10. Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic

After I listened to the new Van Halen, a colleague asked me how it was. My answer was: "eh, just your basic cock rock."

In same ways, I feel the same way about Aerosmith. Calling it cock rock doesn't make it bad - heck, you could call Led Zeppelin cock rock - but much of the 80s hair metal can be put in this category.

So, when the most suggestive song title on an album *isn't* "Big Ten Inch Record" (that honor goes to "Uncle Salty") you know there's a lot of dick swinging going on.

Now that we're past all that, this is a pretty terrific album. Great blues-based rock with a continual love of the Beatles. Somehow, listening to the narcotic opening of "Sweet Emotion" sounds better in its true album context, and deeper songs like "You See Me Crying" really pack a punch.

Walk this way indeed.

9. King Sunny Ade - Gems from the Classic Years (1967-1974)

Years ago - probably sometime in the mid-90's, I saw King Sunny Ade and band at the now-defunct Tramps.  They were opening up for Poi Dog Pondering (one of my favorite bands of the 90's - I'll write about them another time).

I don't remember much about the King's set, but I do recall it was more like a party than a concert, and we were all attendees.  I also remember the guys from Poi Dog being in awe of having such a master open up for them.

If every artist who was indebted to King Sunny Ade sent him a fruit basket, he'd have quite an orchard.

The Talking Heads... Paul Simon... Vampire Weekend... the list could go on and on.  This music, led by great guitar and percussion, bounces along and puts you in a trance-like state, much as the Dead or Phish can do.

Party on, King!

8. The Cannonball Adderley Quintet at the Lighthouse

This album is like jumping into a pool on a scorching hot day.

So crisp, so clean, so fresh - hard bop at its best.

Never saw Cannonball live, of course, but one of my first jazz concerts was seeing his brother Nat at Sweet Basil (I think).

Just love this album - it swings from start to finish - definitely check it out!

7. Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker

A few years ago, when I was living in Cincinnati, my colleague/friend Stephanie loaned me this CD to check out.  My reaction then was almost identical to the one I had in 2012.  I vividly remember driving on 275 when IT happened.

The album has one of the most bizarre openings ever - about 30 seconds of Ryan Adams and David Rawlings arguing about which album or albums a Morrissey song is on.  After that, it kicks into some good Americana that's feels like Bob Dylan and the Band.

Then Amy happens.

This song is so beautiful that it grabs you right by the throat and doesn't let you go.  Frankly, I think it's as good as anything written by the Beatles ("For No One" from Revolver has a similar simplicity and beauty).

After that comes a gorgeous duet with Emmylou Harris and the rest of the album never coasts from there.

An amazing album.

6. Introduction to Johnny Adams

Well, as promised, I've gone rogue.

The book had a different Johnny Adams album listed, but it wasn't available on Spotify.  I listened to some snippets on Amazon, though - and loved the sound of his voice.  So I checked out this album and really liked it!

Great soulful voice, terrific R&B arrangements and searing blues guitar make up this collection.  It gets a little schmaltzy by the end, but I'd definitely recommend checking it out.

On another note, I'm thrilled to have been discovered by the "1000 Recordings" community - like-minded music nuts who are going through the book and blogging their listening experiences.  Check out Recording the Recordings, which includes a blogroll of others doing this.

UPDATE 9-26-18

Happily, I'm 2 for 2 on albums being added to Spotify during my long break. I had really liked Johnny Adams' voice when listening to the album above, and this one really doesn't disappoint either! It's a rollicking set of songs. I do wish I had read the description in the book before listening - didn't know it was Dr. John playing piano on this. C'est la vie.

5. The Death of Klinghoffer

... aka The Death of Sieger - when I tried making it through the entire recording.

First of all, I've had no success in becoming a fan of opera over the years (much to the dismay of my mother, who is as passionate about opera as I am about the music I love).  But, I just couldn't stomach this one.  First of all, it's sung in English which - news flash - isn't the prettiest language in the world.

Second, this strikes me as a very visual story - and there was no way I would get it without watching it at the same time.  And there was NO way I was going to sit through 130 minutes of this on YouTube.

So now I'm....



Here are my new rules:

1. If it's terrible, I won't listen to it multiple times - and in extreme cases (like this one) I won't even listen to the whole thing.  If I feel I've given it a fair shake - I'll move on to the next one.  My job here is not to be a completest, it's just to enjoy some new music and write more.
2. Likewise, if a recording sucks, I won't add it to my Spotify playlist
3. Finally - if the recording in the book is not readily available on Spotify, but another album by that artist is - I may listen to that album instead.  Because I can.

4. John Adams - Harmonium

Well, if I'm going to get into classical music, this won't be the album to do it.

I've always had a mild appreciation for classical and enjoyed its influence on rock (ELP) and jazz (Charlie Parker) and loved Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony in college - but choral classical music just doesn't do the trick for me.

Oh well - they're not all going to be enjoyable - and the next album takes me even further down the rabbit hole - if I survive it...