Album Review Friday

#10 Couldn’t Stand The Weather - Stevie Ray Vaughan

#9 Let It Be - The Replacements

#8 Learning To Crawl - The Pretenders

#7 The Smiths

#6 Born In The USA - Bruce Springsteen

#5 Reckoning - REM

#4 The Unforgettable Fire - U2

#3 How Will The Wolf Survive? - Los Lobos

If someone were asked to build a band that would make one of the best rock albums of the eighties, it would be unlikely their answer would be four Mexican Americans from California and a Jewish saxophonist from Philadelphia.  But that is exactly who Los Lobos were in 1984 when they released one of the finest albums of the year if not the decade.  How Will The Wolf Survive? was an unexpected breath of fresh air that swept in from Los Angeles and caught the popular music world off guard.  While the LA scene was certainly alive with groups such as The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Minutemen and Fishbone, it was the music of Los Lobos that rose above them all in 1984.   Their sound combined Americana country and blues, traditional rural Mexican folk, and just enough rock that made every song on How Will The Wolf Survive?  sound fresh, original and classic.  

Los Lobos was originally formed in the early 1970s, and quickly began experimenting with rock and roll intertwined with the traditional Mexican music of their youth.  David Hidalgo and Louie Perez started it all after meeting in high school in East Los Angeles, and enlisted Cesar Rosas and Conrad Lozano to complete the band. They took off slowly, but by the early ‘80s had attracted some attention in LA with their unique rock sound influenced by Mexican roots.  Eventually they hooked up with Steve Berlin, a saxophonist from Philadelphia, and the band created one of the finest collections of music heard in 1984.  

Famously inspired by a National Geographic article on the survival of the North American wolf, How Will The Wolf Survive? explodes out of the speakers with the hard edged “Don’t Worry Baby”.  Not a band to hind behind too much metaphor, they make it clear that they want to tell their story, the story of how difficult life’s struggle can be for Mexican-Americans.  Rosas minces no words when he snarls –

                        Don’t worry baby

                        What the world will bring

                        Don’t worry baby

                        Wouldn’t change a thing

                        Life is a fight

                        And then you die

And by track two, you already witness the flexibility of their talent, as they quickly pivot into a softer, country blues song to tell the story of a man trying to find the best for his family. “A Matter Of Time” has some of the most beautiful music on the album, and the sincerity of the vocals only serve to drive home the story’s message.  But though they wanted to show their rock and country talents, they take every necessary opportunity to flex their traditional Mexican folk muscles.  “Corrido #1” is probably the tightest mix of rock n roll with Mexican folk. Its relentless beat, driven by Hidalgo’s accordion,  turns it into the song to turn up loud whenever a party starts to drag and you need everyone dancing.  “Serenata Nortena” continues the folk tradition, with more accordion and Rojas’ Spanish lyrics creating a tune that slows down and speeds up with the rhythm of a locomotive chugging down the tracks. They roll this train into “Evangeline” which is two minutes of  rockabilly that is instantly fun, danceable and shows off the guitar chops of Hidalgo. Following “Lil’ King Of Everything”, a pretty Mexican roots instrumental, we reach the final and maybe best song on the album.  “Will The Wolf Survive?” captures the essence of why this album is so wonderful.  The songwriting hits all the marks, telling the story of the Mexican immigrants’ determination to preserve their family and heritage in a world that always seems to be against them.   The lyrics are poignant and the music strengthens what is an apt finish to an almost perfect album.  

Los Lobos would reach higher public acclaim later in the 1980s when their version of “La Bamba” , off of the movie’s soundtrack,  reached number one.  But creatively their work would never exceed that of How Will The Wolf Survive?. This album succeeded on all levels, with crisp songwriting and accomplished musicianship creating songs that remain a joy to listen to over thirty years later. 

Album Review Friday

#10 Couldn’t Stand The Weather - Stevie Ray Vaughan

#9 Let It Be - The Replacements

#8 Learning To Crawl - The Pretenders

#7 The Smiths

#6 Born In The USA - Bruce Springsteen

#5 Reckoning - REM

#4 The Unforgettable Fire - U2

Although one of the most popular and biggest selling acts of the past thirty years, U2’s creative efforts rarely attract universal praise.  While some artists have albums that seem to be loved and admired by all (Springsteen’s Born To Run, the Stones’ Let It Bleed for example) each U2 album almost always has a love or hate critical reaction.  Probably their most universally appreciated album was 1983’s War, which became their first number one album in the UK largely due to the anthems “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “New Year’s Day”.  The music on War is aggressive, political, and angry, which pretty much described the band’s identity at the time.  But their next effort remains a flashpoint of criticism even three decades later.  The Unforgettable Fire, released in 1984, is one of those albums the listener either loves or hates, either listens to regularly or rarely can stomach more than a few tracks.  Count me in to the former, as it is not only one of my favorite U2 albums, it is clearly one of the best albums of 1984.  

Great artists do not follow the predictable path. Dylan went electric, the Stones embraced country, the Who wrote an opera.  U2 fell into that lineup with The Unforgettable Fire.  It would have been all too easy to come out with another War, another album of stadium friendly, angry and bombastic political songs (do not forget, the four members of U2 are Irish).  Instead, The Unforgettable Fire is, I believe, one piece of music divided into ten chapters that together deliver a message on life’s spirituality and fragility.  Recall, they began as a band with strong Christian influences, and God and religion have been a continuous theme in their music.  On The Unforgettable Fire U2 puts their struggle with religion and their own future front and center.  

Have no doubt, though, that U2 was still a confident and arrogant band.  They had to be to release an album filled with atmospheric and panoramic sounds that on first listen seemed to stray from their prior work.  But the music on The Unforgettable Fire really is not much of a departure as the critics would have you think. Listen to “The Ocean” or “An Cat Dubh/Into The Heart” off of their debut album Boy and you hear similar ambient soundscapes that permeate so much of The Unforgettable Fire.  This is a band in evolution, confident to stretch their talent and experiment rather than settle for the sure thing that worked in the past.  They created a story on this album, and to appreciate each chapter it is essential to look at each song and how it contributes to the narrative.  

A Sort of Homecoming – The opening track.  The grandeur of the slow lead in bolstered by Larry Mullen’s persistent drumbeat sounds like he’s announcing the arrival of a marching army. And that is exactly what is happening. U2 is declaring their arrival, and Bono is clear that they have struggled with the rock star/spirituality conflict but are moving on when he sings “on borderland we run/And still we run, we run and don’t look back”.  The song is less heralded than other stadium pleasers, but is one of their very best. 

Pride (In The Name of Love) – Their first US top forty hit, and deservedly so.  Probably the most ‘traditional’ U2 song on the album.  Edge provides guitar work that sounds like it will explode any second, but never gives in which creates a tension that is matched by the simple yet profound lyrics from Bono.  Clearly describing the pain of Martin Luther King Jr’s assasination

Wire – Coming off two epic tracks “Wire” sneaks up on the listener expecting relief only to be met by Adam Clayton’s thunderous bass line that gives this track energy and spirit.  Even with that groove the lyrics return to life and its struggles, this time supposedly about drug use the cost of the wrong choices.  “Throw your life away/Such a nice day…So lay me down/The longest sleep”.

The Unforgettable Fire – The album is often described as atmospheric, and the title track certainly is responsible for that description.  It is the first song of the album to truly have that ethereal feel to it, with guitar and drums taking a backseat to synthesizers. The music and Bono’s vocals work together to create musical imagery unlike anything the band had made up to that point. 

Promenade – A little over two minutes but just enough time to create a dreamy feel of Bono’s reportedly improvised lyrics.  Edge fills just enough space to match the words that again reflect their focus on life and what comes after.  “Earth, sky, sea and rain/Is she coming back again?/I’d like to be around in a spiral staircase/To the higher ground”

4thOf July – An instrumental piece that opens side two of the album, continuing the scaled down more atmospheric sound.  Reportedly recorded by their producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois without the band’s knowledge, it is primarily Clayton’s bass line slowly weaving between skeletal riffs from Edge’s guitar.  Its place on the album is crucial and why it is so important, because it almost bleeds right into the first notes of the next track that take that simple rhythm and expand into an unmatched classic.  

Bad – An instant classic, the song is a thinly veiled narrative of a struggle with heroin addiction, written about a personal friend of Bono’s who died of an overdose.  The repetitive guitar riff from Edge would become a staple of future U2 songs, but here it appears in its original form.  The song builds behind the power of Clayton’s bass beat and Mullen’s relentless rhythm and climaxes with Bono’s sincere cry of being ‘wide awake’ to the tragedy around him.  This remains U2’s best, and certainly is in the conversation of greatest rock song ever with “Gimme Shelter” from The Rolling Stones and “Like A Rolling Stone” from Dylan.  The live version consistently get more praise than the album track, and their performance at Live Aid is legendary.  

Indian Summer Sky – The song begins as if the listener came in late, with the beat sounding like a horse galloping from a distance and approaching at a breakneck pace.  And that pace does not slow, with Bono delivering the lyrics with urgency as Clayton’s bass propels the song to an exhaustive finish.  

Elvis Presley And America  -  Probably the most criticized song on the album, this is reportedly Bono adlibbing vocals to an altered rework of the backing track from “A Sort Of Homecoming”. It is actually an essential chapter to their story on this album, and its position on the album allows the listener to come down from the frenetic track before it and prepare for the conclusion that is soon to come.  It also is the clearest example of the band’s new fascination with America, which would be front and center on their next two releases The Joshua Tree and Rattle And Hum. 

MLK – I see this song in the same vein as “40” from the album War.  A tribute to Martin Luther King, the music and Bono’s gentle vocals drive home what becomes a spiritual requiem to their hero.  It is a fitting and audacious song to close the album, and emotionally leaves you exhausted, spent, but at the same time energized.   

The Unforgettable Fire was recorded in a castle, a fitting setting for four Irishmen that were ready to battle to be the best rock band in the world. The album, tour, and Live Aid performance would put them in contention for that title.  And this was possible because they pushed themselves to change, to defy expectations, to try and make themselves better than they even thought they could be.  To look at this album as ten separate songs that do not sound like the U2 of War is a mistake.  This is a ten chapter story, a story of struggle with the temptations of life’s reality, and the struggle of a band searching for greatness. 

Album Review Friday

#10 Couldn’t Stand The Weather - Stevie Ray Vaughan

#9 Let It Be - The Replacements

#8 Learning To Crawl - The Pretenders

#7 The Smiths

#6 Born In The USA - Bruce Springsteen

#5 Reckoning - REM

The origin of the alternative country (alt-country) sound is typically credited to Uncle Tupelo in the early 1990s.  They were able to successfully combine the simple yet sincere songwriting of artists like Hank Williams with music infused with the edginess of punk and rock and roll. While many before them had fused country music with rock, it was Uncle Tupelo’s debutNo Depression that is often considered the first album that crystallized the alt-country sound.  But the argument can be made that the true origin of alt-country traces back to REM’s second full length album Reckoning, released in 1984.  On Reckoning,REM merged simple yet heartfelt lyrics with by a unique straightforward rock sound that certainly has its inspiration in both the punk and country scenes of the 1970s.  While they would show flashes of this style across their later recordings, it is the beauty of the ten songs that comprise Reckoningwhich make it one of the best albums released in 1984.  

Before Reckoning, REM was known most for the muddled and often incomprehensible vocals from their frontman Michael Stipe. While their debut album Murmur received widespread praise, it was often tempered with the difficulty most had with actually appreciating lyrics that could not be understood.  Murmur certainly showed REM’s unique sound but was too inconsistent to predict success for a band that was little more than a darling of college radio stations.  But with Reckoning, REM declared themselves as the alternative rock band to pay attention to, for the sound on this album would inspire and influence bands for the rest of the decade and beyond.  Stipe’s vocals are clear, Peter Buck’s guitar sound and talent is mature, and Mike Mills’ bass with Bill Berry’s drums provide a dynamic foundation to what would become possibly the best alternative album of the 1980s.  

While Stipe gets the credit the vocal power behind the songs on Reckoning, listening to the album again reveals how much Mills’ harmonies add to the texture of the music.  Just listen to “Pretty Persuasion” as Stipe’s almost flat delivery is elevated every time Mills comes in with his backing parts.  This combo is put to perfection on the opening track, “Harborcoat”.  It is Mills’ counterpoint to Stipe’s lines that make the song so interesting and layered.  Whether the song is really about Anne Frank or the Russian Revolution does not matter, it catches you and tells you this album is going to be worth a full listen. 

The content of the lyrics do not get lighter, as topics include the untimely death of a friend in “So. Central Rain” and failed relationships in the dark but beautiful “Camera”.  But regardless of the content, the music remains consistent. While sometimes criticized for ‘all sounding the same’, it is this unique sound that gives the album its beauty. One track blends into the next, and the bright guitar sounds of Buck provide the thread that connects them all. That sunny Rickenbacker tone set REM apart in the 1980s, and it became a signature of their future albums. 

Probably the biggest hit off Reckoningis a prime example of how the band  had already grown into their sound and was willing to experiment.  “Don’t Go Back To Rockville” is an instantly catchy song, with easy sing-along choruses, and certainly has the Buck guitar signature all over it.  But it is the backing piano and country flavor that give it enough texture to make it more than just a catchy pop song.  And this combination would be seen more on their next few records, which were their peak.  Fables Of The Reconstruction and Life’s Rich Pageant really show REM at their creative best, balancing the deep sound with enough rock and pop to make the albums interesting decades later.  They lost that ability to check their pop indulgences with later recordings, most famously on Document, Green and Out Of Time.While more commercially successful, they lost the artistry that made the early albums so special.  They would not find that perfect recipe again until 1992’s Automatic For The People, which became one of their finest.  

REM was certainly one of the most influential bands of the 1980s, and with Reckoningdemonstrated their unique, individual sound.  The sincerity of their songwriting coupled with the straightforward guitar centered music influenced bands for years to come, and made Reckoning one of the best albums of 1984, if not the decade.  

Album Review Friday

#10 Couldn’t Stand The Weather - Stevie Ray Vaughan

#9 Let It Be - The Replacements

#8 Learning To Crawl - The Pretenders

#7 The Smiths

#6 Born In The USA - Bruce Springsteen

Up until now the albums chosen on this list have been defended for their position, their claim to the spot on the ten best records released in 1984.  With number six, it almost seems necessary to explain why it is not among the top two or three.  An honest dilemma for sure, especially if you just look at the numbers.  Thirty million copies sold.  Seven top ten singles.  Number one on album charts all over the world.  One of the best selling albums of all time.  Consistently ranked among the top albums ever.  But consistency is exactly why it does not place at the top of this list.  Born In The USA, the seventh studio album by Bruce Springsteen, is not only inconsistent, it is not even his best display of musicianship or songwriting.  As well, looking back thirty five years, it marks a turn in his career that may not represent a positive change in his music, although it did turn him into an international icon.  That story is beyond the scope of this article, but while an excellent and often glorious album to listen to, Born In The USA has too many missteps to rise higher than sixth place.  

Born In The USA would change Springsteen’s music forever.  It is the last album to feature the core E Street band,  that power backing group that provided such energy and life to his studio albums and legendary live shows.  Clarence Clemons, Roy Bittan, Garry Tallant, Danny Federici and Max Weinberg would all be cast aside following this album, only to be used in sparse combinations until the reunion tours over ten years later.  And the album was so impactful and pervasive, all of Bruce’s music afterwards has to be viewed in its reflection.  Is his career after 1984 better or worse because of Born In The USA? That certainly is debatable. 

 One dilemma in ranking albums is the conflict of consistency.   Does a ten song album lose stature if nine songs are great and one is unlistenable? Do all the songs have to be great for an album to be considered one of the best?  I believe this is so, that all the songs have to be excellent at a minimum, have some value they add to the entire work or else the album loses its importance. And this is the case with Born In The USA.  Broadly it is a fantastic album, well worth its praise.  But there are glaring weaknesses in the songwriting and production that weaken the entire project, which limit its rank among 1984’s greatest.  Let’s examine those weaknesses first.  

 While the album begins with a thunderclap, the title song is followed by “Cover Me”, maybe the most misplaced song of Springsteen’s career.  More fitting for his “LA Bruce” years of the early 1990s, this song, which he originally wrote for Donna Summer, does not belong on this album.  All the energy infused by the preceding “Born In The USA” is drained immediately by this clunker.  The lyrics are repetitive, as is the music.  While there are flashes of impressive guitar work, they do not overcome the boring backbeat that just seems uninspired.  “I’m On Fire”, which closes out side one, is a song of unquenched desire backed by simple guitar and synthesizer.  But the message is not delivered, as the production seems empty, without soul or heart that is needed to support the lyrics.  A more fitting song would have been “Fire”, a staple of Springsteen’s live shows that carries the drama that “I’m On Fire” just does not have.  The most glaring misstep is the album’s first single, “Dancing In The Dark”.  The second side to Born In The USA is brilliant, and “Dancing In The Dark” is the reason why it falls short of perfection.  Reportedly the last song to be recorded, when Bruce was instructed to write a pop song that could be a hit single, “Dancing In The Dark” leaves the listener empty.  The lyrics feel rushed, the production is synthesizer heavy and slick.  It is unlike any song on the album, and not in a good way.  It would be redeemed in later years with an energized live version, but that is not the song that brings the album’s greatness down a notch. 

But there is so much that makes this album special, and one worth revisiting three decades after its release.  The title song is a tour de force, kicked off by an anthemic synthesizer and drum riff that begins four minutes of pure energy and power that made the live shows of Bruce and the E Street Band legendary.  I will not go into the politics around the song, and how it was so often misunderstood as jingoistic, but it is a good example of Bruce’s tendency to mismatch his music with his lyrics.  He has been criticized for combining upbeat music when the songwriting describes despair or heartbreak.  Just listen to “Hungry Heart” from 1980, as the singer tells the tale of an affair and leaving his family while the upbeat melodies inspire fist-pumping dancing whenever its played live. 

 Two songs on side one, though, show Bruce at his best, using his writing to tell simple stories transformed into beautiful songs.  “Darlington County” and “Working On The Highway” are a joy to listen to as they show off the skills of the band and its leader at their peak.  “Darlington County” echoes the lighthearted melodies of “Sherry Darling” off of The River, Bruce’s double album masterpiece from 1980. “Working On The Highway” seems to be from the same vein, and comes across as the more danceable than “Dancing In The Dark”. 

The songs of the album’s second half, excluding “Dancing In The Dark”, show the strength of the band coming together delivering Bruce’s messages of the complexity of relationships, family, and the belief in oneself.    “No Surrender” is just an all out rocker, while “Bobby Jean” is a triumphant sounding love song, though in this context a goodbye to Springsteen’s longtime bandmate and confidant Little Steven Van Zandt. And if you are not tapping your foot and singing along to “Glory Days” by the time the chorus comes around, check your pulse.  The album closes with “My Hometown”, which though a somewhat cheaper version of “Used Cars” from Bruce’s Nebraska, it still is the right ending to the record.  The synthesizer is used well here, giving just enough background to Springsteen’s description of the despair of economic, political and racial hardship.  

Born In The USA was Springsteen’s most accessible record and the effects of becoming an international icon would impact him for the rest of  his career. While not his best work (listen to The River to hear him at top form) it deserved much of the accolades it received and can be considered one of the best of 1984.  

Album Review Friday

#10 Couldn’t Stand The Weather - Stevie Ray Vaughan

#9 Let It Be - The Replacements

#8 Learning To Crawl - The Pretenders

#7 The Smiths

Context is key to understanding why the albums on this list were so powerful in 1984, which lends understanding to why their brilliance continues.  1984 was the year of Van Halen,  Footloose, Duran Duran and ZZ Top.  Nothing but over the top gloss seemed to get attention and popular praise.  Yet somehow a band with an intentional bland name and a socially awkward frontman set its debut album against this glitz to make music history.  The Smiths, four overly self conscious lads from Manchester, England produced a fully formed sound that would be too short lived, but still ring as relevant and unique thirty years later.  Their self-titled debut album The Smiths featured a mature sound strengthened by the emotional vocals of Morrissey and the chiming guitar sounds of Johnny Marr.  This duo would burnout four years later, but the music they created survives.  

Manchester in the 1980s was the English analogue to Seattle in the 1990s.  Spurred by unemployment and a dying economy, the youth of Northern England took their anger and angst out in music, which for pop fans was a bounty of creativity.  Joy Division, New Order, ABC and others would mark the beginning of the period, anchored in the mid-80s by The Smiths and The Stone Roses, all setting the foundation for a scene that would give birth to Oasis in the 1990s.  The Smiths’ origin story is one so often heard in rock, the chance meeting of two gifted artists, invigorated by a common love for alternative bands and the New York punk scene of the 1970s.  Shortly after, slowed by finding the right rhythm section, Morrissey and Marr joined forces with bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce and the band was formed.  Morrissey had now decided to only go by his surname, and also is credited with the intentional simplicity of the name of their group: 

“it was the most ordinary name and I thought it was time that the ordinary folk of the world showed their faces”

Their debut album The Smiths, released February 1984, would be anything but ordinary.  Everything from Marr’s guitar sound to Morrissey’s songwriting would get attention, and not all of it positive.  Certainly an album of murky songs all around four-minutes plus in length, steeped in dark, sexually ambiguous undertones is not a formula that would predict popular success.  “Reel Around The Fountain”, the album’s first track, is not the typical song meant to grab the listener and announce a band’s arrival.  Six minutes of dreamy memories of a sexual experience gone bad do not often bode well, but there is something catchy in Morrissey’s crooning and the song definitively works.  This theme of sexual frustration and confusion continues, as seen in the daringly titled “Pretty Girls Make Graves”.  Again we hear Morrissey describe an awkward situation of adolescent love, sex and denial.  The song works so well though with his lilting delivery and the strength of the backing of Joyce and Rourke. Marr’s guitar work is front and center on the controversial ‘lullaby’ “The Hand That Rocks The Cradle”.  Marr’s consistent, ringing guitar work backs Morrissey’s haunting lyrics that imply a plot of childhood murder.  Looking back now we know this is the band that would write about the pleasure of being killed by in bus accident, and the conflict of seeing a girlfriend in a coma.  But for a debut album to contain lyrics that are this chilling, the music better be extraordinary to pull it off.  

                                                A piano plays in an empty room

                                                There’ll be blood on the cleaver tonight

                                                And when darkness lifts and the room is bright

                                                I’ll still be by your side

                                                For you are all that matters

                                                And I’ll love you to the day I die

                                                There never need be longing in your eyes

                                                As long as the hand that rocks the cradle is mine

And it is, and that is what made this album so attractive.  The subject matter was difficult, but the music and vocals conveyed a universal appeal to the themes of struggle, despair and sadness.  That they could put a song out with such sincerity as “The Hand That Rocks The Cradle”, and follow it with the pure pop treat  “This Charming Man” shows The Smiths’ true talent.  Marr’s guitar is bright and fun, betraying Morrissey’s tale of sexual confusion, lust, and vulnerability.  

But the most controversy, and anger, would be directed at the closing track “Suffer Little Children”.  Clearly describing the horrific Moors murders that occurred near Manchester in the 1960s, the song actually led to the album being banned from several stores throughout England.  Despite the subject matter, the song again is a beautiful example of Morrissey’s skill as a vocalist matched with the unique guitar work of Marr.  This combination led to even better music to come, but albeit for only four more years.  Marr and Morrissey could not overcome their creative conflicts, which ran deep enough that their mutual anger continues three decades later.   

The Smiths is ranked on too many lists to mention, be it greatest albums of the 1980s, best debut albums of all time, and on and on.  This is all well deserved, and on reexamination the music and songwriting seems to improve with age.  If only we all could be so fortunate.

Album Review Friday - 1984 Countdown, #8

#10 Couldn’t Stand The Weather - Stevie Ray Vaughan

#9 Let It Be - The Replacements

#8 Learning to Crawl - The Pretenders

No matter the art, be it cinema, writing or music, what separates the great from the mediocre is commitment.  Commitment to the craft, the desire the artist has to create that drives them no matter the obstacle in front of them.  The eighth album on this list, The Pretenders Learning To Crawl,  is the product of the passionate drive of its lead singer Chrissie Hynde.   Her rise to fame with that of her band is unique and inspiring, especially reflecting on how difficult it must have been for a woman in rock music in the 1970s.  Fascinated with music and art she moved to London in 1973 where she ended up working for the magazine NME, and eventually connecting to Malcolm McLaren and his band of music renegades The Sex Pistols.  Legend has it that she tried to get a British visa by marrying Sid Vicious, which may be the ultimate example of rock and roll dedication.  She was forced to leave England but returned a few years later, again trying to make her mark with a band, even trying to form a band with Mick Jones from The Clash.   Eventually she would form the first iteration of the Pretenders in 1978 and the following year release their classic “Brass In Pocket”, which hit number one in Britain the following year.  All should have been good, the struggle complete and the achievement obtained.  But only three years later The Pretenders would be forced into hiatus, after drug use forced the firing of bassist Pete Farndon and drug overdose took the life of guitarist James Honeyman-Scott.  The test of Hynde’s commitment to rock and roll was upon her.

By the end of 1982 Hynde and drummer Martin Chambers were able to cobble together a reformed but temporary version of The Pretenders and released their biggest single in the USA “Back On The Chain Gang” (with the equally strong B-side “My City Was Gone”).   By 1983 a permanent group was intact, with Malcolm Foster on bass and Robbie McIntosh playing guitar.  This quartet released what would become the classic rock album of the 1980s Learning To Crawl in January 1984.  Looking back it should not be a surprise this album is so strong, coming after a string of singles listed above that remain relevant to this day.  But even with the power of time it is remarkable to listen to the consistent, robust music of Learning To Crawl.

The album makes no mistake about its intent with the lead track “Middle Of The Road”, opening with a powerful drum beat that announces what will be forty minutes of rock and roll.  Listening to the album over thirty years later is an awakening to just how brilliant the music is from start to finish.  Blindfold a novice Pretenders fan and have them listen to this album and they will think you mistakenly slipped in a greatest hits collection.  The all time classic “Back On The Chain Gang” follows as the second track, powered by Hynde’s snarl and Chambers relentless beat.  This pattern continues, without letting up, demonstrating that despite the tragic circumstances, Hynde and The Pretenders were here to stay.  The closing of the first half of the album features their ability to work catchy melody with a rock backbeat as  “Show Me” finishes off what is a near perfect album side. If their ability to rock were in doubt at all then those doubts were erased when the bass groove of “My City Was Gone” begins. This song fits into the reflection Hynde put into her songwriting, recalling changes in her youth, her home state, and her recent personal life.  The album ends with what is likely the most misunderstood song of the album, the beautiful “2000 Miles”.  Its lyrics have often been misinterpreted as a holiday song due to the references to snow and Christmas.  But more examination reveals it is  written to lost bandmate Honeyman-Scott -

                        He’s gone 2000 miles

                        Its very far

                        The snow is falling down

                        Gets colder day by day

                        I miss you

Learning to Crawl is a clear example of triumph from tragedy, that commitment and desire will not be stopped in the search for something beautiful.   This album is the result of that search,  and its strength resonates over three decades later.   

Album Review Friday - 1984 Countdown, #9

#10 Couldn’t Stand The Weather - Stevie Ray Vaughan

#9 Let It Be - The Replacements

It is often said that people regret most what they did not do, actions not performed, chances not taken.  It is the missed opportunity that haunts us, leaving us with the constant remorseof what could have been.  In the mid 1980s I was offered a chance to see The Replacements play a show at Trax, a small club in Charlottesville, Virginia.  I passed, missing out on what was supposed to be a legendary show from an iconic band of the 1980s.  The Replacements live shows were legendary for their aggressiveness, which when fueled by too much beer would turn into blatant antagonism for their audience.  How that show in Charlottesville came off I’ll never know, and that sentiment of missed opportunity is how I and others feel about the band in general.  They always seemed on the cusp of true greatness, but something always seemed to be missing.  But with their 1984 album Let It Be, they got as close to true musical brilliance as any band of the decade. 

The Replacements came out of Minneapolis, which was the alternative epicenter of the 1980s, much as Seattle was the hotbed of the grunge movement coming in the 1990s. Joined by bands like Husker Du and Soul Asylum, The Replacements were as dysfunctional and raw as they were talented.  Similar to other bands of that post-punk indie scene they liked to play fast and loud, which when left unchecked easily could sound ragged and careless.  Yet by the time of their 1983 album Hootenanny, they had matured enough that true songwriting could be heard on the record, and this broadened their appeal to both critics and audiences.  With this attention they seemed to gain confidence, allowing them to explore more sincere songs with more musicianship.  Led by Paul Westerberg, their guitarist and vocalist who now was responsible for the bulk of the writing, The Replacements put together thirty three minutes of music that would become a classic of both the postpunk and rock scene of the 1980s.

What makes Let It Be so good is what made The Replacements so entertaining to watch live (so I’ve heard), vulnerability coupled with arrogance. Could anything be more arrogant than an indie rock band featuring mandolin on the opening track of their breakthrough album?  Certainly this was due to the influence of their relationship with REM’s Peter Buck, but they still had the brashness to put it out there and accept any criticism to come. Westerberg even said the album’s first song “I Will Dare” represented the attitude of the band, “We’ll dare to flop, we’ll dare to do anything”.   “I Will Dare” is immediately attractive on first listen, intense rock yet softened enough to match the sincerity of the lyrics – 

            Oh, meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime

            Now, I don’t care, meet me tonight

            If you will dare, I might dare

From the sincerity of teenage vulnerability the album quickly swerves into songs like “Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out”, a raw but fun song that seems from a different band that recorded “I Will Dare” or “Sixteen Blue”.  “Sixteen Blue” shows off how Westerberg’s lyrics could capture every teenager’s feeling of boredom and loneliness, matched with enough aggressive guitar to symbolize the teenage angst still percolating through the band. 

Let It Be is a classic because of how unique it was when released, and how its effect lasts until this day.  The songwriting initially seems to be focused on teen frustration and isolation, but the lyrics still resonate to listeners who are decades beyond adolescence.  Combined with music that had a controlled ferocity, the album was the high point of a band that always seemed to be on the cusp of self destruction.  Of course, that self destruction was only a few years away, as band members left and some were replaced, leading to the eventual breakup in 1991.  What could have been if they had remained intact and repeated the brilliance of Let It Be?  We will never know, but we have what was, Let It Be, and that remains one of the best albums of 1984. 

Album Review Friday

Bruce Springsteen has a new album out.   I can remember when that statement would bring immediate excitement, at the period of his career when albums of new material came every two to three years.  This was when exposure to a musician was mainly through their music,  when MTV was embryonic, and obviously no twitter, YouTube, internet whatsoever.  But times change, and careers change.  With live albums, re-releases, books, etc the past ten years or so seem to have included a feast of Springsteen creative output.  As a lifelong Springsteen fan, I admittedly became a bit fatigued with this.  The quality has not always been there, and with every release the effect of each product becomes diluted.  So with his new album solo Western Stars I have been reluctant to listen, expecting to be disappointed.  And I am. 

I was skeptical when I heard a few years ago Springsteen was going to be on Broadway.  Assuming this was the pinnacle of overexposure, I was pleasantly surprised listening to the music he performed for that show.  Sure, the banter between songs seemed forced and slick at times, but the beauty of his music was there.  Listen to “Growin’ Up” from his Springsteen on Broadway and I challenge you to distinguish that from solo recordings of the same song done forty years earlier.  The power is in the music, the words and his delivery.  When that is your focus, it all comes together in a moment that makes him one of the best musicians of the past fifty years.  Unfortunately, Western Stars has none of those moments. 

Overproduced.  That would be the one word to describe this album, and that is the element that makes it so unsatisfying.  Just give us the words, the voice and the guitar, Bruce.  Stop with the string sections, the violins, the horns.  This is most egregious in “Chasin’ Wild Horses”.  The first few minutes are actually refreshing, mostly just Springsteen and some guitar and a quiet banjo in the background.  But then come the strings halfway through, and they do not go away.  They overwhelm the song, and the crescendo of strings and horns in the last minute makes it sound like the soundtrack of some Kevin Costner straight-to-video western.  “Somewhere North of Nashville” has the most promise of the 13 songs on Western Stars.  It starts with some simple finger picking, and Springsteen’s voice echoes what we heard on his best solo album, Nebraska.  It keeps that feeling throughout, and though the piano on the second half is unnecessary, it does not take awake from the song’s simplicity.  More of this and the album would be one to recommend. But by the first note of the next track, “Stones”, the strings and gloss return.  All of the beauty of the previous song is forgotten, buried under overproduction. 

It is easy to think that the strength of Springsteen’s music over the past forty years comes from the dramatic sounds of fist-raising crowd pleasers like “Badlands”, “Born To Run” and “Hungry Heart”.  But when he allows his lyrics to be the focus, the music is just a bonus that reinforces the message his words are conveying.  And this is when the listener feels his power.   “Badlands” is musically a tour de force, but it’s the words that you remember:

                                    I want to find one face that ain’t looking through me

                                    I want to find one place

                                    I want to spit in the face of these badlands

The guitars, drums and keyboards are just gravy for the words and message of that song.  And this is even true of the softer songs of Springsteen’s work.  Listen to “Highway Patrolman” from his masterwork Nebraska.  The song describes the pain of a patrolman whose life intersects with that of his troublemaker brother.  Just Springsteen’s voice, guitar, some harmonica and a few faint touches of glockenspiel.  What gives it meaning is the lyrics, which if they do not move you then check your pulse.

                                    I catch him when he’s strayin’ like any brother would

                                    Man turns his back on his family, he just ain’t no good

I am all for the artist’s ability to chart their own course, to push their growth as they continue to evolve the music they make.  But with that comes realization that they need to know when they have pushed too far, beyond what makes them who they are.  Western Stars is that album for Springsteen. It shows at its core he still has something to offer, but it has been buried beneath layers of overproduction that obscure the beauty of what made his past work so special.