Recommended Albums #67

25 Nov 2015 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Recommended Albums Tags: ,

von

Von Hertzen Brothers: New Day Rising (2015)

As prog albums go, this is one “from the heart”.

Finland’s Von Hertzen Brothers are at their melodic best on New Day Rising, an ebullient, heartfelt pop prog collection that displays a diversity of musical influence from AC/DC to Pink Floyd.

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The band are big fish in little Finland, where they’ve topped album charts and won that country’s Grammy equivalent (2006 Best Rock Album). Neighboring Denmark has embraced them as well. But in this country they are mainly known to fans of progressive rock, some of whom have given this latest effort a tepid reception on the basis of it not being “prog enough” and containing too many songs with love as the theme.

That’s their problem.

The job of this site, I’m happy to say, is simply to identify recommendation-worthy music regardless of genre. So whether the VHB’s have lived up to their “prog” credentials or merely created a very good pop rock album, it’s music worth a vetting if you’re a fan of well-made rock music, which is becoming more of a niche genre every year that rap and bad electronic dance music dominate the stateside charts.

Check out the video for the uplifting and anthemic “Hold Me Up”. While many of the best prog bands can leave you spellbound with great musicianship or epic songs, the Von Hertzens (also known as an impressive live band) clearly demonstrate a charismatic knack that seems to come from not taking it all–or themselves–too seriously.

As drummer Mikko states, “Von Hertzen is German and means ‘from the heart’. That’s what we try to always keep in mind when writing or performing. We feel the music is pretty much useless, if it doesn’t come from our hearts. The point of music, any kind of music, is to create wonderful experiences that are somehow elevating and encouraging. That’s our mission. The music is our instrument”.

Mission accomplished.

Listen to: “Hold Me Up”

Listen to: “Dreams”

Listen to: “The Destitute”

Recommended Albums #66

02 Nov 2015 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Recommended Albums Tags:

apache

The Apache Relay: The Apache Relay (2014)

apache

The Apache Relay’s self-titled third album finds the band somewhat eschewing the more countrified aspects of their previous sound for a wall-of-reverb pop sheen more characteristic of Fleet Foxes or Yukon Blonde.

Fittingly, they recorded in L.A. rather than Nashville this time around. And while the rustic roots still show, the more lush sound suits their more pronounced melodic pop leanings.

A few of these choruses are the real stick-in-the-head type.

Listen to: “Katie Queen of Tennessee”

Listen to: “Dose”

Listen to: “Valley of the Fevers”

Recommended Albums #65

27 Oct 2015 1 Comment

by Ed Cyphers in Recommended Albums Tags: ,

nightmare 2

Alice Cooper: Welcome to My Nightmare (1975)

alice 1Welcome to My Nightmare is so many things.

This is the album that ushered in Alice’s solo career after the Alice Cooper band’s half-decade of success with hits such as “I’m Eighteen”, “No More Mr. Nice Guy” and “School’s Out”.

This is Alice’s only top ten album as a solo artist (it peaked at #5). He never again equaled its success or its excellence.

This is a concept album and the template for several other conceptual records Alice would release over the years–but Nightmare is by far the best in terms of execution.

Speaking of execution, Nightmare was tied in with a new live show that essentially brought Halloween and Rock music together onstage and culminated with the protagonist’s grisly nightly demise, a concert format that continues to this day.

Welcome to My Nightmare exchanged the musical gut punch of the Alice Cooper band for a more polished, fully-orchestrated Bob Ezrin-produced sound. The strings, horns and harmonies gave the album a broader palette and a deeper resonance; the creepy bits were creepier and the weepy bits weepier. Listen to a sample of Ezrin’s orchestration from “Steven” and note its similarity in feel to “Beth” by Kiss, released the following year and also co-written and produced by Ezrin:

“Devil’s Food” features a cameo by horror legend Vincent Price, who lends just the right element of creepy camp to the proceedings.

alice 2“Some Folks” takes things into cabaret territory, adding one more flavor to a record more diverse than anything the Alice Cooper band had done.

“Only Women”, with its acoustic guitars and muted horn charts reaches an emotional crescendo Alice had never before been able to achieve with his old band. The #12 hit added a new dimension to Alice’s career as a singles artist, that of credible balladeer; his next three albums would feature a love song as a hit single (“I Never Cry”, “You and Me” and “How You Gonna See Me Now”).

“Cold Ethyl” is just your everyday run-of-the-mill paean to, um, necrophilia.

But it’s with “Years Ago”, “Steven” and “The Awakening” that things get really dark. The overarching concept of the album is the ongoing nightmare of Alice’s protagonist character, but here on what used to be the vinyl album’s side two (as it happens) Alice delves into a world of schizoid delusion. Terrificly horrific stuff, well conceived and arranged. Where “Cold Ethyl” is a comic lark, these songs are truly chilling.

Producer/co-writer Bob Ezrin and guitarist/co-writer Dick Wagner are the unsung heroes of this album, the greatest of Alice Cooper’s long solo career. Without them this record wouldn’t be what it is: a true classic.

Listen to: “Devil’s Food/The Black Widow”

Listen to: “Some Folks”

Listen to: “Cold Ethyl”

Listen to: “Years Ago/Steven”

Listen to: “The Awakening”

Recommended Albums #64

25 Oct 2015 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Recommended Albums Tags: ,

arlo

Arlo Guthrie: Last of the Brooklyn Cowboys (1973)

Arlo Guthrie’s follow-up to 1972’s Hobo’s Lullaby didn’t produce a hit single to follow his sole top 20 “City of New Orleans” but it’s as fine a collection of covers and originals as he ever released.

arloFortunately his somewhat fluky 1972 hit didn’t convince Arlo to steer his career toward a more contemporary and chart-friendly style, or even the prevailing James Taylor singer-songwriter sound of the time. Woody Guthrie’s son was far too steeped in authentic folk, cowboy ballads and old time Country & Western music.

If the late 60’s/early 70’s British folk movement of Pentangle, Steeleye Span and Fairport Convention revived centuries-old folk songs and murder ballads and introduced them to another generation, Arlo’s work in this era did the same for American folk chestnuts of decades past.

But his great talent was to make these tunes his own. Just as Steve Goodman’s original version of “City of New Orleans” disappoints after hearing Arlo’s masterful cover, so Guthrie’s versions of songs previously recorded by Ernest Tubb (“This Troubled Mind of Mine”) and Hank Williams (“Lovesick Blues”) sound definitive–more so to my ears in fact than the original versions.

And speaking of originals, Arlo sprinkles in his own compositions here too (“Last Train”, “Uncle Jeff”) and they blend seamlessly with the standards to form the tapestry of one of the 70’s strongest folk albums.

Incidentally, do you think Arlo’s “Uncle Jeff” may have inspired a certain John Denver hit of two years later?

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Listen to: “This Troubled Mind of Mind”

 

Listen to: “Lovesick Blues”

 

Listen to: “Last Train”

 

Listen to: “Uncle Jeff”

 

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/11/13/songs-you-may-have-missed-502/

Recommended Albums #63

24 Jun 2015 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Recommended Albums Tags: ,

jayhawks

The Jayhawks: Rainy Day Music (2003)

Alt-country pioneers the Jayhawks, led by front man and main songwriter Gary Louris, released perhaps their defining statement with their seventh album, 2003’s Rainy Day Music.

The Ethan John’s-produced record was a return to the band’s core country-rock and jangle-pop musical sweet spot after their previous album Smile, produced by Bob Ezrin, experimented with drum loops, electronic sounds and other decidedly un-Americana touches.

lourisFortunately the sweet melodies and pop hooks remained intact. Bands like the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and even Crosby, Stills and Nash are regularly cited as points of reference to describe the Jayhawks’ sound, but it’s the songwriting of Louris that elevates the band above mere imitation of the styles and sound of those bands.

If the pop music landscape still allowed room on the radio for bands like the above-mentioned, Louris and the Jayhawks would be giants.

But the heyday of country rock, when Poco, Marshall Tucker Band, Pure Prairie League and the Eagles sent sweet harmonies wafting over steel guitar licks across top 40 radio waves, is long gone. Country radio is as subtle as a flying hammer, and as refined as a red Dixie cup of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

The Jayhawks stand as perhaps the best of the bands who still trade in this, one of many out-of-fashion genres.

Long may they rain!

Listen to: “Tailspin”

 

Listen to: “Angelyne”

 

Listen to: “Save it For a Rainy Day”

 

Listen to: “Madman”

 

Listen to: “Will I See You in Heaven”

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2016/05/04/songs-you-may-have-missed-588/

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2012/10/25/songs-you-may-have-missed-206/

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/01/30/songs-you-may-have-missed-312/

Recommended Albums #62

13 Jun 2015 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Recommended Albums Tags: ,

kerzner

Dave Kerzner: New World (2014)

Pink Floyd fans starved for good new material, rejoice!

American producer/songwriter/keyboardist Dave Kerzner has given you the next best thing to a decent new Pink Floyd record that you’re likely to hear, and a work far more engaging than Floyd’s mostly-instrumental Endless River, also released in 2014.

kerznerThe co-founder of progressive rock band Sound of Contact, Kerzner has produced a solo debut prog concept album that tells a story, set in the future, of a man making his way from desert isolation back to the domed city from which he came. But as with all good progressive rock, the music stands on its own merit, regardless of whether the listener takes any notice of the overarching plotline.

The level of craftsmanship and the roster of top-notch collaborators brings to mind Brit Steve Thorne, whose excellent Into the Ether album is examined here.

Among the prog rock notables making appearances on New World are Steve Hackett (Genesis), Nick D’Virgilio (Spock’s Beard), Keith Emerson (ELP), Francis Dunnery (It Bites), David Longdon (Big Big Train), Billy Sherwood (Yes) and Heather Findlay (Mostly Autumn).

While Kerzner’s no household name, he’s worked with many who are: Madonna, Tom Waits, Smashing Pumpkins, Jon Anderson, Steven Wilson, Alan Parsons, and Neil Peart. And he’s created custom sound programming for Beyoncé and Rolling Stones tours.

kerzner 1

The excerpt from “Stranded” is an almost too-perfect reproduction of Dark Side-era Floyd. “Ocean of Stars” is reminiscent of Porcupine Tree. And “New World” with its smooth prog-lite arrangement and achingly melodic chorus harkens to the heyday of Alan Parsons Project. It’s okay to sound like someone else, as long as it’s the right someone else, and the music isn’t merely derivative, lacking the quality of the original.

Kerzner isn’t simply copying–each of these songs sounds like it could have been found in the tape vaults of one of these great bands of past years–that one track left off a multiplatinum-selling classic rock record.

kerzner

New World is one more example of quality work largely missing its audience due to a combination of radio’s prevailing tastes and the taste-lock of fans of classic rock, who reason that since all the great rock music was created in decades past, there’s no point looking.

Bands and artists like Riverside, Steve Thorne, Blackfield and Dave Kerzner prove that if you never lost your taste for rock with a touch of class, complexity and integrity, it is worth looking.

Listen to: “Stranded Pt 1–Isolation”

Listen to: “The Lie”

Listen to: “Ocean of Stars”

Listen to: “Nothing”

Listen to: “New World”

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