Quarter Century Review: All Rise

Naked Raygun

All Rise
Homestead
Produced by Iain Burgess

This album's release date is unknown other than the year. This is was kind of the beginning of the end of the unquestioned excellence of Naked Raygun. Their apex reached with their 1984 sophomore effort, Throb Throb, Jeff Pezzati and company saw their power being to wane with this album.

That being said, it just means that they were a mortal band after all. Few punk bands could match the fury of, and undying loyalty to, Naked Raygun in the mid-eighties. Every show was a sing-along. It speaks to their songcrafting and overall appeal. They didn't have the most fans but they inspired the best of the ones they had. The classic lineup combination of Pezzati's powerful vocals and John Haggerty's guitars are on great display here. There was no true classic lineup of Naked Raygun but their heyday is clearly the combination of Pezzati and Haggerty. The recently deceased Burgess was a huge influence on the Chicago post punk scene of the mid-eighties, helping create the buzzsaw guitar sound used by Raygun and Big Black. While not their greatest overall collection of songs, there are still at least three real punk anthems ("Home Of The Brave", "Knock Me Down", "I Remember") as highlights. And there are far more great tracks than mediocre ones. And you can find few better ways to end an album than the Santiago Durango-penned "New Dreams,".

Overall Grade=8.31

Quarter Century Review: King Of Rock

Run-D.M.C.
King Of Rock
Profile/Arista Records
Produced by Russell Simmons

Simply one of the most influential albums in hip-hop history. Rap rock, for better or worse, would not have existed without Run-D.M.C. and the meddling of Rick Rubin. Before he was a reality TV star, Run was the premier MC in the land and D.M.C. brought the thunder. They bridged the gap between the urban underground and the mainstream.

The opening track is a bit of a throwaway as it is merely just a sampling of what is to come. You should always feel good about skipping ahead to the trio's calling card track, "King Of Rock,". The only real issue with this album is that it gets repetitive but that was very common in early rap music. "You Talk Too Much," may go about 2 minutes too long but the enjoyment of aping this song is timeless. In fact, enough of this. I'm going to find my A.D.I.D.A.S. and stand outside in a b-boy stance.

Overall Grade = 8.09

Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago

Shearwater
The Golden Archipelago
Matador
LP/CD

I had to do a double take when first listening to this that I didn't accidentally put an Andrew Bird album on. After the opening cut, I no longer wondered because I suddenly felt like going into the garage and start punching a side of beef , training to get my revenge on the Soviet boxer that killed my friend. All joking aside, Shearwater is actually more enjoyable to me than Jonathan Meiburg's previous band Okkervil River. Now with all of his focus on this project, there are some interesting results. This album should be played in zoos for best effect as the rhythms and themes remind me of the monkey house or aquatic centers.

Though I won't likely have this in my year-end top 25 album list for content (barring a disastrous last 10 months), The Golden Archipelago is the leader for my favorite album title, so that's something.

Track Grades:

1. Meridian - 7.7
2. Black Eyes - 7.5
3. Landscape At Speed - 6.3
4. Hidden Lakes - 4.7
5. Corridors - 3.9
6. God Made Me - 6.7
7. Runners Of The Sun - 7.0
8. Castaways - 6.5
9. An Insular Life - 4.2
10. Uniforms - 6.9
11. Missing Islands - 3.2

Overall Grade = 5.87

Beach House - Teen Dream

Beach House
Teen Dream
Sub Pop
2xLP+DVD/CD+DVD

Beach House is usually take-it-or-leave-it with me. They just leave me a little blah, (Christine Legrand's voice being reminiscent of a cross between an uninspired Chan Marshall and Liela Moss of The Duke Spirit) like listening to Belle And Sebastian (yuck). Sadly, there is not much here to make me alter my opinion.

This album is just flat. Somewhere deep within each of these tracks are the makings of great songs but got lost along the way. "Lover Of Mine," sounds like a bad Fleetwood Mac cover while "Silver Soul," could be the best song the Cowboy Junkies will never come up with. The musical palette, while producing nice things sonically sometimes, is limited and, therefore, the results are expectedly mixed.

Track Grades:

1. Zebra - 7.3
2. Silver Soul - 8.8
3. Norway - 7.0
4. Walk In The Park - 6.6
5. Used To Be - 7.9
6. Lover Of Mine - 5.4
7. Better Times - 6.8
8. 10 Mile Stereo - 6.3
9. Real Love - 5.1
10. Take Care - 6.5

Overall Grade = 6.77

Silver Mt. Zion - Kollaps Tradixionales

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra
Kollaps Tradixionales
Constellation
2x10"/CD/CD and book

Godspeed You! Black Emperor succeeded in making their music a mystery. In being largely instrumental, the songs gave you a soundtrack to a film inside your head. The former GY!BE members in Silver Mt. Zion still brilliantly play their instruments but added vocals that don't allow the intimate relationship the listener had with Godspeed. Once again, the real highlight is the magnificent violin interplay of Sophie Trudeau and Jessica Moss. Once again, the lone detraction is the grating vocals of founder Efrim Menuck.

As I said, there is some fantastic musicianship here. Had all of these songs been instrumentals (not just tracks 3 and 6), Kollaps would be a transcedent listening experience. The actual song composition and arranging is rather concise rather than the usual sprawling epics. Compared to previous albums, the majority of the songs are relatively short with four tracks clocking in at under 7 minutes (for these guys those are punk songs). The issue there is that Menuck sings as much in the shorter songs as he did in the thirteen minute-plus tracks on 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons. The main standout track is the uncharacteristic rocker "I Built Myself A Metal Bird,".

Ultimately, Silver Mt. Zion is mired in Smashing Pumpkins territory: great music with awful singing. To be fair, though, I would rather listen to this than Billy Corgan any day.

Track Grades:

1. There Is A Light - 7.5
2. I Built Myself A Metal Bird - 9.2
3. I Fed My Metal Bird The Wings Of Other Metal Birds - 9.0
4. Kollapz Tradixional (Thee Olde Dirty Flag) - 8.3
5. Collapse Traditional (For Darling) - 7.1
6. Kollaps Tradicional (Bury 3 Dynamos) - 7.7
7. 'Piphany Rambler - 7.4

Overall Grade = 8.03