Birth Control - Live. 1974 Germany

So let's get this straight: 5 tracks over 4 LP sides. Almost all extended versions of previously recorded studio tracks. Organ and guitar as lead instruments, with plenty of instrumental improvisation - including unnecessary drum solos that you actually like. Yea, exactly. Deep Purple right? Bet your sweet bippy on it. Perhaps a bit more progressive (even some sax on one track), and sure, a little atmospheric Krautrock here for certain.

Ownership: LP: 1974 CBS. Recent online purchase (2020). 2 LP's gatefold. Replaces the generic CD on CBS.

2//13; 10/17/20 (new entry)

LP Roundups

In what has to be the craziest thing I've done yet -  I'm buying mainstream, garden variety LPs. In some cases replacing the CD's.... that originally replaced the LPs!

Why would I do that? Well partly because I'm insane. But the other reason is more prosaic - I'm already out there digging for obscurities, rarities, unknowns (and God forbid, something for my collection) - so I might as well grab the regular rock albums as well. They usually sell well, so if I don't like it, they move quickly. They only replace the CDs that are also commodities,  not the ones that have great liner notes and bonus tracks (in those cases, it's a supplement). Many times, these LPs are in nicer condition than what I sold off some 25 years ago. I didn't originally take care of my collection when I was a kid. That all came later in high school and early college. And especially later on.

Looking for a place to jot down some notes for me to reference. Not everything I will keep, and that will be obvious from my notes. Most of you will know the music I'm referring to, so it's just one more idiot's opinion that you can read at your leisure. Perhaps a dose of humor will be included.

Timmy Thomas - Why Can't We Live Together. 1972 USA-Florida

Now this has to be the damnedest album I've picked up in some time. Marvin Gaye... brings along Jimmy Smith on organ... with a drum machine... and plays the music of Sade... in 1972. And that's just the first track. Talk about an album that you have to keep listening to. Twilight Zone stuff here.

Ownership: LP: 1972 Glades. Gotta love thrift shops. This one came from one in Wyoming. Yea.

The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute. 2005 USA-Texas

Until now I didn't realize one could get 4 hours of music onto a single disc. Or at least it seems like it. I purchased this when it first came out, and haven't heard it since (sound familiar?). All I remember about it was the music was complex and they created a hell of a lot of racket. After just absorbing it again, what I remember shortly thereafter is... it's complex and they create a hell of a lot of racket.

It's not that they aren't qualified musicians - far from it really - it's that the composition style is chaos versus order. And melodies are optional. It's like Led Zeppelin playing the music of Thinking Plague. To be honest, it's the former that I enjoy most about The Mars Volta. They are an excellent hard rock band. Prog? Not so much. The music doesn't ever breathe, constantly being suffocated under a pillow screaming for air. One has to admire the sheer audacity of attempting music such as this, especially for a band that was in the midst of commercial success. It's not like I have a collection full of bands that sound like The Mars Volta. I also have their debut and 3rd album, of which the latter will be reevaluated soon enough. For now, I think Frances the Mute qualifies as "unique", and thus stays with the collection.

Ownership: CD: 2005 Universal / / Gold Standard Laboratories. This might be the only CD I bought at a "big box" store in the last 20 years.

5//05 (first listen); 10/16/20 (review / new entry)