10,000 Maniacs – Love Among The Ruins (Geffen) It is pretty much universally agreed that Natalie Merchant, as lead singer and songwriter, was the main talent of 10,000 Maniacs. So how is it possible that this album, the band’s first since Merchant left, is so much better than Merchant’s 1995 solo debut Tigerlily? It comes down to stronger songs and … Continue reading
Styx – Return To Paradise (CMC International) It’s been at least a decade since I’ve spent a thought on Styx, THE arena rock group of my high school years. Music has moved on and so have I, and now the band is made up of a bunch of guys in their forties, so I didn’t have … Continue reading
U2– Pop (Island) Now three albums into their flirtation with techno, U2 have finally figured out how to make a consistently listenable album out of it. As signified by the album title, the band wants to wallow in the kitsch of modern life. Pop gets offto a bit of a rocky start with the clanky swirling Zooropian single … Continue reading
Susanna Hoffs – Susanna Hoffs (London) It’s hard to believe it has been six years since the breakup of the Bangles, the pop girl group of the ’80’s. Since the breakup, Hoffs, the band’s leader, has kept a low profile. She did release a 1991 solo album, the slightly overly slick When You’re A Boy, … Continue reading
Van Halen – The Best Of Van Halen Part I (Warner Brothers) Fact: Van Halen were the best hard rock band of the late seventies and early eighties. Fact: Van Halen has sucked since 1985. It’s not a coincidence, 1985 was the year that leader David Lee Roth, metal’s sleaziest (in a good way) and … Continue reading
Marshall Crenshaw – Miracle of Science (Razor & Tie) In the five years since Crenshaw’s last album the music world has completely changed. It’s changed even more since he released his spectacular first album in 1982. He’s spent most of his career on the outside looking in, and Miracle of Science won’t change anything. Too bad because it’s … Continue reading
Dogstar – Our Little Visionary (Zoo) Okay, even though as bassist he’s really the least important cog in this machine, let’s face it, all of us are thinking of Dogstar as movie star Keanu Reeves’ band. Dogstar ends up being a pretty good band, not revolutionary – in fact, they’re a little derivative – but not … Continue reading
Squeeze – Ridiculous (I.R.S.) While Squeeze has put together a lot of great songs over the years, many of their later albums were overshadowed by the band’s superlative early albums like Cool for Cats and Argybargy. This may be the band’s best overall album since 1981’s East Side Story. Also, their style of ironic Beatle-derived pop is making a comeback … Continue reading
Bryan Adams – 18 ‘Til I Die (A&M) Okay, it was kind of funny a few months ago when Metallica tried to trick us into thinking they were grunge. But I have to draw the line if Bryan Adams thinks that he can pull it off. Being grunge is more than losing twenty pounds and not … Continue reading
Passengers – Original Soundtracks 1 (Island) Remember when U2 actually recorded songs? I do, but it’s becoming hazy. Calling themselves Passengers and giving producer Brian Eno full band member status, this album eases further down the bumpy musical road that led to Zooropa. Soundtracks is a group of techno songs that were supposedly used as background music in … Continue reading
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