Seu Jorge- The Other Side (2026) ***1/2
(18 years in the making and finally released. This did not disappoint.)
Renaissance- Prologue (1972) ***1/2
Sparks- Kimono My House (1974) ****
The Claudettes- Garage Glamour (2026) ****
(Surprise of the week!)
Fischer-Z- Going Deaf For A Living (1980) ***
Rush- Signals (1982) ***1/2
Elvis Costello & The Attractions- Armed Forces (1979) ****
Blue Oyster Cult- Secret Treaties (1974) ****
(I think about June 16, 1981 every time I listen to Blue Oyster Cult, which is often because I love this band. But as each year passes, now 45 of them, the memories from that night in 1981 become foggier than the year before. But this is what I remember...I think.
It was late afternoon and I got on the D train at Sheepshead Bay Road with my friend Mike and my cousin Al and we rode to Times Square. Six or seven hours later, we got back on the D train at what might have been one in the morning or even possibly two in the morning to get back home from a concert that was a bit of a disaster, to say the least.
We arrived around 7:PM and waited until the doors opened at 8:00 for a 10:PM show and by midnight, we were still standing in this legendary space having heard not a note of music. Whatever the technical difficulties were, lights, sound, monitors, it just wasn’t happening. I found out years later that the show was being recorded for a radio broadcast and the recording truck went missing, not to mention there being some serious issues with stage lights and an untuned Steinway piano.
We were very excited about this night. One of our favorite bands, Blue Oyster Cult, was playing a club under their original moniker Soft White Underbelly and we got tickets! Yet six hours after leaving Sheepshead Bay, we only ended up hearing about 30 minutes worth of music, none of which I remember at all. We were falling asleep while standing up, and we just couldn't stand up any longer.
But I have that ticket stub and I still think Blue Öyster Cult deserves a hell of a lot more from the rock ‘n’ roll cognoscenti than being thought of as one hit or maybe two hit wonders. That run from their debut through "Fire Of Unknown Origin" covers a hell of a lot of ground. The band often gets pigeonholed as heavy metal, which I think is unfair and inaccurate. They are too good at too many things to be tossed aside as one thing.)
The Dukes Of Stratosphear- 25 O'Clock (1985) ****
The Who- Live At Leeds: Abbey Road HSM (1970/2016) ****
(I listened to this last week and my copy was a bit too noisy after years of abuse. I found a copy of the Half Speed Master for $15. No goodies. No inserts. But amazing sound. This will be the go-to version from here on out.)
The Who- Live At Leeds: Abbey Road HSM (1970/2016) ****
(I listened to this last week and my copy was a bit too noisy after years of abuse. I found a copy of the Half Speed Master for $15. No goodies. No inserts. But amazing sound. This will be the go-to version from here on out.)
