The message from Kenneth Newman rises higher:
 KN> On 08-10-97 CLARK RAY wrote to ALL...
 CR> Kazumi Watanabe -- Kilowatt
 CR> I don't like this.  It's not jazzy enough and the drums are BOORING.
 CR> It's too much like a lead electric Rock guitarists solo album.  Blech.
 CR> Can anyone recommend something I might like better?
 KN>
 KN> I've always found his albums to be too cheesy for me,
 KN> polyester jazz. Feh. Life's too short for this.
Well, it's nice to know that I'm not just missing something.
 CR> David Bowie -- Aladdin Sane
 CR> I bought this for the title track which for me is the best thing he
 CR> ever did.  Great freaked-out, free-form, avant garde piano playing by
 CR> Mike Garson and vocals by Bowie much like Peter Hammill.
 KN>
 KN> Definitely the best thing Garson ever did (avoid his
 KN> cheese lounge music album he did with Stanley Clarke,
 KN> btw). On some of the boots from the Aladdin Sane tour
 KN> Garson really stretches that solo, too. Worth checking
 KN> out.
I'll keep those in mind.  Is any of Bowie's other work worth picking up?
I have _Scary Monsters_ and like about half of it or so.  I used to
listen to my sister's _Diamond Dogs_ LP when I was a lot younger, but
that was just for the intro and the title track.  Nearly all of his hits
really kind of annoy me, with the exception of "Fashion" which is one of
my all-time favorite songs.
 KN> Of course Tony Visconti's excellent production saves
 KN> that album from some potentially weak material. Garson
 KN> and Mick Ronson help a lot, too.
Agreed.
 CR> Roxy Music -- Viva! Roxy Music
 CR> A live set recommended to me by Stuart (he used to be here too)
 KN>
 KN> Probably the only Roxy you need, though the first two are
 KN> ok. The tron on Viva is what makes it, imo.
I've been listening to this many times since I wrote that message.   I
like it very much.  There's really no song on it that I don't like and
some of them, like "Out of The Blue," "If There Is Something," and "In
Every Dream Home A Heartache," have really impressed me.  So, maybe I
ought to pick up some of their studio material.  My brother-in-law has
_Avalon_, which is OK for some light jazzy kind of stuff, but it doesn't
have the teeth that this live material does.
 CR> Finch -- Glory of the Inner Force
 CR> Oh my God, what a band!!  Kind of like a magnified and speedier Focus
 CR> with bits of Yes here and there.  They jam and jam and jam some more,
 CR> but they have a course and you can tell it's all written out.  It's
 CR> controlled jamming, I guess you'd call it.  No vocals which is fine by
 CR> me.
 KN>
 KN> I love the album but I often find myself tiring of it
 KN> after ten or fifteen minutes, or at least beginning to
 KN> pay less attention. I'm not sure if it's their fault or
 KN> mine, or simply because they start so strong.....
I've found that the tracks after the first are a bit of a letdown, but
the latter tracks are good it's just that, like you said, that first
track is such a phenomenal piece.  It would probably work better if they
had put that opening song at the end of the album.
 CR> Ultimate Spinach -- III
 CR> I bought this at a Rhino records outlet in L.A. because it was cheap.
 CR> Stuart told me that they were suppossed to be Psych.  Well, it's not
 KN>
 KN> They were pure hype back then and still are, like Moby
 KN> Grape. Yet people I trust swear by both bands. Go figger.
I haven't heard any Moby Grape, and I'll guess by your description that
I don't need to.
 CR> England -- Garden Shed
 CR> Damn, now we're talking!
 KN>
 KN> This is an album I keep meaning to track down....
I can not say enough good things about this album.  It was one that had
to grow on me and still is.  Something new and exciting comes out each
time I listen to it.
 CR> Kayak -- See See The Sun, Kayak, Royal Bed Bouncer, Starlight Dancer,
 CR> Phantom of the Night, Periscope Life
 KN>
 KN> An underrated band, IMO
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so.  I'm especially very fond
of the drummer, Pim Koopman, and especially his work on the entire
_Royal Bed Bouncer_ album.  I like Ton Scherpenzeel's keyboard work too.
I suppose that this stuff is Prog Pop, sort of, but damn, it really hits
all of my buttons just right, at least on their first 3 albums.
 CR> Kraan -- Let It Out
 CR> A fusion band that I would compare to If, but they are actually better
 CR> at it, in my opinion.
 KN>
 KN> Oh, far and away much better than IF....
 CR> The first song here is kind of cheesy ("bandits
 CR> in the woods, there are bandits in the woods so watch out") but the
 CR> other songs are much better.
 KN>
 KN> The bandits in the woods see the bandits in your mind,
 KN> Clark.
Oh, well excuuuuuse me :-)
 KN> I love that song. Give it a chance to grow on you.
 KN> I bet it will sink in.
Hmm, well, I'll give it a shot.  I think the rest of side 1 is better,
though.
 KN> Kraan are a band you keep with you
 KN> for a long time, rather than a passing infatuation.
Hmm, nice to hear.  I was thinking about getting some more.  What do you
recommend?
NP: "Life of Gold" -- Kayak
--------------------------------------------------------------
- Clark Ray                                                  -
- email: clarkray@psnw.com                                   -
- Web Page: http://www.psnw.com/~clarkray/list.html          -
--------------------------------------------------------------
 
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
--- QScan/PCB v1.19b / 01-0154
---------------