Album Reviews

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Album Reviews
The Copacabana reopens for Sam Cooke
Michael Fremer  |  Sep 01, 2003

Baby boomers no more appreciated Sam Cooke’s slick conquest of the Jewish supper club set when it was first recorded and issued on RCA Victor in 1964—the same year Cooke died—than they did Bobby Darin’s. To some teens at the time, “You Send Me,” and “Splish Splash,” were theirs, but this dated style Copacabana review was their parents’. In retrospect, the million plus seller “You Send Me,” was much closer to easy listening than to rock’n roll, and while Darin’s foray into the teen market with tunes like “Splish Splash, and “Dream Lover,” was explicit to the point of being exploitive, Cooke’s chart success with songs like “Chain Gang,” was far more subtly drawn. Perhaps that’s because, having already succeeded as a gospel singer with the Soul Stirrers, and as a soul star on the black “chitlin’ circuit,” he was less in need of pop stardom. Darin may have roamed, but it was within a more limited territory, until events of the ‘60s—musically and otherwise— shattered his slick showbiz pretenses.

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
The Cranberries' "everybody else is doing it, so why can't we?" First Time on Vinyl in 24 Years
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 11, 2018
What a voice, what a loss. Dolores O'Riordan, lead singer of the Irish group The Cranberries died suddenly in London January 15th, 2018 at age 46. She was in town for a recording session.

O'Riordan wrote lyrics and on some of the group's songs, the music as well, including three on this, the group's 1993 debut album. She also wrote music and lyrics on probably the group's best known song "Zombie"—her reaction to terrorist bombings by the Irish Republican Army—which is not on this album.

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Album Reviews
The dB’s Jangle-Rich Sophomore Indie-Rock LP, Repercussion, Gets Long-Overdue First American Vinyl Pressing From Propeller Sound Recordings
Mark Smotroff  |  Oct 25, 2024

There are probably many behind-the-scenes reasons why indie-rock/power-pop legends The dB’s just could not get their first two albums released by an American record company back in the early 1980s. Whatever the cause or the case, that outright crime for fans of all things jangly power pop and indie rock has long been overdue for amending. Thankfully, a new reissue series by independent record label Propeller Sound Recordings has gone a long way to make up for that unfortunate ’80s misstep. The second entry in The dB’s vinyl reclamation series is their 1981 sophomore LP, Repercussion. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see why Propeller’s truly wonderful Repercussion LP reissue belongs on your turntable today. . .

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Album Reviews
The Deep, Connective Tissue of Resonance's "Eric Dolphy Musical Prophet" 3 LP Set
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 29, 2018
Billed as “The Expanded 1963 New York Studio Sessions”, Resonance Records’ Black Friday offering Eric Dolphy Musical Prophet is anything but one of those RSD repackaged assemblages of cast off secondary material meant for fanatical completists. The phrase “connective tissue” kept running through my head as I listened to the 3 LPs and read “mouth agape” the vital annotation that threaded together the confused recorded history.

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Album Reviews
The Dig’s New Double EP Is Finely Crafted From Start To Finish
Malachi Lui  |  Oct 14, 2018
“If there’s one thing that ties the two EPs together, it’s that all the songs are about moving,” wrote Brooklyn-based indie rock band The Dig in a recent press statement. Over the course of their move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, they wrote and recorded the songs that would make up two new EPs, Moonlight Baby and Afternoon With Caroline. After dropping tracks from these releases throughout the year, the latter has finally been released in full and both EPs have been paired for a new vinyl release courtesy of Roll Call Records.

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Album Reviews
The Donovan Revival Rolls On
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 01, 2006

Donovan may claim to not be a Dylan wannabe, but when you listen to "Catch the Wind," this compilation's opener, his claim rings hollow. It's so Dylan, so "Chimes of Freedom," and so derivative, there's no escaping the Dylan in him.

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Album Reviews
The Doors At 45 On 45!
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 11, 2012
Do you really need a musical discussion at this point in time? All I can say is that in the "Summer of Love" of 1967, all you could hear coming from car radios, and open windows was the edited version of "Light My Fire." It defined that summer for most of my peers and was the perfect calling card with which to beg for some action from a date. Hard to believe that was 45 years ago.

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
The Doors’ L.A. Woman Puts You Right in the Band’s Rehearsal Room on Acoustic Sounds’ Stunning New 200g 1LP UHQR Edition
Mike Mettler  |  Oct 02, 2024

In honor of Audiophile Day (October 2), I spent the balance of my afternoon and evening hours spinning some of my favorite LPs, both new and old alike. With that in mind, let me tell you a story about The Doors and the big beat of Analogue Productions’ new 200g 1LP UHQR edition of their April 1971 studio swan song with Jim Morrison behind the mike during his lifetime, L.A. Woman. Read on to see why this new Clarity Vinyl edition belongs on your turntable now. . .

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Album Reviews
The Doors’ Live at The Matrix, 1967: The Original Masters Finally Inhabits Comprehensive 5LP+7In Deluxe Edition Box Set Mastered by Bruce Botnick and Bernie Grundman
Mark Smotroff  |  Sep 15, 2023

The new Live at The Matrix, 1967: The Original Masters super deluxe box set that features early live recordings by The Doors as captured on the cusp of their impending, immense fame is a wonderful historic document on vinyl — and a crucial crossroads moment. Issued for the first time in as complete form as possible — and from better sources than what’s been previously available — these semi-professional recordings give us a glimpse of this legendary L.A. band just before they broke out as international music sensations. Read Mark Smotroff’s in-depth review to see if Live at The Matrix, 1967 deserves a place in your collection. . .

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Album Reviews
The Dresden Doll's Doll Strums and Sings
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 01, 2010

What possessed Amanda Palmer to cover Radiohead playing her "magic ukelele"? Who knows? Did this inspire Eddie Vedder to issue a ukelele-based record? What would Arthur Godfrey think of all of this (look him up if you're too young to know who he is)?

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Album Reviews
The Duke Past His Prime Still Had Plenty Left to Give
Michael Fremer  |  May 01, 2005

The big band era was over and Duke Ellington was past his most creative years by the time this set was recorded, but the year was 1960 and no doubt the art of recording was reaching a pinnacle. If you have any doubts, check out this Classic reissue cut from the three track original.

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Album Reviews
The Enigmatic Foe's   The Original Plan
Evan Toth  |  Sep 14, 2021
The Enigmatic Foe’s new album The Original Plan (S/R) offers up contemporary rock and roll in the vein of Real Estate with other jangle pop influences, including distant echoes of primordial U2 with some mid-80s leanings via occasional electronic drums and synth-pop production. Tight, yet airy, the band creates a satisfactory wall of sound - mostly via the shimmering guitars of Josh Dooley (Map, Fine China) and Jared Colinger. Colinger - writer, guitarist and vocalist of the group - explains the topical nature of his tunes, “Sometimes we go to great lengths to be miserable and stay miserable. I once heard a story about a musician who purposely created strife with their spouse to have song fodder. I certainly thrive on creating songs out of misery. Anything else outside that topic seems a novelty.” Colinger, however, camouflages these sorrows with chipper, sparkly production and plenty of guitar chime. Frank Lenz’s (Headphones, Richard Swift) drumming provides a tight, propulsive groove to the whole affair.

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Album Reviews
The Final Chapter Of One of America's Greatest Musical Stories
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 01, 2006

Johnny Cash’s final album is a tender and moving tribute to the resilience of the human spirit. The power and fascination of folk music is that the story is in the telling not in the technique.

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Album Reviews
The Final Chapter's Written To The Arthur Alexander Story
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 01, 2009

The late Arthur Alexander�s story is reminiscent of Roy Orbison�s. Like Orbison, Alexander passed away on his way to a resurrected career, though Orbison got to see his rebound while Alexander didn�t. He�d quit the music business and was driving a bus whenElektra A&R exec Danny Khan saw Alexander perform in 1991 at New York's Bottom Line in one of the clubs famous "A bunch of song writers sitting around singing" shows and convinced him to go back into the studio.

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
The Flying Burrito Bros' "The Gilded Palace of Sin" Finally Reissued Correctly
Michael Fremer  |  May 03, 2017
Characterizing The Gilded Palace of Sin as a “country-rock” album or “the first country-rock album” or as it’s incorrectly called by some Sweetheart of The Rodeo Part 2 sells short an album that transcends genre or for that matter “dash-genres”.

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