Bob Mould's first solo album, was composed during the year following the dissolution of Hüsker Dü back in 1988. Released in the spring of 1989, Workbook presented a clear departure for Bob Mould after severing ties with Grant Hart. The album picked up immediate airplay on Modern Rock stations across the country fueled by an infectious bit of jangly Byrd-esque power pop on the single, See A Little Light .  But that song belies the overall mood of the album; closer listening of songs like Wishing Well and Poison Yearswould provide the true spirit Mould set out to document - disgust, despair and catharsis. Poison Yearsslowly builds to a climax as Mould recounts 'poison years that are now just a memory', seemingly clearly referencing the rancorous final year or two that Husker Du trudged through.   Later in the song, Mould states that 'treason is the reason for his poison years' as he slowly adds layers of acoustic and churning electric guitar to the track. Buoyed by an excellent backing band featuring Golden Palominos drummer Anton Fier, Pere Ubu bassist Tony Maimone and cellist Jane Scarpantoni, Mould delivers a career best solo effort out of the gate. Workbook - Bob Mould For all the doom and gloom present in the lyrics, the music and melodies on ...

It's true that good  music can take you back to a certain time and place.  Nick Lowe's album, The Convincer, brings back the autumn of 2001 in Munich for me; an unsettling time that became slightly more settled whenever I put this CD on. Released in Europe in the first week of September 2001, the album snuck up on me and was purchased on a whim one evening after work in a music shop somewhere near the Marienplatz.  I often departed the S-Bahn at the Marienplatz  to stroll through the Viktualienmarkt before making the short walk home to Kanalstrasse for the evening.  It was on one of those jaunts that I found myself purchasing this album. I was faintly familiar with Nick Lowe's back story, kind of an uncle to the angry young men of England's New Wave scenesters - Elvis and Graham particularly.  A songwriter extroadinaire, Lowe had also found success with Rockpile, the rockabilly pub band formed with Dave Edmunds and several classic and sardonic songs incuding What's so funny about Peace, Love and Understanding, I knew the Bride when she used to Rock and Roll and Cruel to be Kind. On this album, Lowe delivers a low key masterpiece, subtly ...

Hey I'll probably get derided by the Twin Tone era Replacements purists out there but I'll put a strong argument in to say that All Shook Down is indeed worthy of classic 'Replacements' status.  Yes, Bob Stinson was long gone and the tunes are almost polished, but the guitar work by Slim Dunlap and Westerberg still delivered the necessary sting and precursor-to-grunge sloppiness to push these songs along. This album was originally conceived as Westerberg's first solo album but eventually morphed into the final Replacements offering.  As a result, the full band actually only played together on one track together.   Those doubting the classic ranking would be well served to check out stand out tracks like Attitude, Torture (perfect pop in about 3 minutes time) and Sadly Beautiful for proof. But, the album still has the band's name on it and it's a worthy final line in the sand.  Westerberg was in the middle of quitting drinking so many of the songs were acoustic based and introspective leaning.  Released in 1990, the band would stagger through a final tour before imploding on stage in Chicago during the summer of '91.   In what has been posthumously espoused to be a staged exit, the various band members handed off their ...

Now that Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks are back out on the road again this year with Fleetwood Mac, we really should shine a light on the criminally overlooked Buckingham Nicks album, released back in 1973 on Vinyl and still today yet to be officially released on Compact Disc.   Buckingham and Nicks continue to share ownership rights to the album and have thus far only hinted at a possible re-released version. Anyone who likes the Rumour-era Mac should make a point to find the blueprint for the late vintage classic California melancholy & euphoria which is the definitive sound of Fleetwood Mac these days thanks to the remarkable arrangement and producer skills of Buckingham, a self avowed Studio Rat. Lindsey and Nicks were still a couple back in the early 70's and managed to get a major label deal with Polydor for their debut album which featured an eye-catching topless cover pose by the couple.  The music inside is fantastically good and easily recognizable as signature Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham as we all know and love them even today.  At the time of its release, Buckingham and Nicks had just broken up their mildly successful band, Fritz,  and were struggling to ...

The Allman Brothers are currently wrapping up their annual New York City Beacon Theatre run of concerts which have been highly regarded as a return to form for the band.   I happened to read one of my favorite blogs the other night and had a chance to check out the band in HD via Moogis which seems to be a great concept but not cheap. The Allman's have dedicated the '09 Beacon run to fallen legendary brother Duane Allman and many special guests have dropped in on various nights; most notably Eric Clapton, Duane's band mate in Derek and the Dominos.  I realized that I hadn't heard the album in years so I managed to find a stellar remastered version in FLAC and gave it another spin. Two words: Simply Awesome.   The interplay between Duane and Eric is unbelievable and you can easily see how this album and group spawned a virtual who's who of imitators and aficionados including the likes of the Black Crowes and others. Rolling Stone Magazine recently devoted a whole issue to the 500 best albums of all time.  I was stunned that this album did not appear at least in the top 10.  It drives me to drink ...