2024 Classic rock / AOR Journal Vol. 1 - Complete

ZZ Top - Fandango! 1975 London (LP). I always grab ZZ Top when I see them for cheap, in this case two bucks at the RMRS (Apr). I hadn't heard this one since high school. The hype sticker on my in-shrink copy says "Side 1 Recorded LIVE" Well, hot dog! If that's all there is to hype, it's not going to be much I'm afraid. Side 1 is, in fact, Texas Boogie. Not so great. This is one of those weird albums where the two hits that came from it close the LP. It's the better side, as I also like B1. Still it's not anything I need to own. Fast seller at the next show.

Steely Dan - Can't Buy a Thrill. 1980 MCA (1972) (LP). From a pure economic standpoint, this was my best recent find from the local antique mall (Feb). Finding Steely Dan albums is like finding money on the floor. So at $2, it was a good "market move." But I was sure to keep this, Steely Dan's debut. I don't know what it is about groups like Fleetwood Mac and Steely Dan, but there's something that rubs me the wrong way about them. Can't put my finger on it, but my thoughts on Rumours would go well here. There's this nagging feeling I get - something I recall while working in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 90s and early 2000s. It goes like this: "We all agree that Steely Dan is one of the greatest 70s rock band ever, right?" Well, wait, uhhh, no not exactly. "So you don't like Steely Dan?". Well sure I do, they're good and all, but... This is followed by a look of disgust and bewilderment. I ruined the narrative. How could I? It's obvious I'm just being obstinate and a contrarian. Leave us be, you neanderthal. But, but, but. Well anyway, I can't seem to escape that feeling while hearing this album. I tried to escape into the "I like Yacht Rock" trope, but failed at that too. There are three iconic tracks on here, including the one song I will defend 'Do It Again'. Electric sitar and analog synthesizer solos do still count for something. The rest is fine, but is it so great really? I think if you graduated high school or college anytime in the 1970s, probably so. Those years for me were the 80s. So I don't get it. I'll make my profit. I can always hear these songs the next time I'm at the grocery store.

Uriah Heep - Head First. 1983 Mercury (LP). Kind of the same idea as Golden Earring, I'm curious what Uriah Heep was up to after 1974. I had owned Fallen Angel prior (1978) and thought it was very mediocre. I hear Head First better than that title, but it's clearly not in my wheelhouse either. Another wasted opportunity, Uriah Heep came from the same hard rock royalty as other early 70s bands, and thus was positioned to capitalize on the burgeoning metal movement. Or they could just pander for FM radio time. They chose that route, and were both artistic and commercial flops. They have a good sound here, but the songwriting is mostly mediocre. If the 2009 Sweden live album is a barometer (which I reported on a couple of years back), it would appear Uriah Heep rebounded nicely. Too late for critical acclaim and financial fortune, but good enough for the oldies hard rock / prog circuit. (Feb)

Uriah Heep - Equator. 1985 Columbia (LP). Got this along with Head First. Holy moly - this is bad! Having spent my high school and college years in the 80s, I tend to be sympathetic towards bands trying to make a career out of music. It was a different era where bands were often financially rewarded for "selling out" to the corporate driven labels consistently chasing hard for profits. Head First is a good example of a legendary underground band making a go for commercialism but falling short of the artistic line of quality. It's certainly listenable. But Equator is at another level. This is pathetic. We're at the desperation stage here (ed: I used a more graphic metaphor, and Google flagged it with a warning - jeez, it wasn't that bad). It's almost as if the band purposely decided to be terrible, thinking it was a winning strategy. No redeemable qualities here whatsoever. One of the worst albums I've heard in the last 10 years. (Feb)

Grand Prix - Samurai. 1983 Chrysalis (LP). I first heard about this album real time from Kerrang, and they described it as a hard rocking Styx. For those who prefer James Young's contributions to the band. 40+ years later, I'm hearing this album for the first time, recalling that sentiment. And I can't agree with it. JY added more grit to his compositions. At its best, there are some proggy moments that point to Saga or even Journey on Frontiers. But this is mostly panning for hits on the radio. I could see some of these making a splash in its era, but alas it was not meant to be. Band is British but they sound American to me. (Feb)

---collection revisits

Enbor – Katebegiak. 1994 Elkar (1980) (CD). Enbor are really more of a rock band than a “prog” band, but they have elements that allow for more explorations than a typical 4/4 rock outfit. The varied instrumentation, once again lead by flute, is what takes this album to the next level. Kind of like the more progressive minded AOR bands in the US during the late 70s, but taking in a good dose of Basque culture, not to mention language.

* - Keeping for the collection; x - Not in RYM

2023 Classic Rock / AOR Journal Vol. 1 - Complete

ZZ Top - Deguello. 1979 Warner Bros. This album contains a good number of their familiar radio hits. It came after a three year hiatus, and the group were energized. They changed their sound a bit to go with the times, something they truly mastered on Eliminator. I think this is a very good album, but I don't need to own it. Got this far in life without it, and it's not something I'm going to clamor to hear. Most of the tracks are played at the grocery store anyway lol. (Oct)

Sugarcane Harris - Sugarcane. 1970 Epic. Denver show find for cheap (Oct). Well regarded blues rock album, but I didn't derive much out of it. More blues than rock. I liked the opener though. This is the second album for me to try from Harris, but it's not looking like his albums are going to be my thing. (Oct)

*Malo - Evolution. 1973 Warner Bros. Finally the all elusive 3rd Malo album! At least in the wilds, this is by far the hardest title to track down. Not only that, but this is the first time for me to hear the album. And it lived up to expectation, including the cover. Just as great as the others from the original quartet of albums. For Latin rock fans, Malo are ground zero (along with brother Carlos of course). Found at a local store, and I paid close to retail for it (they usually charge less, but I had to have it). (Jul)

Billy Thorpe - Children of the Sun. 1979 Polydor. My memory stated that while the title track is awesome the remainder of the album is nothing of the sort. This copy fell to the buck bin at a local store, so I decided to hear it again after some 40+ years. That memory proved to be correct. This is 1979 pop rock with one very strange anomaly with the song 'Children of the Sun'. You'd think if an artist actually gets rewarded for being creative, he might stick with that formula. No way. Off it goes... As an aside the best use of this track IMO was used at the beginning of a season of Fargo several years ago. (May)

Kevin Ayers - Yes We Have No Mananas. 1977 ABC. Free from a local store (Apr). Ayers is considered prog royalty given his participation on the first Soft Machine album. So anytime an artist like Ayers releases a garden variety pop rock record, it has to be appended with a much more regal genre tag. "Intelligent Pop" states the radio station notes on my copy. Art rock, art pop, progressive pop. All fancy terms to obfuscate what the album really contains: Corporate approved radio friendly fare. This album is mostly worthless until the last two tracks, especially the finale, that shows Ayers still had a couple of good ideas left in the tank. Overall it rates out to about average. ABC also had Steely Dan in their ranks and they were much better at this sort of thing.

Supertramp - Crime of the Century. 1974 A&M. Estate sale find (Apr). I thought I'd heard this one recently, but it was Even in the Quietest Moments. I've reluctantly accepted Breakfast in America in recent times, but what of Crime of the Century from five years earlier? There are three major hits here including 'School', 'Bloody Well Right', and 'Dreamer'. None of which excite me too much. Supposedly the rest is labeled prog rock, but I really don't hear it. More of the same. The major exception to this is 'Rudy' by far and away my favorite track here and the only one I'd personally label as progressive. Overall a good and inoffensive record.

Steely Dan - Gaucho. 2003 MCA (SACD) (1980). I found a pile of SACD's from an estate sale recently, mostly classical, but this one and a Billy Joel release were the outliers. I can't sit still for Joel, and that CD is already sold and gone. But I held this one back (and some of the classical which my wife and I enjoy while having a late afternoon glass of wine). I've never actually heard this album, and I do like Aja. Gaucho comes across to me like a caricature of their sound. It's just way too slick. I'm amazed the original album didn't come with a tube of polish. It's not bad of course, but what pleasure can I possibly derive from it? For middle aged moms. (Apr)

Prism - Armageddon. 1979 Ariola. In my story about how I discovered Def Leppard, I mentioned a radio station down in San Antonio that was responsible for that. They also played a lot of cool AOR type music, and always the best tracks such as 'Last Chance' by Shooting Star. I could have sworn they also played a great song from Prism, and given that this was from 1979 and had a near 8 minute track called 'Armageddon' that this must have been it. Nada. What a pile of pop slop this album is. Almost no redeeming qualities whatsoever. This Canadian band is willing to slurp it up to get on the radio. I like me some good AOR. This is bad AOR. Probably the worst album I've endured in a year. Found this at a Denver area store and paid $5. I overpaid by $4.99. (Jan)

* - Keeping for the collection

2022 Classic Rock / AOR Journal Vol. 2 - Complete

Bruce Koenig. 1980 Kingsnake (LP). Scored this one cheap at a local store. Worth a try I figured. Koenig is from Milwaukee, and his sole work represents the bar scene of the era. Misleading cover indicates a country rock affair, with the cowboy hat, Jim Beam, and ladies of the evening purring up close. The back cover is far more accurate. Some harmless looking guys playing club rock. Not so much boogie, more singer songwriter influenced with funk touches. Koenig plays keyboards and sings. A lot. Not too much room for instrumental prowess. Reminds me a bit of Peter Berkow & Friends from nearby Illinois. I'd submit it's average for the style. (Dec)

ZZ Top - Rio Grande Mud. 1972 London (LP). This album was in RT's stash. I recently wrote about my acceptance of Tres Hombres, their follow-up to the album in hand. And last year I filed the debut into the collection as well. But what of Rio Grande Mud? Man, does this ever go hard for the blues. Much more so than the others. It's as "clean" as the cover indicates. Harmonica is just as much a key instrument as guitar. 'Just Got Paid' is an all-time classic hard rock tune, but mostly this is straight blues. I still enjoyed a +1 listen, but I'm going to let this one sail. (Oct)

Foghat. 1972 Reprise (LP). As mentioned on the Stone Blue post, Foghat were one of my favorite bands as a young teen. They were a very popular band in the mid to late 70s when I first started listening and collecting music. All these years later, I'm finally hearing their debut. Pulled it out of the Denver Record show for a couple of bucks. The most known track here - and by far the best IMO - is the opener 'I Just Want To Make Love To You'. The rest is boogie / pub rock and far from my interest area. I had presumed as much going in, so it met my low expectations. (Oct)

Black Pearl. 1969 Atlantic (LP). Black Pearl play a decidedly psychedelic boogie-soul-blues type of music, similar to other west coast bands during that era. The guitarist is accomplished and his sound is welcome. The songwriting isn't for me though. I like the execution but not the style. It's certainly good, and if you enjoy the genres as noted above, Black Pearl will find a place in your collection. (Oct)

Jim Oliver - Runaway Children. 1986 Runaway (LP). I had high hopes for this one - coming from my current hometown. Featuring a fantasy cover, and Discogs' description of hard rock meets avant-garde, could this be Colorado Springs' version of Richie Duvall or Tom Nehls? Nope. Maybe even Jimmy Hotz? That's closer, but Oliver is more AOR focused than the more proggy leaning Hotz. Despite all the window dressing, and a synthesizer focus, the music is pretty boring mid 80s styled commercial FM rock. More like what Alan Parsons was up to at this point, without the experience. What a bummer. (Oct)

Freeway - Off the Streets. 1979 Big Girl (LP). This one looked intriguing. A small label pressing from Houston that was produced by ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard and featured his wife at the time, Cathie. She's only on a couple of cuts and shares the limelight with two other male vocalists, so it's not really female fronted AOR. It is, however, Album Oriented Rock. Of the worst kind. Pure unadulterated pop slop worshiping at the altar of the FM radio god. Ten relatively harmless tracks with a little bit of heaviness in the guitar, and no memorable songs. It's bad hairstyles and bad tunes. Disappointing. (Oct)

Freeze. 1979 Titanium (LP). Similar to Lucksinger, this is Female Fronted AOR, though it's advertised (and registered on Discogs) as prog. Maybe the last two tracks qualify for the latter designation but even that's a stretch. I like this Chicago based band though, it's a bit more raw and the musicianship is high, especially the guitarist. Unfortunately there are no real highwater marks and there's just not enough here to keep. Fell just below the "Mendoza Line". Pardon the baseball metaphor, 'tis the season. (Oct)

Brave Belt. 1971 Reprise (LP). This isn't for me. Country rock, pretty much what the cover advertises. This is Randy Bachman's first band after leaving The Guess Who. I was hoping for a couple of good cuts similar to his former band, but there were none to be found. Disappointing. Ultimately they evolved into Bachman-Turner Overdrive and were even more boogie rock focused. (Oct)

Lucksinger. 1986 private (EP). I'm always on the lookout for private releases, and this one fit the bill. Pulled this out of a local record shop for a couple of bucks. From Los Angeles, Lucksinger were your classic mid 80s AOR band. What is today known as Female-Fronted AOR which has a niche following. For my tastes it fell a bit flat as they didn't take any chances. Just six 3 to 4 minute tunes, each clearly attempting to get radio airplay. No inventive musicianship or compositions, just pure mid 80s commercialism. For what it is, I'd submit it rates out to be average. (Oct)

ZZ Top - Tres Hombres. 1973 USA-Texas

This is the 3rd copy I've run into since 2019. I flipped the other 2 quickly, but this time I wanted to see if my opinion had softened towards this album. And the answer is yes. The music here is exactly what most folks associate pre-80s ZZ Top with. It's crisp and punchy blues rock with excellent guitar solos. Have Mercy. Not real keen on A5 (many folks aren't) or B1 but mostly this delivers the hard rock goods. This album has a lot of familiar tunes to those who listened to FM radio growing up. It's greasy South Texas good fun - just as the inner gatefold of the Mexican dinner setup suggests. Incidentally, Mexican food was not yet a staple of the American diet in 1973. ZZ Top were trailblazers on that front too.

Ownership: LP: 1973 London. Gatefold. Another fine pickup at the Denver Record show for a fraction of going rates. Discogs shows this version as from 1977 without any data to support it's a reissue. I think they just copied the wrong entry when creating it.

1/4/20; 10/24/22 (new entry)

2021 Classic Rock / AOR Journal Vol. 2 - Complete

Firefall. 1976 Atlantic (LP). From Independent (Jun). I needed to pull one album out of the 2-for-$1 bin, since it would be essentially free. So I grabbed this LP out of curiosity. Firefall are legends here in Colorado, a local band that made good. When I first moved to the state in 1993, Firefall were still playing local clubs, and many other acts covered their music in various dive bars. Their stock in trade is countrified soft rock. Similar to The Eagles, Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Atlanta Rhythm Section, later CSN, etc... I can go for some of that, if the melodies sink in. I mean 'Jackie Blue' is just one killer track IMO. But unfortunately that one song doesn't exist on Firefall's debut. As the album rolls on, it becomes a slog to get through. So I'm rating it "disappointing". But the price was right (free). 

The Flock. 1969 Columbia (LP) Scooped this one at a thrift shop sometime last summer, right before I became diligent about noting these commodities here on UMR. A real 2-eye original too. The Flock are best known as the band that violinist Jerry Goodman led prior to joining Mahavishnu Orchestra. They are basically a horn rock band with Goodman's violin wailing all over it. Coming from Chicago, they operated in the home base of the genre with CTA and Ides of March being the chart toppers. The Flock sold very well in its day as well, but once the brass rock movement came to an end, their albums - like all the others doing same - found themselves flooding the used LP market. As such, it's always been a cheap album, and it remains that way. I first saw this album languishing in the used bins way back in college during the 80s. I find it better on each listen, and most of the tracks are satisfying at a high level. Great guitar, vocals, and horn charts. The final 16 minute bluesy 'Truth' is way too long, and should been a third of the length. As the final track, it doesn't leave the best lasting impression. (Jun)

Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive. 1976 A&M (2xLP). From RT (Jun). One of the record store managers in town once told me that he knew "records were back" when Frampton Comes Alive was actually selling for more than $1. My neighbor back in Texas - this would be about 7 to 8 years ago - proudly told me she found this at a thrift shop. My response was "of course you did". I didn't realize at the time, that commodity used records such as this had some value by then. Nowadays, there's plenty of demand for it. The problem for dealers is: there's an enormous amount of supply. To say this album was a top seller in its day would be to understate the matter. It was ubiquitous. Only in 1975 / '76 could something like Frampton's sprawling double album be a best seller. It boggles the mind really. I was just starting to get my feet wet with FM radio when Frampton Comes Alive came out. It dominated the charts... forever. As for the music, I was always ambivalent towards it. I didn't hate it. But I never felt compelled to get my own copy. 45 years later, and my 11 year old mind was pretty much spot on. The audience seems a bit over enthused about the talkbox. I suppose if one makes the argument that SFF and Anglagard are awesome because of the mellotron, then Frampton Comes Alive is *the* talkbox album. The conclusion? Everyone was on dope in 1975.

Le Roux - So Fired Up. 1983 RCA (LP). Thrift shop find (Jun). I remember these guys. "Louisiana's Le Roux". Well, that's all I remember actually. They say you can't judge a book by its cover, but usually you can. The six smiling guys goofing around on the back cover screams 80's AOR.  And that's just what you get with Le Roux. Hello Loverboy. But if you're going to do this style, then you might as well do it right. Le Roux is a great example of this. Great production, and plenty of muscle considering the guitars and period synthesizers. Well penned tunes, and the newly recruited ex-Trillion singer screams his way through each of them. I don't recall a single track from this album from back in the day, but I wouldn't have been looking for something like Le Roux in 1983. If I didn't have enough quality nostalgia examples in my collection already (namely those I did buy back then), and I wasn't in weed-out mode, I'd keep it. 

*ZZ Top - ZZ Top's First Album. 1978 Warner Bros. (LP) (1971). From RT (May). I don't think I've ever heard this album before, and I didn't recognize a single track. I wasn't sure what to expect, thinking it may be closer to John Mayall than The Moving Sidewalks. It's really neither, but Gibbons guitar playing is more in tune with his former psych band fortunately. It's mostly hard rock, with some excellent breaks. The songs themselves aren't really that special, and it seems every track is going to be a disappointment, until the instrumental portion comes in. I really quite like this one. 

Michael de Albuquerque - We May Be Cattle But We've All Got Names. 1973 RCA (UK). Thrift shop find (May). I had never heard of this album before, nor the artist. A quick lookup showed it to be quite collectible, so in the basket it goes. When I got home, I read that it was art / prog rock, so for certain I want to hear it. Needed a quick cleaning (though it was in NM shape for sure), and last night the long title made its debut on my stereo. Well it's definitely not prog, and art rock is a stretch. To my ears, this is 70's songwriter music. Comparisons to Steely Dan are not wrong, but it isn't at that high level. Michael de Albuquerque's claim to fame is that he was the bass player for ELO from 1972 to 1974, and that gave him the opportunity for a solo album (he had another album with someone else prior to his stint with ELO). The title track and the final 2 cuts are the highlights for me. Nothing extraordinary though. I'll take the fast cash and sell it. Speaking of names, I wonder how he ended up with his? Being the largest city of New Mexico, I just presumed it was a native term, like most here in the States. But it's actually a royal Spanish name based on a small town in Extremadura. There, as a door prize, I learned something new.

Atlantis. 1975 Polydor (LP). These are the kind of records you hope to score while thrifting (May). This one didn't require on-the-spot research - I knew who they were. And in the basket they went. Careful what you wish for. I didn't even realize until after I got home, that Atlantis released two self-titled albums. I thought I was getting the debut. Though I knew something was off by the colors. In any case, this is the US release of Ooh Baby, which had come out the year before. Well I can certainly understand why the American branch wanted to change the name... The opening track is the only difference, but the sound is similar to the rest. Musically this is another galaxy from Frumpy 2. Not that I expected it would be Krautrock, but plenty of German bands went on to make interesting music outside the experimental underground years of 1970 to 1973 (for example, Epitaph's Return to Reality that we just posted about). As the album went on, I lost faith it would be anything that would hold my interest. It's not really that much different than the Hustler album below. So now we look for any good tracks. And that never happened either. Atlantis went from average to disappointing. A waste of time, I'm afraid to say. 

Hustler - Play Loud. 1975 A&M promo (LP). Thrift shop find (May). I wasn't sure Hustler would get past the condition sample (which I do for all records that we sell), but it did catch my interest, and got fast tracked to near the beginning of the listening stack. Hustler were like many bands of the mid 70s trying to make their way. There was no place for underground music on the majors back then, so you had to choose your weapon and stick with it. Or release the album yourself with no hope of making the big time. One of the styles that was quite popular back then was boogie - or what I often call good times rock 'n' roll. Harmless rock music for a drinkin' and a dancin' at your local watering hole. It's a style that hasn't aged well, since it's relatively predictable, and its core purpose no longer holds court. The tragedy to this is that Hustler were a good hard rock band stuck with the aforementioned poor weapon. There are 3 good tracks here: 'Boogie Man' (ironically), 'Strange Love', and especially 'Night Creeper'. Had the latter been the normal, Hustler would be a sought after $50+ record today, and a cult classic. As it stands, they were merely average for the time and place. 

Jay Gruska - Gruska on Gruska. 1974 ABC Dunhill promo (LP). Thrift shop find (May). I don't know anything about Jay Gruska, but this was a clean copy, so I figured it was worth a shot. On the plus side, there's some very fine piano and organ grooves here. I had to hear this one a couple of times to absorb, and I was pretty close to keeping it. But... on the negative side is there's just too much of that (my personal image) put-your-hands-together-and-sing style that plagued the early 70s commercial airwaves. There's just something entirely annoying about that generation's way of being (a certain segment of course). Probably because I observed this phenomena as a 10 year old, and they (unknown they) were in their late teens and early 20s. I dunno - hard to explain, but it triggers a nerve that says "no". But I have to admit overall it's still good.

* - Keeping for the collection