Mercifully, this EP offers only four cuts from what I consider one of the Stones' weakest album efforts, "Goat's Head Soup". With the exception of the hard driving "Silver Train", I find this lp to be one of the Stones' most tired and uninspired. "Star Star" masquerades as a Stones' rocker, which it is, but there's a vague feeling I've heard this all before. That Mick Jagger gets to scream the word 'fucker' is hardly exciting.
"Hide Your Love" is passable, but there's that curious sense of deja vu all over again. Speaking of deja vu, "Dancin' With Mr. D." is a trite retread of "Sympathy for the Devil", and the idea of Mick as the devil is decidedly ludicrous. Some people insist "Angie" is a beautiful song; I prefer "As Tears Go By" or "Lady Jane" myself.
Like "Black and Blue", this was one Stones' album I cannot listen to, with the exception of "Silver Train". You can pass on this ep, as well as the album.

These are two excellent rockers from Ann Arbor boy Bob Seger so many years ago (late sixties). "2+2=" is one of the more intelligent anti-war statements of its time.
I consider "East Side Story" a veritable rock and roll classic, telling a sad tale of east side Detroiter "Johnny" paying for his thieving ways.
Both tunes are essential additions to anybody's classic garage rock catalogue. Seger's later success was well deserved, but I enjoy these early tunes (along with his classic "Heavy Music") more.
Glad to see Big Neck reissue these fine cuts. Coming from Detroit myself, I cherish my green label original Hideout Records release.

Easily the Doors' best album. Side one is as perfect as rock and roll gets. Opening with the hard rocking "Break On Through", Jim teaches the Righteous Brothers a thing about "Blue Eyed Soul" in "Soul Kitchen". "The Crystal Ship" is a nice mix of baroque music and acid-laced lyrics. The group's tribute to the New Sixties' Girl is a seductive "Twentieth Century Fox". And it was sheer genius to include Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's "Alabama Song". This song typifies the dark carnival rock that the Doors did best. "Light My Fire" is one of the great anthems of the sixties. I do find Manzarek's solo a bit meandering, but I'm nit-picking now.
And I love Howlin' Wolf. But I'd rather hear this white boys' rendering of his classic "Back Door Man" than the great blues man's version. So sue me. And tell me how white boys can't do blues. I'll laugh in your face.
The two weakest cuts of the album follow. "I Looked at You" and "Take It As It Comes" are forgettable tunes. "End of the Night" is certified Morrison spookiness, leading up to "The End"...which people either love or hate. I think it rambles on for far too long, containing some of Morrison's worst lyrics, along with some of his best. The "Oedipal" sequence is truly inspired.
Say what you want to about Morrison. He was a self-destructive alcoholic. Indulgent on stage and off, the man was on a mission. I think Morrison really wanted to change the world through his work. When he found out he was only a "pop star" he became depressed, got fat and died, as they say.
It was another time. Now we have the MTV generations, and we have uninspired "pop stars" who are weird just to be weird. Which makes me sadly miss groups like the Doors.
The Doors' went on to do some great albums. "Strange Days" is nearly as good. And Jim went out like a phoenix on "L.A. Woman". But this album is so good it was hard to replicate. One of the best lps of the late sixties, no doubt.

This album was viewed as a 'rip off' because it contained previous singles already issued by Capitol. The original Parlophone release, a double EP, was a bit more honest, giving the british buyers only the songs from the Beatles' disastrous TV film.
But ignoring the 'rip off quotient', this lp offers us McCartney's sublime "The Fool on the Hill", as well as Lennon's psychedelic classics "I Am the Walrus"and "Strawberry Fields". (These three songs beg for better videos than those supplied in the indulgent TV film.) Along with the still-irresistible "Penny Lane", Lennon's "Baby, You're a Rich Man" is an underrated little gem.
The title track begins the album quite nicely with its catching pop melody.
So much for the good. "Flying" is a lame instrumental that goes nowhere. "Your Mother Should Know" is McCartney nostalgia, a la "When I'm Sixty Four". Oddly, I am annoyed less by this musical piece than "When I'm Sixty Four" which still grates on me after all these years. Maybe it's the minor key.
"All You Need is Love" has always seemed to be more than what it was. A quaint little anthem from the sixties....period.
George Harrison possibly delivers his worst song ever recorded under the Beatles' name. "Blue Jay Way" makes most funeral dirges sound carefree! Thoroughly unlistenable garbage that makes one pine for "It's All Too Much" from their "Yellow Submarine" album.
So I look upon this Beatles' lp as half of a great album, which isn't bad considering the Beatles probably had nothing to do with putting this collection together.
But the TV film was viewed as one of the group's first major failures. All was not well in Pepperland. I have viewed the film at least four times, and I find it hard going, even with such great Beatle music propelling it. The best part of the film is near the end when the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band performs "Death Cab For Cutie" with help from stripper Jan Carson.

This has to be Bowie's best LP, as it is the most listenable, containing consistent ear-appealing pop and rock tunes. Bowie's concept album about rock star Ziggy Stardust has its share of terrible lyrics, but the band, most notably Mick Ronson carries Bowie throughout.
"Suffragette City" is as near a rock classic as Bowie gets. Ronson's work on "Moonage Daydream" is brilliant noise. One can be fairly amused by Bowie's apocalyptic "Five Years" lo these many years after.
I find it easiest to listen to Bowie by disregarding most of his words, which are usually quite silly. Nothing as good as "Life on Mars" on this lp. But nothing as bad as "Bewlay Brothers" or "Kooks" on this one. Bowie is an acquired taste and this is easily his most accessible album

This "Little LP" contains some of the best tracks from the Stones' much-heralded lp "Exile on Main Street". The LP finds the Stones returning to their blues roots. They appear to be having lots of fun with Slim Harpo's "Hip Shake" and a frenetic "Rip This Joint".
"Tumbling Dice" is one of the finest songs the Stones have ever recorded, an appropriately sloppy, slow number that is really more definitive Stones' music than it is blues.
"Rocks Off" opens side two (and the album). It is possibly the most energetic rock tune about impotence ever written! Shades of "Twenty Flight Rock", which the band would cover years later.
"Sweet Virginia" closes side two which finds the Stones in a humorous country/white trash mode.
A fine "little LP".

This is essential to anyone's collection of classic rock and roll. Although Chuck's only real 'hit' was the abysmal 'My Ding-A-Ling', he was responsible for at least two albums full of other people's hits.
I consider Berry the true 'King of Rock and Roll'. His guitar style practically invented what became rock. Unlike Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry wrote his own material, and the quality of his lyrics often entered the realm of poetry, with images of 'coffee colored Cadillacs' and 'hurry home drop tears'.
This first album for Chess record finds five bonified Berry classics. Side one kicks off with one of the first rock and roll anthems, "School Days" with the knowing lyric "and the guy behind you won't leave you alone'. The exhilarating finish, with Chuck proclaiming 'hail, hail rock and roll' only testifies to the exuberance of the new musical medium.
'Too Much Monkey Business' features Chuck's now-famous shotgun delivery of clever lyrics (to be imitated by Dylan quite well on his 'Subterranean Homesick Blues'). The verses tell of the many frustrations of teenage life. 'Same thing everyday, gettin' up, go to school, no need to be complaining, my objection's overruled.' Wonderful stuff.
"No Money Down" is one of the many Berry tunes that's centers around the automobile. It's a tribute to Berry's wordplay that you aren't always certain whether he's singing about a car or a girl, so consuming are the passions of each. (Would have really been nice to include 'Maybellene' on this collection.)
"Brown Eyed Handsome Man" is black pride without being obnoxious and "in your face" about it, as so many lesser talents have done through the years. Once again, the quality of the writing is exemplary. At a time when myriads of 'moon, spoon, balloon' rhymes were strung together, Berry is penning "Milo Venus was a beautiful lass, she had the world in the palm of her hand. She lost both her arms in a wrestling match to meet a brown eyed handsome man".
To this day, one of the strangest songs I have ever heard is the obscure Berry track "Downbound Train". A tale of a drunkard's nightmare, it's a 'Twilight Zone' screenplay complete in under three minutes.
An island-style rhythm is featured in 'Havana Moon', along with some blues instrumentals. The blues numbers, to me, are the weakest cuts. Chuck was always best at rock and roll.
A man with incredible style and intelligence, Chuck Berry was no technical genius, and he's been winging it with live shows for decades. It's enough that he is Chuck Berry.
And this is possibly the greatest rock and roll album ever released.

This lp showcases the bizarre writing of John Entwhistle. I find his "Boris the Spider" the strongest cut on the album. Along with his "Whiskey Man", "Spider" telegraphs Entwhistle's continuing strangeness-- "Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", "My Wife".
Keith Moon is represented well here with one straightforward pop song, "I Need You" and the quirky "Cobwebs and Strange".
Pete Townshend's contributions are minor here and belie his tremendous songwriting ability. "Happy Jack" was a hit, no doubt, but hardly my favorite Who song. His "mini-opera", "A Quick One While He's Away" wasn't that interesting at the time it was released and is a forgettable work today.
Townshend's "Run, Run, Run" fairly rocks in its way to start the album off. But again not a memorable Townshend tune. His best effort on this lp is "So Sad About Us" which has an engaging pop feel. Daltry's "See My Way" is a minor track and sounds tired.
This album finds the Who to be a capable sixties' rock band with a few surprises up its sleeve. But nothing on this lp foretells the rock magnificence of "I Can See For Miles" nor the beauty of Townshend's "Sunrise", which would be coming on their next lp.

Tino and the Revlons' "By Request at the Sway-Zee" has all the charm of a bad Ed Wood horror movie. Not a lot of talent here, but a lot of heart.
Doubtful that this album was recorded 'at the Sway-Zee'. More likely some Detroit studio. But hey, you can be reasonably rest assured that these songs were requested at one time at the Sway-Zee.
Half-baked version of the Stones' 'The Last Time'. Lead guitarist doesn't even bother to learn the classic Keith Richards' riff.
One of the funniest versions of 'Louie Louie' I have ever heard. The boys for some reason go into the Premiers' "Farmer John" halfway through the song. "I'm in love with your daughter", they sing, and then a totally off-key "WHOA-OHHH" scream. (The only charm of the Premiers' track is their dissonant shout on the record. The Revlon's scream is just plain WRONG!) In short, it's hilarious.
Romping through lots of genres, Tino does a hackneyed Presley impression on the 'lovely' ballad "Ask Me" and kills Elvis all over again. An excursion to the surf sound finds a passable "Little GTO" and the band seems to be having fun playing with their guitar switches on Link Wray's "Rumble". There is a trip to country music via an uninspired version of "Honky Tonk Angels".
There's also an adequate version of the Dave Clark Five's "Because", but that song was tired when the DC5 did it. (Amusingly, Tino and the Revlons once opened for the Dave Clark Five.)
All in all, quite a sloppy album. But it is spirited sloppiness, the hallmark of every great frat rock band. And Tino and the Revlons deliver!
Album concludes with a happy Tino introducing the band and urging us to 'maintain' our 'cool'. (Sadly, Tino did not. Rumor has it that he was killed in Jamaica many years ago.)
A guilty pleasure right down to the cheesy drawings of the go-go girls on the cover.

With this lp, the Rolling Stones put together one of their strongest early lps. Their previous "Rolling Stones, Now!" was incredible and this lp seals the deal!

Containing their classic anthem, "Satisfaction", includes Keef's hynotic hook in "The Last Time".

Also, one of their best blues compositions, "Spider and the Fly". And "Hitch Hike" is a great rock delivery of a Motown classic.

"Cry to Me" has a fine guitar solo. I have heard that this may have been executed by Jimmy Page, who was a busy session musician at the time. Sounds a little too 'clean' to have been played by Keef.

"Play With Fire" is classic Stones' misogynism. "Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man" suffers by its having been censored for this album's version. Yes, you need the single version to hear Mick muse: "I give two fucks....I strain my ass everyday..."

Weakest tracks? An uninspiring version of Sam Cooke's "Good Times". And "It's Alright" may have been fine live in concert, but the limitations of live recording illustrate the fact that it isn't much of a song.*

Mick gives an impassioned vocal performance on "That's How Strong My Love Is". The band is in earnest here about their love for american soul music. "Mercy, Mercy" also shows their enthusiasm for the genre.

Along with "Rolling Stones, Now!", this is one of their best early releases. ESSENTIAL addition to anyone collecting classic sixties' music.



* The hopelessly inept recording of the Stones' live lp, "Got Live If You Want It" is a prime example of how NOT to record a band live!