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Tag Archives: UFO

Facebook Friends Must Hears or: Dale Cole

19 Thursday Apr 2018

Posted by TGBII in Music Review

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Tags

Brian Setzer Orchestra, Dale Cole, Dire Straits, Eugene B Sims, Eugeology, Facebook Friends Must Hears, Johnny Winter, Lists, Mark Knopfler, MC5, Music, Nazarath, Otis Redding, UFO

Salutations™!!

So, I’m doing this new thing. Yes, I gave out on the lists that I was going to listen to and I am still going to do vinyl albums that I’m listening to but I’ve called on my Facebook friends to give me five or six of their “must hear” albums. I’ve gotten quite a few entries, too. I figure I’ll do them by whoever sent them to me. I’m only reviewing things that weren’t on the RS list when I went through that.

The first one to give me a list was my buddy, Dale. So, here ya go, Dale. My take on your list (these are in no particular order):

  • The Dirty Boogie by Brian Setzer Orchestra. I love Brian Setzer. I didn’t always. I
    1SetzerDirtyBoogie

    ©Interscope

    liked some Stray Cats stuff, definitely. It took me a while to get into his rockabilly stuff. But as I progressed I got more into the big band/swing music, not just him but the whole genre. I love, too that he can take the blues aspect of stuff that I generally don’t care for and hide it, seamlessly in the swing grooves. Yes, I understand that blues is the basis of a lot of the stuff that I listen to. I can recognize it and acknowledge it and even like it. I think Brian Setzer stands above his swing contemporaries, Squirrel Nut Zippers (I know that’s sacrilege around here) and Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, even though I do enjoy them, too. My least favorite song on the album is still a song that I like. That would be “Jump Jive an’ Wail” originally done by the late, great Louis Prima. I really dig the duet with Gwen Stefani, “You’re the Boss.” And, I like the revamp of “Rock this Town” but I like the Stray Cats version better. Overall, I really liked hearing this album and would welcome more Setzer into my listening life.

    1Force_It_cover
    ©Chrysalis
  • Force It by UFO. Eugene introduced me to some UFO during his “Eugeology” list. A 20-year old Michael Schenker on this, writing good rocking songs and wailing on the guitar. Eddie Trunk gets on my nerves a lot but I know why he slobbers all over Mr. Schenker. Is the best? Nah, but he rocks and at so young an age. The album cover from Hipgnosis would be enough for my younger self to do nothing but stare. There are great rocking tunes and ballads as well. “High Flyer” is a really great song as is the opening tune, “Let It Roll” and “Love Lost Love.” Nothing bad to say about this record at all. I love Phil Mogg’s voice, too. Pete Way is a great bass player and as I said in the review for Strangers in the Night, his runs have a presence and are tasteful. I liked it a lot and I think Eugene would be proud of me for saying so, eh, Eug?

    1Verybestotisredding

    ©Rhino

  • The Very Best of Otis Redding, Vol. 1 by Otis Redding. In the RS list, I left out the compilations. As long as they don’t get out of hand, I’ll allow them on this list. Otis has a great voice and there are some great songs on here. And, as I talked about in the RS list, a lot, song-length can be important. I don’t like a lot of long songs, especially those that are long for the sake of being long. I think that’s my biggest problem with some prog rock. But, these songs are mostly under three minutes long and they get their point across. Lots of soul and expression, here. And, another beautiful thing is that he wrote or co-wrote most of the tunes himself. Some of my faves are his version of “Satisfaction,” “Mr. Pitiful,” “Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song).”
    1winter

    ©Columbia

    Good stuff, here.

  • Still Alive and Well by Johnny Winter. Yeah, right off the bat, I’m getting that bluesy thing that I really don’t like. Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s very good at what he’s doing, I just don’t care about it. There’s a couple of Stones songs on there but that doesn’t really help. Then again, I’m not much on the Stones anyway. Produced by Rick Derringer and does have Todd Rundgren on it, too. Plus, it has a tune written by Dan Hartman. I’m just not much on it. Sorry, Dale.
  • Rampant by Nazareth. I had to go looking for this one. None of my streaming services had it so I had to go to YouTube. The first two
    1Rampant_album

    ©A&M, et al

    songs are good, but I really, really like “Loved and Lost” and “Shanghai’d in Shanghai.” Dan McCafferty’s voice is awesome on the soulful “Loved and Lost” and the whole song has a bit of a mystique to it that whisps you away as you listen. And “Shanghai’d” has Sweet-like qualities in its harmonies. I dig it. “Jet Lag,” however, loses me. I hate that boogie blues stuff. The rest of the album is okay but it doesn’t really move me. But, those two songs were really good. Great work from the bass player, Pete Agnew, who is the only remaining founding member and is the father of the current drummer for the band. I’d go with “meh.”

  • Making Movies by Dire Straits. I have gotten to where I can just sit and listen to Dire Straits, no matter the album. I love the “Rollergirl” story. I hear there’s a video but I think it was before my MTV days. I’ll go back and watch the video on YouTube or something. Usually, when I say that an album became background noise I mean
    1makingmoviescover

    ©Warner Bros

    it in a bad way. But, for this album and really any Dire Straits album, it’s actually what I’d look for to play in the background for stuff that I’m doing otherwise. There’s enough story to really bring you in when you pay attention but the music is ethereal and genuine enough to be a soundtrack for a good writing session or meditation. This is a really good collection from Mark Knopfler. “Expresso Love” is pretty righteous, too. The keyboard/piano work of Roy Bittan is sprinkled all over this album. He’s really great with tasteful ivory work. He’s really good. The whole thing is solid and I hate that it took me so long to really, really get into Dire Straits. I really dug this.

  • Dale also included Kick Out the Jams by MC5, but I had already listened to that on the RS List. If you’d like to revisit what I wrote you can do that HERE.

So, now, a month or three since I asked for suggestions, I finally got through one. I started right away, but it’s just taken a while with my vinyl listening, podcasting, personal appearances, and cooking. None of which I’d trade, but I am glad to finally get one of these out.

And, I want to thank Dale for the list. I’m proud of myself in the fact that I gave it all a true shot and that I actually found some stuff that I liked and reaffirmed some stuff that I thought I would. Overall, a good list Dale. All this from my very warped sense of “good…” but I digress! Thanks again.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Well, this cat’s on a hot tin roof. Drinkin’ that whiskey, 96 proof. Don’t need no doctor, don’t feel no pain. My legs are just two steps ahead of my brain.” – “This Cat’s on a Hot Tin Roof” (Setzer)

Will the Light Reveal Your Soul? or: Strangers in the Night (Eugeology Entry 10)

16 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by TGBII in Music Review

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Andy Parker, Eddie Trunk, Eugene B Sims, Eugeology, Fastway, Jon Lowder, KISS, McAuley-Schenker Group, Michael Schenker, Michael Schenker Group, Ozzy Osbourne, Paul Raymond, Pete Way, Phil Mogg, Rudolph Schenker, Scorpions, Strangers in the Night, That Metal Show, The Less Desirables, UFO, Underdog Records, VH1 Classic

Salutations™!!

We’re 1/5 of the way through this list. Wow. Time’s fun when you’re having flies. Last week, I felt the entry was a clunker. I still do. But, outside Eugene, who I knew would be disappointed with my assessment, there were a couple of others who disagreed with me. I’m okay with that. As I always tell Jon, just write what you feel. There is no right or wrong, just opinion.

UFOStrangersInTheNightAlbumCover

©Chrysalis Records/EMI

When I saw this week’s entry from Eugene come through, I was a little eye-rolley. I think we reviewed this when Eugene was still on The Less Desirables. I don’t think I cared about it one way or another then. Well, this time I listened more than once. I’m glad I did. Let’s do it…

#10 – Strangers in the Night by UFO.

First, I will say that I really do not like live albums. I don’t like that raw sound. I like polished and produced. I don’t feed on the same energy as many people do when they listen to live albums. Live albums to me are like undercooked chicken. I can’t get the chef’s vision for the dish. I want the production; I want the polish. Even KISS Alive! and KISS Alive II, I feel the same way about. Yes, they got me started in on KISS, but to me it was more than just the live show. At that, even a bombastic live show doesn’t always come through on the audio without the video. So, that’s a strike against the album from the start.

That being said, you can erase that strike. The album made up for that aspect just by being pretty fantastic. But, here’s the part where Eugene screams at his device/computer, “what!?!”

I had never even heard of UFO until Eugene mentioned them, just a few years back. If I had heard of them prior to that, I certainly don’t remember it. I started watching That Metal Show on VH1 Classic and Eddie Trunk was always raving about the band. I couldn’t figure out how a band I had never even heard of was so popular. Granted I don’t know a lot about those kinds of bands and such and I absolutely know that just because I don’t hear of them doesn’t mean anything, really. It matters not now, I’ll admit, but okay.

I had heard of Michael Schenker, though. I hadn’t heard much of his music, but when I was just getting into playing instruments and such, the Michael Schenker Group or McAuley-Schenker Group was always featured in hard rock tabulature books. I may even have a song or two in my collection at home. Before Eddie Trunk’s arse kissing and fawning over the man-child, axe-weilding attributes of Michael, the only Schenker I really, really knew of was Michael’s brother Rudolph and that was because he was in the Scorpions. Turns out, at the ripe age of 17, Michael was in the Scorpions, as well. Even when he recorded this album, at the age of 22 when he left UFO (this album represents the concert tour that he was on when he left the group) he was playing like someone with 20+ years experience. That’s just natural talent. Getting it done.

But, we have to move past just the MS part of the equation because this is much more than the Michael Schenker Show. Phil Mogg’s vocals are very strong. He has range and depth. His emotions come through brightly and not mucked up like some live recordings tend to do to vocals. At times he reminds me of Bruce Springsteen. At other times he sounds kind of like Ted Nugent. I don’t like those times as much. But, he always is “on.”

Pete Way is a great bass player who played with a lot of big acts, including Ozzy Osbourne and Fastway. His runs have presence and tasteful. His tone is fantastic on this, too. Andy Parker is a solid drummer that has flash without losing sight of the meter. The band gets a double attack from Paul Raymond who is rhythm guitar and keys. I’m kind of not into the rock organ for the most part, but Raymond is spot on. It fits the M.O. of this album. The harmony vocals throughout are fantastic, as well.

There’s plenty of songs on here to say were “great.” “Hot n’ Ready,” “Let It Roll,” “Natural Thing,” “Out in the Street,” “Mother Mary” and “This Kid’s” (both of which were studio tracks with a hall type reverb and canned crowd music added), “Doctor Doctor,” “Lights Out,” “Rock Bottom” (which I could have done without the extended jam session), and “Too Hot to Handle.” Those would be my faves on the album. If I was picking just one, it would be “Doctor Doctor,” if for no other reason but the hook of the chorus. Lots of riffs, lots of slower power ballads, lots of hooks, lots of great melodies. This album is pretty righteous, even for a live album. UFO were pretty awesome. Too bad I didn’t find that out until now. But, again, that’s the point of this project, right? I will have to get Jonathan to be on the look out for this album at Underdog Records. I’d love to have it on vinyl.

I can’t wait o hear Eug’s and Jon’s thoughts on this album, which by the way, Jon is two albums behind and Eug is one behind, as of this writing. They need to get with it, I say. Alright, Mr. Sims, I’m ready for my close-up… er, next album. And, both of you write your darned posts. You’re leaving me out here by myself! I kid… mostly.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Doctor doctor, please. Oh I’m goin’ fast. Doctor doctor, please, oh, I’m goin’ fast. It’s only just a moment. She’s turning paranoid. That’s not a situation for a nervous boy.” – “Doctor Doctor” (Schenker/Mogg)

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