provide the perfect mood soundtrack if you are in some dingy southwestern dive downing whiskey sours, feeling a little heartbroken, or wanting to dance. Upon closer examination, this Dallas alt-country group fronted by Rhett Miller sounds more punk and Stones-y than say Johnny Cash (although Old 97’s music is no less rootsy and rebellious as the Man in Black’s). Greater commercial success may have eluded the group, which is why this latest best-of might be a good way for the uninitiated to get started. The sound has an edgy Southern Gothic/honky tonk/Tex-Mex shuffle about them, especially on the first couple of songs (“Stoned,” “Cryin’Drunk”); even the old Marty Robbins’ chestnut “El Paso” is given a good galloping kick in the ass. The remaining couple of songs from the Elektra years find Old 97’s can almost be described as power pop sound (i.e. the extremely catchy “King of All the World”). The group also proves its live mettle with strong performances of “Barrier Reef” and “Nineteen” that closes this nifty compilation full of upbeat (musically-speaking) melodic rockers.
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The Cure
Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
Fiction/Elektra/Rhino
By David Chiu

One of the Cure’s most popular and successful albums, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me (1987) charted the mope band’s ascendancy from the underground to the mainstream. Although brighter in sheen as opposed to an earlier album like the overwrought Pornography, Kiss Me… still remains a soundtrack for the ‘80s disaffected youth dressed up in black and raised on John Hughes movies. Though the music still serve as an outlet for singer Robert Smith’s cathartic angst and longing, the group’s most accessible and then-surprisingly upbeat tracks at that time (the uncharacteristically funky “Hot Hot Hot!!!”, the dance-happy “Why Can’t I Be You?, and the forever-popular “Just Like Heaven”) help leaven the tumultuous guitar-driven mood songs. With this overall focused set, the Cure was making Goth hip for everyone. There are studio demos of the Kiss Me songs and live tracks from the period that appear on the bonus disc of this reissue that will be mainly for die-hard fans.
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World Trade Center
Directed by Oliver Stone
Starring Nicolas Cage, Michael Pena, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Maria Bello
Film review by David Chiu

The announcement of a major Hollywood film about the World Trade Center this one directed by Oliver Stone, raised a concern on whether the depiction of September 11, 2001 attacks, would be sensationalized, exploitive, or too soon. Five years since that tragedy is sufficient amount of time to depict on the big screen but there has been no other film other than the recent United 93 that tackled the event. Would this new film called World Trade Center, make a political statement or convey a hidden agenda that overwhelms and overlook the tragedy itself and the heroes, victims and survivors.

Remarkably, this moving film does the opposite. World Trade Center is emotionally draining but very cathartic (and, unfortunately, timely given the recent terror threat involving airplanes). There are no political references, no mention terrorist groups, why it happened, and who’s to blame. Instead, the film focuses on what happened that day, particularly the actual story of two Port Authority police officers, John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno, who were trapped in the rubble for hours in the Trade Center. (They were the last two officers to be rescued from the site). The movie is based on the now-retired officers and their wives’ experiences from that moment.

Those who were there in New York on September 11, can remember that beautiful Tuesday morning starting out rather normally. We see both McLoughlin and Jimeno driving from their middle-class homes in New York and New Jersey, respectively, going to their jobs in New York. Both are married men with families: McLoughlin has several kids, Jimeno with one daughter and another on the way.

Even though this is an intense action-driven drama fueled by the chaotic events that transpired, World Trade Center does gives us time to absorb the main characters: Seargant McLoughlin, played with genuine complexity and intensity by Nicolas Cage, is the no-nonsense focused seargant who assigns his officers to their morning beats; Jimeno (portrayed by Michael Pena in a breakout performance) is the eager young officer first sent to do a ho-hum patrol of the bus terminal. He is about over to check out a shady character nearby until he is stopped by a tourist who needed directions. Out of nowhere comes the roaring sound of a plane passing by at a lower level than normal.

The film does not show the two airliners actually crashing into the towers but we know they’ve been hit as we see the stunned reactions of everybody watching the tragedy unfold on their TVs. McLoughlin and his men head down to the chaotic scene downtown: whitened and sometimes bloodied faces of bystanders, the hundreds of papers falling like confetti from the sky, sounds of explosions, and people jumping out of the towers.

McLoughlin assembles a small group of officers, including Jimeno, to go inside the Trade Center and help those who were trapped. None of us have ever seen inside one of the towers at the moment of collapse—in this film, the re-creation is surrealistic and disturbing. Your heart stops when you see the police officers (the fear in their eyes stays with you) run away from the incoming avalanche of debris during the collapse. The whole moment is instantaneous and absolutely terrifying.

For a majority of the film, we are with the only survivors of that small Port Authority police team, McLoughlin and Jimeno, in near total darkness underneath the tons of rubble, mangled metal and wires, and sometimes explosions. They are many feet away from each other; they talk to pass the time and shout to monitor each other’s progress. With the exception jarring rumblings, it’s a subdued and scary moment. The feeling of claustrophobia is quite evident, not to mention desperation (Jimeno grabs a pipe dripping with unknown fluid catches whatever droplets go into his mouth for hydration) And this where the film finds its humanity: Jimeno sings the theme to Starsky and Hutch; McLoughlin talks about his wife Donna and their kids and his long service as an officer.

One poignant moment is when Jimeno asks McLoughlin to relay the message on his dead radio that his wife Allison names their upcoming baby Olivia. Of course the audience recognizes it as a fruitless gesture when hope for survival is pretty much dead, but such little things also sustains purpose hope for both men. Both men have visions: McLoughlin of his wife and family; Jimeno sees Jesus with a bottle of water.

The movie shifts back and forth between the officers and their wives back home worried sick about them. Donna (Maria Bello) comforts the wife of a police officer; she in turn has to be comforted by that same friend when her own husband doesn’t return.
She is even accused by one of her sons for not caring because she wouldn’t go down to New York to find his father. Officer Jimeno’s wife Allison (Maggie Gyllenhaal) gets frustrated and can’t even eat surrounded by her concerned parents and in-laws. Both actresses as the officers’ spouses convey their initial helplessness and strength quite movingly.

Using some actual news footage, Stone offers the wide ranging scope of the tragedy globally. A shot of a sweeper plowing through the streets littered with debris or the empty subway seats the day after conveys the feeling of shock and emptiness. The recreation of Ground Zero is realistic and expansive as firefighters, police officers, and rescue workers go through the rubble in the night trying to find any survivors.

And the rescue of the two officers was not a cakewalk as any other Hollywood film would try to depict it as—it was slow and fraught with danger that it almost turns the movie into a thriller of sorts: Will these two men get out of there?

World Trade Center is intelligently made nearly precise to detail and with the utmost sensitivity and respect to the victims and survivors. To director Stone’s credit, there is no agenda, smoking gun or conspiracy theory. Using a screenplay by Andrea Berloff, Stone keeps everything solely on the survival and rescue of the officers. The dialogue is not stilted or corny but voices the universal feelings of every person who experienced September 11. Though survival and love are the dominant themes that ring true, the film doesn’t sugarcoat or minimize the horrible aftermath (Scenes of injured people, posters of missing people plastered on the walls, and dejected and tired firefighters leave indelible images). The end title credits that mention the numbers of people lost makes you never forget the enormity of the event.

As the ominous 5th anniversary is approaching us, this well-rendered film is a reminder of the resiliency of the human spirit and the long road to healing.
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Paula Cole
Greatest Hits: Postcards from East Oceanside
Warner Bros./Rhino
By David Chiu

Paula Cole was definitely one of the popular artists in the era of the Lilith Fair back in the late ‘90s. She, along with Sarah McLachlan and Jewel, defined the reemergence of the female singer/songwriters with intelligent and honest songs that challenged the hierarchy of male alt-rock. And in this day and age of young pop tarts shimmying on TV, trying to act all “adult” with sexy attire, and working with hit doctors, the Lilith era, and particularly Cole’s music, is sorely missed. Her soulful, emotive voice and the heart-on-the-sleeve yet introspective lyrics form the essence of her music. Although this compilation draws only from his three albums and previously unreleased tracks, it sounds like the music of an artist who has recorded for 20 years or longer. And whether it was intentional or not, two of her songs have been engrained in the culture: “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” was recently sung by Apu in The Simpsons; and of course “I Don’t Want to Wait” was the popular theme to Dawson’s Creek. Some of her other songs deserve a reevaluation, particularly the ambitiously-soulful cuts from the Amen album ("I Believe In Love" and the title song). One of the two previously unreleased songs, “TomorrowI Will Be Yours,” is a stirring song, and provides that glimmer of hope that Cole will release a collection of new music (which would be her first since 1999). Until then, Greatest Hits will have to do.
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Thin Lizzy
The Definitive Collection
Mercury/UME
By David Chiu

Meat-and-potatoes rock doesn’t get any better or raucous from ‘70s rock band Thin Lizzy, which in some way bridged glam rock and punk.The group’s assault was led on two fronts: its piercing twin-guitar axis (consisting of a revolving cast that included Scott Gorham, Brian Robertson, Snowy White, and Gary Moore) and, of course, the heart and soul of the legendary singer/bassist Phil Lynott. “The Boys Are Back in Town” will always be the band’s most popular and signature song—emblematic of the group’s rebellious, balls-to-the-wall’s sound—but there’s plenty more of that “me and my gang” rock on this latest compilation such as “The Rocker,” “Chinatown,” “Jailbreak” and “Cowboy Song.” And yet underneath the glam posturing lies was some lyrical soul pop in “Dancing in the Moonlight” and “Still in Love With You” (revealing Lynott’s tender side). Thin Lizzy’s final bow came with the driving and best song “Dedication,” a fitting coda for Lynott, who died in 1986. In era overran with so many arena-styled hard rock bands, Thin Lizzy was the better of the bunch because it had a lot of heart, grit and soul thanks to its singer. Jailbreak (1976) has been rated as the band’s most popular and best album, but if you want an overview, look towards this compilation (To see the late Lynott, a revered Irish icon, in his prime, check out the companion DVD).
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Jennifer O’Connor
Over the Mountain, Across the Valley and Back to the Stars
Matador
By David Chiu

The mark of a good songwriter is the ability to identify with and address listeners’ feelings and concerns in direct plain-simple language while simultaneously staying true to his or her artistic vision. Jennifer O’Connor is one such artist.

It’s not a revelation to her fans or critics who have followed her music—O’Connor has been doing that for a while now over the course of her earlier albums. The fact that her third full length album, Over the Mountain, Across the Valley and Back to the Stars, is her major indie label debut doesn’t compromise her music at all, but rather enhances it with a brighter and focused sheen. It also continues O’Connor’s sublime gift for melody that walks a fine line between indie rock and accessible pop like on "Century Estates."

Part of O’Connor’s talent as a songwriter lies in her ability to create interesting vignettes from seemingly ordinary situations or scenes. That is true of two particular songs on this album that involves both travel and longing: a solitary driver yearning to get home and be with her lover in the jangle pop number “Exeter, Rhode Island”; and the sense of loneliness inside a New York City subway car while pining for a sibling on the poignant “Sister” (an electrified version of the original song from her 2002 self-titled album). She expresses those emotions with intelligence and honesty, especially in complicated matters of the heart in “Perfect Match” and “Bullshit Maze.”

Despite the wide emotional terrain covered on Over the Mountain… O’Connor concludes things on an optimistic note with the lovely ballad “Tonight We Ride” and the infectiously upbeat “I’ll Bring You Home,” in which she provide the hopeful lines, “I’ll pick you up when you feel down/I know the way to our home town.” O’Connor acts as that understanding, compassionate old friend/pal/everywoman who’s been there and done that, an approach that resonates. And adding to the sincerity and authenticity of her lyrics are her modest and unassuming wistful vocals, proving that you don’t need a soprano voice to tug those heart strings.

Over the Mountain…, which might finally put O’Connor on the national music map, merely reaffirms what her fans and the critics knew all along about her: that is she is a major singer/songwriter on the rise.
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Rick Springfield: We Are the ‘80s (RCA/Legacy)
Loverboy: We Are the ‘80s (Columbia/Legacy)
Bangles: We Are the ‘80s (Columbia/Legacy)
Eddie Money: We Are the ‘80s (Columbia/Legacy)
Scandal: We Are the ‘80s (Columbia/Legacy)
A Flock of Seagulls: We Are the ‘80s (Jive/Legacy)
Bow Wow Wow: We Are the ‘80s (RCA/Legacy)
By David Chiu

When MTV launched in August 1981, nobody could have imagined that the then-fledgling cable channel would become an important and influential arbiter of pop music and culture. Some of those determinations turned out to be somewhat dubious in retrospect, but it was the springboard for new artists with a photogenic, extravagant look (and especially in the early '80s a synthesizer) to promote a hit single or two. The following artists whose works are celebrated in Sony BMG Legacy’s We Are the ‘80s collections certainly embodied ‘80s sensibilities. Although they never quite transcended the mammoth success generated by artists like Madonna, Duran Duran and Prince who benefited from the exposure, they nevertheless left an indelible impression with some memorable hits and big hair.

Some people might have suspected that it was serendipity or a marketing strategy that resulted in Rick Springfield having a #1 pop hit (“Jessie’s Girl”) and starring in a hit soap opera (General Hospital). The truth of the matter is that Springfield was a rock and roller way before acting. Years of hard knocks finally paid off with Working Class Dog, which yielded his breakthrough hit “Jessie’s Girl,” and a string of hits followed: “Don’t Talk to Strangers,” “What Kind of Fool Am I?”, “Affair of the Heart,” “Human Touch,” “Love Somebody,” “Rock of Life,” etc. Though the synths and a high degree of polish represent the typical ‘80s sound in Springfield’s catalog, they also carry an aggressive and edgy power pop that went beyond Springfield’s good looks.

Loverboy is the quintessential pop metal band…right after Def Leppard and Bon Jovi, of course. Modesty was never part of the Canadian group’s vocabulary in that a catchy hook or unabashed sentiment was never spared, following the implied ‘80s maxim of bigger is better. It comes to no surprise that a majority of Loverboy’s hits continue to receive some radio air play and certainly found a home in sports bars. Their macho jock rock yields some guilty pleasures: “Working for the Weekend,” “When It’s Over,” “Lovin’ Every Minute of It,” and the rock-meets-disco of “Turn Me Loose.” The power ballads “This Could Be the Night” and “Heaven In Your Eyes” are not as overbearing as one might think although Loverboy is at its best when they churn out over-the-top rockers.

The Bangles might have been perceived as a prefabricated girl pop group when they emerged. History probably looks at them now more kindly as a talented rock and roll outfit. And in some instances they also surprised you with their interpretations of other people’s songs. Cases in point: their cover of Big Star’s “September Gurls”, at a time when nobody knew who the hell Big Star was; a hard rocking cover of Paul Simon’s “A Hazy Shade of Winter”; and their interpretation of “Going Down to Liverpool” by Soft Boys/Katrina and the Waves guitarist Kimberly Rew. Naturally the group’s biggest hits came from the Different Light album with “Manic Monday” (written by Christopher, a.k.a. Prince), the lovely “If She Knew What She Wants,” and the mindlessly goofy if catchy “Walk Like an Egyptian.” Luckily the Bangles broke up before they grew predictable thanks to somewhat schmaltzy ballad “Eternal Flame.” One could make the case the Bangles were one of the better, if arguably, important groups of the ‘80s.

You are probably wondering: Eddie Money as an ’80 icon? After all, Money’s first hits happened in the late ‘70s, “Baby Hold On To Me” and “Two Tickets to Paradise,” two songs you won’t find on this compilation. But Money continued his hit-making ways well into the ‘80s with success, the biggest being “Take Me Home Tonight,” his best song with a great pairing with Ronnie Spector reprising her famous line from “Be My Baby.” More AOR than New Wave thanks to his gritty voice and swagger, Money scored some hit singles in addition to “Take Me Home Tonight”: “I Wanna Go Back,” “Walk on Water,” “Think I’m In Love,” and “Shakin’”. Unlike his peers, Money seemed to be more like the genuine article as a credible rocker.

Scandal’s lifespan was as brief as its output (one EP and one full-length album) but it left some memorable power-pop hits. With the catchy songwriting of Zack Smith and the soulful, raspy vocals and charismatic looks of Patty Smyth, the group was (briefly) destined for success. The Scandal EP was the biggest selling EP in Columbia’s history at the time no doubt fueled by two great songs, the driving kiss-off rocker “Goodbye to You” and the brilliant “Love’s Got a Line On You.” The Warrior album, however, was a glossier reversal to the stripped-down spunky sound of the EP. With the production chores handled by Mike Chapman (Blondie), The Warrior was ready-made for arena rock thanks to the ‘take no prisoners’ title track and some fuller-sounding tracks such as “Beat of a Heart” and “Hands Tied.” The best songs on this collection are the ones from the EP such as “Win Some, Lose Some” and “She Can’t Say No,” and as an added bonus are previously unreleased tracks from those sessions, “Grow So Wise” and “I’m Here Tonight.”

A Flock of Seagulls’ legacy will probably be more for singer Mike Score’s cascading V-shaped haircut than its music. Visual gimmick aside, A Flock of Seagulls, in its ‘80s prime, did leave behind some catchy, radio-friendly electro pop highlighted by zinging guitars, pulsating synths and a futuristic outlook. The group’s signature hit will forever be “I Ran (So Far Away)” with the exuberant “Space Age Love Song” and the ethereal chill “Wishing” not far too behind. Other tracks “The More You Live, The More You Love” and the funky Heartbeat Like a Drum follow the formula though not as memorable as the aforementioned hits. With a flood of synth pop bands that came afterwards, the Seagulls’ music is definitely a product of its time—only Depeche Mode was able to run from the pack and went further with the music.

Bow Wow Wow has the smell of Malcolm McLaren all over. After the demise of his Sex Pistols, the British music impresario/manipulator convinced the Ants to ditch their singer Adam Ant and then formed Bow Wow Wow around 14-year-old Annabel Lwin (who was discovered in a laundromat). The group’s sound was built on a pummeling Burundi tribal beat, Lwin’s more-than-enthusiastic singing and an affection for ‘60s-styled pop music (as evidenced on the remake of the Strangeloves’ “I Want Candy”). And typical of McLaren’s knack for flouting convention, the group’s biggest splash at its prime was the “C30 C60 C90 Go,” which snubbed the “Home Taping is Killing Music” message in the early ‘80s (which seems long forgotten to today’s current fight against illegal downloads by the industry); other songs such as “Louis Quatorze,” “Do You Wanna Hold Me?” and “(I’m A) TV Savage” sounded aggressive, eagerly grabbing for attention.


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Check out an interview with Brooklyn indie rock band Rainer Maria published in the 24/7 arts supplement of the Brooklyn Courier Life Publications.
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Unconventional might best describe the music of Arthur Lee, the singer and driving force behind Love, one of the most adventurous and artistically-ambitious groups of the late ‘60s. It was announced today that Lee died of leukemia at the age of 61 . Love had recorded several records, but its best-known album was Forever Changes, which ranks alongside the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper and the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds as an artistic tour de force. NewBeats highly recommend Forever Changes and the Love Story compilation for a greater appreciation of Lee’s eccentric genius. Read more about Arthur Lee in Rolling Stone and the BBC.
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