Daily Journal Posts are now Complete

---2/5/25

2023 is now complete and so is this project. I'm caught up to the present day and 2025 journals are being built real time.

2023 Prog Journal Vol. 2

2023 Prog Journal Vol. 1

2023 Funk / Soul Journal Vol. 1

2023 Hard Rock Journal Vol. 1

2023 Psychedelic / Garage Journal Vol. 1

2023 X-Wave Journal Vol. 1

2023 Fusion / Jazz Journal Vol. 1

2023 Electronic Journal Vol. 1

2023 Metal Journal Vol. 1

2023 Classic Rock / AOR Journal Vol. 1

2023 Folk / World Fusion Journal Vol. 1

---12/16/24

2022 is complete. All the remaining 2024 journals will be posted at the end of the year. I might try to squeeze in 2023 by the end of the year to complete the project.

2022 Electronic Journal Vol. 1

2022 Metal Journal Vol. 1

2022 X-Wave Journal Vol. 1

2022 Fusion / Jazz Journal Vol. 2

2022 Fusion / Jazz Journal Vol. 1

2022 Psychedelic / Garage Journal Vol. 1

2022 Hard Rock Journal Vol. 1

2022 Funk / Soul Journal Vol. 1

2022 Prog Journal Vol. 1

2022 Classic Rock / AOR Journal Vol. 2

2022 Classic Rock / AOR Journal Vol. 1

---11/11/24

Took awhile but I finally finished consolidating the 2021 journals. 2022 is up next. That will also take some time.

For those who visit the site regularly, don't worry, more feature posts are coming. I've been very busy collating through the unsold part of our record show boxes (we did very well, but had a ton of stuff). Also been adding to the 2024 journals, which many of them will be posted at the end of the year.

2021 Prog Journal Vol. 1

2021 Electronic Journal Vol. 1

2021 Metal Journal Vol. 1

2021 X-Wave Journal Vol. 1

2021 Folk / Country Journal Vol. 1

2021 Modern Rock Journal Vol. 1

2021 Psychedelic / Garage Journal Vol. 4

2021 Psychedelic / Garage Journal Vol. 3

2021 Psychedelic / Garage Journal Vol. 2

2021 Psychedelic / Garage Journal Vol. 1

2021 Fusion / Jazz Journal Vol. 4

2021 Fusion / Jazz Journal Vol. 3

2021 Fusion / Jazz Journal Vol. 2

2021 Fusion / Jazz Journal Vol. 1

2021 Hard Rock Journal Vol. 2

2021 Hard Rock Journal Vol. 1

2021 Funk / Soul Journal Vol. 5 

2021 Funk / Soul Journal Vol. 4

2021 Funk / Soul Journal Vol. 3

2021 Funk / Soul Journal Vol. 2

2021 Funk / Soul Journal Vol. 1

2021 Classic Rock / AOR Journal Vol. 5 

2021 Classic Rock / AOR Journal Vol. 4

2021 Classic Rock / AOR Journal Vol. 3

2021 Classic Rock / AOR Journal Vol. 2

2021 Classic Rock / AOR Journal Vol. 1

---8/19/24

Following on from the below note, I've now consolidated all the journal posts from 2020. 

2020 Hard Rock Journal Vol. 1

2020 X-Wave Journal Vol. 1

2020 Fusion / Jazz Journal Vol. 1

2020 Funk / Soul Journal Vol. 1

2020 Psychedelic / Garage Journal Vol. 2

2020 Psychedelic / Garage Journal Vol. 1

2020 Classic Rock / AOR Journal Vol. 3

2020 Classic Rock / AOR Journal Vol. 2

2020 Classic Rock / AOR Journal Vol. 1

---8/2/24

It's been a whirlwind summer. Not only have I expanded the Purple Peak business beyond music (games, videos, toys, electronics, etc...) but I ended up buying about six different collections (probably more). It's been a good year for garage and estate sales - of the kind I haven't seen since 2019. Even the thrift shops have been putting things out again - best since 2021. That has kept me busy going through many albums that aren't part of my core collection, and were naturals for journal entries.

I decided a few months ago to take these journals offline, and group them by music genre. Blogger only allows so many characters in the labels category (200 to be precise), so it makes for a natural stopping point. So rather than post a journal every day, I continue to group them. Some genres will take all year and I'll post at the end, others I go through quicker. I'll post the completed ones soon, and then the others when they are finished.

The Unknown Vinyl project is still going strong, with some really cool recent finds (and more to come). Under the Radar is also up to date - and I have 100's of new bands to check out. I just keep listing them thinking one day I may actually listen to them! I know what I'll be doing in retirement... Speaking of which, yes I still have a job. Two full years in now, it's proven to be a great end-of-career individual contributor job (no more management for me) with lots of flexibility, but it still takes the lion's share of the weekly activities and is my top priority. Not sure when I will pull the trigger for retirement but this is my last gig for certain. I feel like going another year at least (if they still want me lol).

And one more thing - the CD Reissue Wish List project has been resurrected! Right now I'm going through each entry and updating them. When that's complete I'll be adding new titles. I have tons of new items to go through. I'll send out a separate announcement once the older entries are up to date. I had good momentum going, but the sales above redirected my attention. 

2025 X-Wave Journal Vol. 1

*Ministry - With Sympathy. 1983 Arista (MC). With the Modern English below (Feb). I originally obtained this on LP with the 2019 80's collection buy but decided to take the profit, even though I had a solid rating for it. This relisten resulted in a +1, so I'll keep the next LP I find (if I find it...). To be honest even after that first listen some six years ago, I thought this was a different Ministry from the band I knew from the late 80s and early 90s. In fact I thought this band was British and then broke up. Haha. My confusion is common of course. Starting out in Chicago, Ministry hopped on (or was pushed on depending on your source of truth) the synthpop bandwagon. Apparently the duo's heart turned dark and they created a new world for themselves - that of industrial metal. A very angry music indeed. You would never know that by the jolly and upbeat tones of With Sympathy. The interesting thing about Ministry, in retrospect, is just how good they were at New Wave music. It's far more complex and involved than your garden variety dance pop group. A fascinating beginning to a fascinating band. I'm sure at some point I will find their metal albums, one of which I owned on CD many years ago but sold off.

Steve Hackett - A Doll That's Made in Japan / Just the Bones. 1984 Lamborghini (12" single). Found for a buck at a record store in Denver (Feb). At 13 minutes it's really an EP length. As with all of Hackett's Genesis contemporaries - all obvious prog guys - this single belongs to 80s music. A) side is a mix of Japanese music (novelty level), glossy 80s with synthesizers and digital drums, and a nice guitar solo. B) side is similar but leaves off the Japanese angle. Not so bad really, just such a disappointment that none of the Genesis guys would acknowledge their heritage during the 80s.

Modern English - Ricochet Days. 1984 Sire (MC). Grabbed this for free from a local shop in the Springs (Feb). Here's a good test of a band I revere from a nostalgic perspective (After the Snow, an LP I own), who released Ricochet Days during that strike zone (early 80s), but I don't recognize anything from it. Does it hold up and is it collection worthy? Yes and no. For example A3 and B2 are rewrites of 'I Melt With You' and there's this persistent feeling that there isn't much more under the blanket from a creative viewpoint. Elsewhere there's a distinctive turn towards The Beatles baroque psych pop of 1966-67. Englishness as it were, living up to their name at least. All of which is inoffensive but not inspiring either. A reasonable follow-up to their classic work, yet lacking in something. Authenticity perhaps? I like it but won't keep it.

*Missing Persons - Spring Session M. 1982 Capitol (MC). Thrift shop find (Feb). I've had this on vinyl before but didn't take notes. Thinking it was part of that 2019 80's buy. I did decide to keep their next effort Rhyme & Reason. So let's get a fresh take on their debut full-length. Right away I notice a more aggressive hard rock guitar attack throughout, something they most certainly softened on subsequent releases. These guys were from the Zappa camp, so musicianship was not an afterthought. As I continue to say (too often, just in this post alone), these 80s albums work best when I get a nostalgia pull, especially the early part of the decade while still in high school. And there's a few tracks here that bring back that unique period of time. Yea, I'm keeping this, and like with A-ha below, will replace it with the LP whenever I find it in the wilds (this one still goes for cheap).

Madonna - True Blue. 1986 Sire (Canada) (MC). Thrift shop find (Jan). I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the first two Madonna's. I was able to appreciate both the nostalgia aspect as well as her artistic abilities from an objective standpoint, now that we're 40 years on from the lightning rod opinions that surrounded her in the early 80s. By the time of True Blue, my nostalgia meter falls off (just in general this is the case), as by then I was deep diving into the European prog underground of the 70s, and not paying much attention to contemporary pop culture. In addition, it's clear the creative well is running dry for Ms. Ciccone.  'Papa Don't Preach' and 'La Isla Bonita" are the two tracks I recognize from here and both I enjoy. Much of the others (not all) sound like filler to support the next tour. I'm interested in hearing her other albums just to see what triggers. Remember that Mrs. UMR was a big fan when we were newly married (hard to believe that was 28 years ago), and she owned a Best Of, which we listened to often in the car on road trips. Today she could care less about Madonna, but I'm still intrigued. Funny how that works. I also found a near perfect LP copy late last year at a thrift shop, and now I can safely move that to the record show boxes.

*A-ha - Hunting High and Low. 1985 Warner Bros. (Canada) (MC). Thrift shop find (Jan). Well... finally. Despite buying multiple 80s collections and thrift shop dumps in the last six years, I have yet to run into a single A-ha album - in any format. I know this Norwegian group better from their super obscure 60s retro band Bridges (which doesn't even get mentioned in their Wikipedia entry) than I do for their obvious hit records. First track is 'Take on Me', which is mid-80s MTV college bullseye material right there. This is exactly the kind of synth pop I enjoy. Energetic, danceable (not that I'm doing that), and melodic. As I often say, these albums tend to work for me when there's a nostalgia play, and that's what we get with Hunting High and Low. I'll hold onto this tape until I eventually find their LP.

Bangles. 1983 Faulty (MC). Thrift shop find (Jan). Before the gals became a hit sensation, they released a single and an EP on private and small labels. Known originally as The Bangs, they shifted on this EP to simply Bangles (one can imagine the double entendre problem). The music here is different than what they were to become. A mid to late 60s garage girl styled group sound emerges. RYM refers to this 80s movement out of Los Angeles as Paisley Underground. Not bad at all.

Depeche Mode - Songs of Faith and Devotion. 1993 Sire (CD). Thrift shop find (Jan). This album is the highly rated follow-up to their lauded classic Violator. Even for a non-fan like me, I kept that CD. But this title didn't stir up much reaction. Whereas I saw Violator as the bookend of the synth wave movement, I hear Songs of Faith and Devotion as a tired retread of ideas with a purposeful move to alternative rock, which is definitely not my music of choice. Given its popularity with the general public, I just have to accept it's good for the style and leave it at that.

Camouflage - Greyscale. 2015 Bureau B (CD). Another surprising thrift shop find. Just like with Surface 10 that is on the DiN label, there's no way I'm passing up anything on Bureau B for a couple of bucks. I had no idea who Camouflage were, but they apparently were legends from the synth-pop scene in Germany going back to the 80s (of course). And that's exactly how I heard this album without any pre-conceived notions. In fact I just pushed it into my car CD changer without even looking at it, and had forgotten they were on Bureau B, trying to figure out why I bought it in the first place. The label's description is telling: "Their music brilliantly combined the icy coolness of Kraftwerk, the pop of OMD and the melancholy gloom of Depeche Mode.". The latter group is what entered my mind first, and funny to see that I just covered OMD. In fact, I think I did find these together last year at the same shop. The vocal tracks are too much of the original scene, as noted below, and that only works with me if the recording is from that era. The instrumentals, however, are more exciting, including one Krautrock styled flute driven number. Much better than OMD's attempt below, but a long way from collection shelf space. (Jan)

OMD - The Punishment of Luxury. 2017 White Noise (CD). Thrift shop find from last year. I didn't even realize these guys were around much past the 80s. And after hearing this CD, they haven't really moved on from the synth pop style. Sounds dogeared to me. Not quite sure how you can advance this style too much, though I guess I could say the same thing about straight ahead thrash metal. Anyway, nothing here for me to hold onto. Music like this only works for me if it's from the 80s, and as a pure nostalgia play. (Jan)

* - Keeping for the collection