Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)

Released in 1978, Darkness on the Edge of Town was Bruce Springsteen’s fourth studio album, and the first release following his breakthrough album Born to Run, an album that took him to levels of superstardom to the point that many critics declared him as being the savour of rock. However, Springsteen suffered somewhat from a three gap between releases as he was involved in a bitter dispute with his former manager for the rights and control of his music. This impacted on his new found momentum following Born to Run, meaning that “Darkness” in many ways was a make or break album for Springsteen and a record where he needed to prove that he wasn’t just a flash in the pan one album wonder.

Musically, Darkness is quite a step away from Born to Run and is not as full on in terms of its overall production and sound. Gone is the wall of sound style that was a constant on his previous album and in its place comes a sense of maturity I guess, musically, with Springsteen spending more time in the studio crafting songs and developing ideas instead of following rigid musical arrangements. Just one of the musical casualties from the Born to Run sound aside from the layered production, was the heavy sax presence of Clarence Clemons who definitely takes a backseat on this album, while the band as a whole are much tighter on here. This comes as no surprise as Springsteen himself has said subsequently how he wanted a leaner and less grand affair than Born to Run. The song-writing is also quite a departure from Born to Run and thematically looks more at Springsteen’s life growing up in small town America, while taking influence from his managerial struggles of the time.  Many of the song titles reflect this sense of tension, while also portraying a sense of doom descending, with “Badlands”, “Streets of Fire” and “Darkness on the Edge of Town” being just some examples of this. Springsteen was also so intent on keeping the overall thematic feel of the album and its essence intact to the point that many of the 70 odd songs he wrote and recorded around this time were left off the album as they did not fit in with the overall concept. Many of these songs would subsequently appear on future releases instead.

Darkness on the Edge of Town is full of standout tracks, starting with the anthemic opener “Badlands”, one of Springsteen’s most loved tracks and what he traditionally plays to start his concerts. Out of all the tracks on the album this one probably resembles the Born to Run sound the most with its chiming piano, pounding drums and a rare sax solo. The album then takes a slightly different turn on the following track “Adam Raised a Cain”, an aggressive raw guitar track which also has a punk attitude about it when compared with what was going on elsewhere musically at the time. This track is then followed by the quite emotional rock ballad “Something in the Night”, a beautiful song that begins with some soaring moans from Springsteen himself before transitioning into quite a powerful and reflective song. “The Promise Land” is a harmonica laden rock number that also has a thunderous sing-a-long chorus and a brilliant sax solo, while “Prove It All Night” is quite an interesting song musically, containing different things that jump out at you throughout like the slightly Asian sounding piano opening and the tracks subtle overall rock and roll dance feel. Finally, album closer “Darkness on the Edge of Town” pretty much sums up the album both lyrically and musically, as well as capturing the essence of its message. All of the musical elements seen on the album are pretty much at play on this song, while it also contains somewhat of a gospel feel in the vocals. A great track to end what is on the whole a great sounding album.

Darkness on the Edge of Town remains one of Springsteen’s most highly regarded albums and is even rated as high as 150 on Rolling Stone magazines top 500 albums of all-time list. Its enduring legacy is also seen through how it was re-issued as part of a box set titled “The Promise” in 2010, a very expansive and expensive set that also included an album made up some of the tracks left off the original album that had not been released, as well as an accompanying documentary which gave a very insightful look into the making of the album and Springsteen’s methods in the studio. In conclusion then, I would say that “Darkness” is a very honest record with a more focussed sound than seen on other Springsteen releases. It may lack the stylistic diversity of some of his other more seminal albums, but this is made up for by some solid song-writing as well as some interesting musical moments. This album definitely features in his top five and in many respects is an underrated late-70s rock classic. 

A- 

Sam 

Warren Zevon - Tenderness on the block (1978)

Warren Zevon - Excitable Boys (1978)

Warren Zevon is one of the forgotten artists from the 1970s California singer-songwriter era and has tended to be overlooked in favour of many of his contemporaries. Part of the reason for this is probably because he is not your typical rock star with his very distinctive voice as well as what I would describe as his quite nerdy looks complete with Harry Potter glasses, not entirely keeping in line with the glitz and glamour of the mid-70s California pop world. However, despite this, his musical talents are undoubted and it was on his third album Excitable Boy where everything moulded together in what is one of the great albums of the period.

Released in 1978, Excitable Boy was Zevon’s third album and it would also become his best selling release. It was on this release where he combined his often humours lyrics and overall quirkiness with a California pop-rock sound complete with gorgeous harmonies, a formula which obviously worked well in appealing to a mass audience. The music on this album is a mix of up-tempo pop rockers and slightly mellower piano ballads, while it is the wonderful harmonies of the large array of backing vocalists on display including some of Los Angeles finest in the form of Linda Ronstadt and J.D. Souther that gives many of the tracks a laid back California feel. Opening track “Johnny Strikes Up the Band” is a stomping guitar rocker, while title track “Excitable Boy” has a Beach Boys feel to it and features a storming sax solo and a section of female backing vocalists. Excitable Boy also notably contains Zevon’s most recognised song “Werewolves of London”, a song that went on to become a classic rock radio staple and which in recent years was sampled by Kid Rock in his smash hit “All Summer Long”. “Accidently Like a Martyr” is a beautiful piano pop ballad in a similar style to the great singer-songwriters of the 70s period, while “Tenderness on The Block” features some of the most infectious harmonies on the album, harmonies that would give The Eagles a run for their money. This is definitely a standout track on the album and one my favourites, I guess I am just a sucker for good harmony vocals.

One of the strong features of Excitable Boy apart from Zevon’s wonderful piano playing and unique vocal style is his ability as a songwriter and in particular some of the themes he focuses on in his songs. On “Veracruz” he dramatizes the US occupation of Veracruz during the Mexican Revolution, while “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner” is about a fictional character called Roland who gets involved in the Nigerian Civil War during the 1960s. The theme of war continues on “Lawyers, Guns and Money” which represents Zevon’s humorous take on Cold War paranoia. So not only are the melodies and harmonies infectious on this record, but the song-writing is varied, vivid and interesting, ensuring that the listeners are kept amused with characters such as Roland the gunner and lyrics talking of seeing werewolves with Chinese menus in their hand walking in Soho. This is just the quirkiness and unusual mastery of Warren Zevon, showing why he is such a good musician and how his music makes for such good listening.

Excitable Boy gave Warren Zevon a larger audience and saw him crack the top 10 on Billboard, but he would struggle to capitalize in the long term on the openings this album gave him in terms of exposure. Although he would continue to retain his cult following in music circles and would earn the praise of people such as Dylan, Young and Springsteen, commercial success would elude him throughout the rest of his career and he eventually died prematurely in 2003, age 56. Warren Zevon is to this day still in many ways a cult figure in music and you have either heard of him or you haven’t. The 70s California singer-songwriter period and the music that came out of it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and people often view it cynically as a coked up bland period for music where money ruled the roost. This might be the case in some instances, but this album Excitable Boy by a nerdy looking guy with a strange last name proved that there were exceptions, and that in the end some of the music did sound good.

A-/A

- Sam

 

 

Kate Bush - The Kick Inside (1978)

Ever wondered what a ‘70s progressive rock band with a female vocalist would sound like? Take that basic setup, tune that vocalist a few octaves higher than most, and you have the debut album The Kick Inside by British singer/songwriter Kate Bush, who hadn't even turned 20 before it was released.

The Kick Inside contains a few indicators that it was recorded in the peak years of progressive popular music – there’s a typically heavy, lush sound, which is very surreal at points, and the instrumentation is quite specific and is used in different ways for particular tracks. But unlike a conventional prog-record of the era, there isn't a particular concept - this is simply a collection of Kate Bush’s self-penned works. And if the album is one part progressive, the other is singer/songwriter. In fact, The Kick Inside is literally singer/songwriter meets progressive pop/rock. On this particular album, Kate Bush’s ability to fuse the two is still in its infancy, but it’s still a charming enough combination to hear. For instance, the track “James and the Cold Gun” features an upbeat, rollicking prog-rock style not unlike “Dogs” from Pink Floyd’s Animals, released the year earlier. But what sets this track (and the entire album) apart from its progressive contemporaries is Kate Bush’s spectacular wailing vocals. It’s certainly a unique experience to listen through, and I’m sure was innovative for its time.

But what I particularly liked about this album is that it wasn't overproduced, when it easily could have been. But with the likes of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour and his collaborator Andrew Powell at the helm, this album was in good hands. The Kick Inside begins with the slow, melodic “Moving”, featuring relatively little extra instrumentation. But like all good progressive music, the album builds, eventually reaching its climax with the classic cut and definite standout on this album, “Wuthering Heights”, strategically placed at the end of the album’s first side. This is where the album really shows its production value. Every aspect of instrumentation on the track complements it beautifully, from Kate Bush’s terrific piano work to the guitar solo (by The Alan Parsons Project’s Ian Bairnson) which plays out the melody superbly.

The second half of the album continues where “Wuthering Heights” left off, beginning with the up-tempo "James and the Cold Gun” which features a prog-esque mix of guitars, organ and piano that also combine during the outro. From here on the songs become slower, more somber and less production-heavy, continuing in the progressive mold of winding down towards the close of the album. Unfortunately, the album loses a bit of steam towards the end of the second half, with tracks like “Oh to Be in Love” and “Room for the Life” that are pleasant enough, but pale in comparison to their counterparts on the first half. And just like the album’s opener, the title track is a dreamy, evocative ballad that closes out the album with very little fuss.

For an album that contains so many elements of progressive music as well as vocal work that is about as unique as it gets, The Kick Inside is surprisingly accessible. And for a 19-year old to compose, sing and play on this album is nothing short of remarkable. It may not be the perfect wedding of singer/songwriter and progressive music, but it’s certainly an enjoyable album nonetheless.

B+

-Karl

The Band - The Last Waltz Box Set (2002)

2002 saw a four disc box set re-issue of the classic 1976 farewell concert by The Band, The Last Waltz, a re-issue that saw the inclusion of twenty-four previously unreleased tracks. This re-issue is far superior to the original release of this amazing moment in rock history, and is largely a complete representation of the concert with the tracks presented in the order they were originally performed barring a couple of emissions. The definite highlight of this re-release is the tracks that were emitted from the original album, a move that I find puzzling and cannot work out as the quality on some of these tracks is immense. Standouts among these extra tracks include a live version of “The Weight” which is as good as any version I have heard, Muddy Waters performing “Caldonia”, “Acadian Driftwood” featuring Joni Mitchell and Neil Young on backing vocals, and a stellar version of “W.S. Walcott’s Medicine Show” complete with horns and a brilliant sax solo by Garth Hudson. The boxed set which is nicely laid out and presented also contains a seventy-eight page booklet that does a nice job in telling the story of the concert in great detail, while at the same time giving a bit of context to the listening experience. The presence of these extra tracks definitely enhances on, and improves The Last Waltz as a listening experience, and this box set is well worth getting just to have such quality live versions of some of The Bands best tracks. A definite must have for music fans and collectors, of what was one of the greatest live music events in modern memory.

 

A+

 

- Sam