Chicago- Live in '75

So I spend my Saturday mornings listening to Chicago bootlegs, what's it to you? Easily the best of the city/state named bands (Kansas, Boston, Salem, Alabama), this 2011 Rhino reissue showcases a three night run of shows the band played at the Capital Centre in Maryland in June of 1975 when the band was at the peak of its powers, having released 8 consecutive gold records in just 6 years. Chicago was the most successful billboard singles charting band of the 1970s, but many will remember them for their syrupy ballads in the post Peter Cetera era. They were one of the first bands to successfully augment a progressive rock sound with a horn section. Songs like "Wishing You Were Here", "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is",  and "Saturday In The Park" evoke a specific, yet undefinable, time and space with the very distinctive Chicago sound; mellow grooves punctuated by rousing horn fills overlain by Terry Cath's casual vocal delivery and Cetera's more emotive vocals.
The '75 tour also saw Chicago doing a massive stadium tour with the Beach Boys (who provided backing vocals on "Wishing You Were Here"). All the hits are here, the above mentioned, as well as: "Just You N Me", "25 or 6 to 4", "Beginnings", "Make Me Smile", "(I've Been) Searching So Long", and "Feeling Stronger Every Day". The sound quality is spotty, sounding like an audience taping, not a soundboard recording, and the instruments often sound tinny and distant. It is, however, a good document of a band at the peak of its power. You won't win any hipness points by listening to this, that's for sure, but who gives a shit. Do what feels right.

Buy this record if you can't access FM radio and The Eagles Hotel California is staring you in the face.

www.chicagotheband.com

Lou Reed- Rock'N'Roll Animal

Some purists may liken this mid-70's live record as the equivalent to Bob Dylan At Budokan, meaning excessive electric versions of tried and true classics, standardizing iconic songs that defined an era as well as the artist. I don't give a shit, Dylan's Budokan rocked and so does this. Now that Rock'N'Roll Animal has been digitally re-mastered and re-tracked with several previously unreleased songs added to the collection, it's an even more potent testament to Reed's legacy. "Sweet Jane" kicks things off with one of the greatest song intros of all time, "Rock'N'Roll", and "White Light White Heat" are blistering romps, "Heroin" is an exercise in restraint, capturing the simultaneous heartbreak and exultation of it's subject matter, "How Do You Think It Feels", from the Berlin record, conveys a sense of urgency like it's the last time Reed is ever gonna perform live. "Satellite Of Love", "Oh Jim", and "Walk on the Wild Side" are among some of the notable unreleased tracks included on the re-release. Reed's voice is in fine form and Steve Hunter's guitar solos are inspiring. I can't do justice to this record, just give it a listen.

Buy this record if you forgot why rock matters.

www.loureed.com

The Beatles- Strawberry Lane

Did you know that "Strawberry Fields Forever" began as an idea for a yogurt commercial? Neither did I, nor did any Beatles historians I asked because I made that up. Sometimes you gotta inject some freshness into the classics. Strawberry Lane documents the recording genesis of what would become the first written, and recorded, song for The Beatles Sgt. Pepper album. It was also the first psychedelic foray for the band and included The Beatles most elaborate instrumentation to date, there's Mellotron (intro song notes), Svarmandal (Indian instrument played by Harrison, you hear it as the descending scale played at the end of the chorus), backward looped cymbals, slide guitar, 9 or 10 percussionists, and two-thirds of the way through the recording process, Lennon asked George Martin to add some orchestral elements, that being the cello and trumpet, which ultimately became a vital part of the final mix. It feels so appropriate, because he was The Beatles, producer, guide, and mentor, that George Martin's VO shows up several times on Strawberry Lane to explain various stages of the recording process. It's fun, especially as a musician, to hear the evolution of the song from initial demos, with just Lennon and guitar, to the musician's individual added flourishes, to the fully realized vision for the song.

Buy this record, well, you can't buy this record so get it off the net.

The Beach Boys- Cabin Essence Single

This single comes in anticipation of the official release of the original Smile sessions later this year. Both of the songs on this single appeared on the original Smile sessions. It's a little confusing for the average music fan because Brian Wilson re-recorded all of the Smile sessions music in 2004 and released a "new" Smile record, and bootleg versions of the original, in various forms, have been circulating around for years. The single "Cabinessence" and "Whistle In" appeared on the albums 20/20 and Smiley Smile, respectively. The "Whistle In" b-side on this single is actually the song "Wonderful" which also appeared on Smiley Smile, along with the original version of "Whistle In". I know, it gets really confusing. Anyway, the Smile record has always been the Holy Grail for Beach Boys fans, myself included. It's an epic piece of music that's inspired equally epic tales of band meltdowns and personal breakdowns. "Good Vibrations" was also born out of the Smile sessions. For any fan that knows the Beach Boys primarily through their early surf music period, "Help Me Rhonda", "Little Deuce Coupe", "I Get Around", "Barbara Ann", I strongly encourage you to look into some of their later work, filled with beautiful, intriguing song-writing, humor, and artistic rhapsody. Sunflower, Wild Honey, Holland, and Friends immediately come to mind.

Buy this record if you want to balance your good looks with a winning personality.

www.thebeachboys.com

Neil Young International Harvesters- A Treasure

It's probably not fashionable to be writing reviews about Neil Young but I don't give a shit. He's a true music icon. He's written some beautiful songs, he's made some noisy songs, and he's taken a lot of detours. This is one of those detours. Culled from live performances between 1984-1985, A Treasure documents Young's country/blues exploration while backed by some of country music's greatest session players. There are 5 unreleased tracks included on this record that will satisfy hardcore fans. This is not a good starting point for the Neil Young catalog. For that I'd suggest Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, Harvest, or After the Gold Rush.

Buy this record if you wanna take some time to smell the flowers.

www.neilyoung.com

Queen- Sheer Heart Attack

They teetered on the edge of self-indulgence, they wrote some goofy songs ("Fat-Bottomed Girls", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love"), and they had a penchant for gaudy theatrics, but there is no denying Freddie Mercury's incredible voice and Brian May's monstrous guitar licks. Queen's third record Sheer Heart Attack is a fucking sheer attack of awesomeness. Released in 1973 it featured Queens first Top 20 U.S. hit "Killer Queen" and was the first Queen record to reach Top 20 on the U.S. charts. From "Brighton Rock" to "Stone Cold Crazy" Queen burns it up. I'm so worked up just writing about it that I may have induced a heart attack.

Buy this record to show deference to the Queen of Rock.

www.queenonline.com

Stevie Nicks- In Your Dreams

With her writing partner and one-time lover Lindsay Buckingham, Stevie Nicks took a respectable blues band and turned them into a fucking musical juggernaut, thus cementing the "California sound" in rock's history. While with the Mac she wrote "Rhiannon", "Angel", "Dreams", "Landslide", "Sara" then embarked on a solo career and cranked out more hits, "Stop Draggin" My Heart Around", "Edge of Seventeen", "Stand Back",and "Leather and Lace". And she's still at it. Stevie doesn't need to evolve musically, not for you, not for me, not for anyone. But here she is in 2011 with a new record.  Not sure what she was thinking about while recording the song"New Orleans" though. But who am I to question, it's Stevie fucking Nicks for chrissakes!

Buy this record if you want to close your eyes softly and become that part of the wind that we both long for sometimes, you have your own life, and you are stronger than we know.

www.rockalittle.com