Friday, November 23, 2007
CD Review: John Fogerty
John Fogerty
Revival
Fantasy
By David Chiu
Perhaps his strongest work to date, Revival is a fun, back-to-basics works for the legendary leader of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Sure there’s always been a melodic feel to his music going back to his Creedence days but Revival is laid-back, spirited and playful especially on “Don’t You Wish It Was True” and the nostalgic “Creedence Song.” Even the more topical songs, especially about the war, reveals Fogerty’s fiery grit on the anti-Bush “Long Dark Night” and “I Can’t Take It No More.” Revival reiterates Fogerty’s consistency for tuneful and soulful rockers with a homespun, rootsy flair.
Check out John Fogerty’s video for “Don’t You Wish It Was True”
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# posted by NewBeats @ 12:30 PM
Thursday, November 15, 2007
CD Review: Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
My Aim Is True (Deluxe Edition)
Hip-O/UME
By David Chiu
At the height of punk year ’77 came this bespectacled geeky-looking Brit whose music was more aligned with pub rock. Still Elvis Costello adapted punk’s angry attitude and created one of the classic debuts in rock with My Aim Is True. The sound on this album seems worlds away from the mature rock and pop music this Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is currently making these days. Here on My Aim Is True is classic Elvis Costello at his most rocking and angriest such as on “Blame It On Cain” and “Waiting for the End of the World.” The album’s classic tracks are the reggae-ish “Watching the Detectives” and the ballad “Alison” (Is it a love song or not?). This latest reissue of this album contains a trove of outtakes and demos along with a bonus live disc of EC and the Attractions performing at the Nashville Rooms in August ’77.
Watch an early performance of "Watching the Detectives":
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# posted by NewBeats @ 8:20 AM
CD Review: Joy Division
Joy Division
Unknown Pleasures [Collector’s Edition]
Closer [Collector’s Edition]
Still [Collector’s Edition]
Rhino/London/Warner Bros.
By David Chiu
The band that launched post-punk and Goth, the music of Manchester, England’s Joy Division lives nearly 30 years since the suicide of its magnetic frontman Ian Curtis. Even after all these years the band still casts an influential shadow. Joy Division’s distinct sound is marked by both the raw and measured playing of the members: Peter Hook’s driving bass lines; Bernard Sumner’s angular electric guitar; and Stephen Morris’ pummeling drums and fills. But it was Ian Curtis’ foreboding and doomy vocals that defined this band’s dark vision and sound forever.
On the first two and brilliant studio albums, Joy Divison’s music was a combination of punk and dance music such as “She’s Lost Control” (from 1979’s Unknown Pleasures) and “Isolation” (from 1980’s Closer). The majority of the songs from both albums draw from the band’s exploring the depths of despair like on “Atrocity Exhibition,” the punkish “Disorder,” and the chilling finale from Closer, “Decades.”
Sadly just as the band was to go on their first American tour, Curtis hanged himself on May 18, 1980, and the rest of the members became New Order. Released after the Joy Division’s demise, Still was a collection of previously unreleased material, from aggressive punk (“Glass,” “Ice Age”), to almost dance and pop-oriented fare (“Ceremony,” later rerecorded by New Order; “Means to An End”). Another noteworthy track is Dead Souls.
Each of the reissues of Unknown Pleasures, Closer and Still contain a bonus disc of live performances. The sound is unpolished but that adds to the electricity of what it’s like to be there to hear that abrasive Joy Division sound; live, Curtis was also giving his all with such raw intensity.
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# posted by NewBeats @ 5:31 AM
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