The Year in Music 2012

Musically, 2012 was the “Year of Rush” for me. Prompted by watching the film Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage earlier this year, I bought their latest album and two albums from their back catalog, and with my friend Rick, I attended my first Rush concert, which was my first rock concert in about 20 years. Here are my notes about the music that I bought this year in roughly the order that I bought it.

The Very Best of Asia — Yes, this is cheesy radio-pop from my youth, but it was good to hear these songs again. Of the various Asia compilations out there, this one had all the songs I was interested in plus enough material I hadn’t heard before to make it interesting. Days Like These was the most memorable track I hadn’t already heard, but I liked Time Again and Here Comes the Feeling as well.

The Alan Parsons Project, Turn of a Friendly Card — at the start of the year, I was still on an APP kick, and I hadn’t heard much from this album except Games People Play and Time. It turned out to be a greatly enjoyable album. In particular, I like the entire second side of the album: the component tracks of the second side are all among my 10 most-played tracks this year.

Daughtry, Break the Spell — This didn’t impress me nearly as much as his first and second outings, but I’ve come to like some of the tracks. In particular Renegade is probably the song that reminds me most of the first album, and I have a soft spot for both Gone too soon and Lullaby.

Sara Bareilles, Once Upon Another Time — This five-song EP is very good. Sara B. has an excellent voice and uses it very well here, and I really enjoy the piano as well. The only track I didn’t care for was the extremely rude Sweet As Whole, which was funny once but not really worth a second listen.

Rush, Clockwork Angels — Their best album since Presto, and I don’t say that lightly. The only track I dislike is BU2B, which is another illustration that Neil Peart and I disagree on the subject of religion, but the rest of the album is an interesting sci-fi premise set to really good music. Caravan and Headlong Flight made my top 10 most-played tracks this year. In concert they performed nearly the whole album with a string accompaniment. I found it hard to hear the strings against the guitars and bass but that may just have been where I was sitting (nosebleed seats in Manchester, NH). In any case, the concert had plenty of great music and energy and we had a great time.

Rush, A Farewell to Kings — I admit, the second side of this album didn’t impress me much, and I’ve heard most of the first side. The track Xanadu, which is really cool despite being over 11 minutes long, just missed being on my 10 most-played tracks. The 3-disc DVD set Replay has a performance of this song that I really enjoyed. I’m less enthralled by Cygnus X-1 but I can’t express why.

Rush, Power Windows — In college, the first guy I knew who owned a CD player also owned this album, and so we heard it a lot. Despite that, I found that I couldn’t remember much of it, except for The Big Money and, perhaps surprisingly, Marathon. Each of these were in my top 10 most-played tracks for the year, and I found the album quite enjoyable overall. On one particular day when I was singing out “Big Money Got No Soul” along with Geddy, my Devoted Wife asked whether the song had a point to make.

Aimee Mann, Charmer — Aimee Mann’s music is always a must-buy for me. The title track is my second most-played track of the year. I like a lot of the other tracks, and though I can’t identify another standout that I like as much as Charmer, Labrador, Disappeared, Brother’s Keeper, and Living a Lie are all pretty decent. On the last album, I had owned it for over two years when I suddenly decided that Looking for Nothing was a really good track and listened to it daily for a couple of weeks, and I wouldn’t be surprised if something similar happened here.

Joe Walsh, Analog Man — Am I a bad man for having bought this digitally? I was setting my alarm one night and happened to hear a few chords of One Day at a Time. I listened to the whole song and then went downstairs and purchased it with my iPhone. It just missed being in my 10 most-played tracks this year despite having been purchased in October. The album is good music from a man who’s enjoying life. Analog Man makes me smile, I like India quite a bit, and the quieter songs Family and Lucky that Way are welcome expressions of gratitude in an era where they seem to be rare and out of fashion.

James and the Giant Violin

Way back in seventh grade, I played the cello for a year. It was a lot of fun. Ultimately I decided to continue with the trumpet, which I’d been playing for longer, and leave the cello behind. (This turned out to be a bad decision: I gave up the trumpet in high school after they made me join marching band, as I don’t have the coordination to march and play at the same time. Or, really, to march in step at all.) I haven’t touched either instrument in decades at this point, but had opined to my Devoted Wife that with both her and Kiddo 2 playing violin regularly, I thought it would be fun to pick up a cello again.

On Friday last week the four-year-old Kiddo 4 came to me and said, “Daddy, we got you a surprise, but I can’t tell you about it.” Well, I thought that was a pretty good thing for K4 to say. At a similar age, Kiddo 1 came to me right before Father’s Day and said, “Daddy, we got you Root Beer and hid it in a drawer.” However, I overestimated K4’s will power, or at least his appreciation of how long he needed to keep this particular  secret. On Saturday, he came to me and said “Daddy, we got you a giant violin.” “Really,” I said. “Yeah,” he continued, “it’s so funny.” Looking to my Devoted Wife, I realized that she’d had another Father’s Day surprise blown by another Kiddo.

So yes, my Devoted Wife got me a cello. It has to be just about the coolest Father’s day gift ever. It’s a three month rental, which should be just long enough for me to decide either that I would like lessons or that I really don’t have any time and should return it. But it’s lovely. I don’t remember anything about how to play it, but I’ve learned enough music theory since middle school that I’ve got a pretty good grasp of the basics. It’s the mechanics that I need work on, and I’ve been trying to learn a decent bow hold and practice some each day. Sometimes Kiddo 4 comes and sits with me, and talks to me about the “giant violin.” Sometimes he sits next to me with the quarter-size violin, stands it up at his knees, and drags the bow across it.

Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage

I started listening to Rush because of Aimee Mann. Okay, that’s not strictly true. Even though I rarely listened to the radio during high school, I’d heard New World Man and liked it, and during freshman year of college my roommate Tim let me listen to Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures. Later, the first guy I knew with a CD player owned a copy of Power Windows, and since he only had about 10 CDs  at first we heard it a lot. But the first Rush CD that I bought myself was Hold Your Fire, and it was because I was pretty much obsessed with Aimee Mann’s voice and the ‘Til Tuesday album “Welcome Home” had just come out.

I’m mentioning this because I just saw the Rush biopic “Beyond the Lighted Stage,” which I borrowed from Rick, my usual opponent for Federation Commander (at a Fed Commander session I haven’t written up yet). If you are at all a Rush fan, this is well worth seeing. It’s vaguely like an episode of the “Behind the Music” show that I used to watch on VH1. Unlike many of the stories in that show, this didn’t end in unrelenting tragedy or with members of the band unable to stay in the same room with each other. Really, I was struck by how thoughtful and down-to-earth all three members of the band were, and how much they clearly enjoyed each other’s company and what they do. Possibly the most fun part of the movie occurs during the end credits, when the three band members are shown bantering over dinner. Overall, it’s a very well-done story that leaves you feeling really positive about the band and what they’ve done.

In retrospect, the flaw the movie has is that it really concentrates on chronology and doesn’t talk as much about the songs. I know there were controversies about particular songs and/or album covers during Rush’s long career, and the whole movie goes by without so much as a mention of them. It also would have been great to hear more about particular songs, and what the band was thinking when they wrote this or that. For example, with one quick search I turned up a tidbit about the band’s “Fear” trilogy and what inspired it. I think that could have made a nice interview question in the movie. Perhaps the filmmakers assumed that everyone already knows those stories, but for my money those would have been more interesting than some of the interviews with other musicians that populated the film.

I had picked up the impression that most “true” Rush fans regard the band’s mid-80s output as inferior to the early harder rock period. Certainly the only brief mention of “Hold Your Fire” in the film had the band confirming that they felt the album went too far down the path of synthesized music and that the next album was a “correction.” Whatever they thought of it, I was impressed enough at the time that I bought the next album (“Presto”) and have been pretty much along for the ride ever since. It wasn’t until I picked up “Chronicles” that I realized just how extensive the band’s back catalog was. I felt the same sense of richness while watching the film, the realization of just how much good music they’ve written in the time they’ve been together. I remembered that I still plan to go back and pick up “A Farewell to Kings” and “Hemispheres” at some point. And of course, I’m looking forward to the new album, due out now in just a couple of weeks…

The Year in Music 2011

In contrast with 2010, when I don’t think I bought a single rock or pop album, I found 2011 to be a very good year for music, and I actually bought a few new releases. Here’s a roughly chronological list of what I bought last year.

Walkenhorst and Porter, No Abandon: this 2009 release features the lead singer from one of my favorite bands, the Rainmakers. It’s a quiet, country-ish album. My favorite tracks are I hope you’re laughing and Jimmy Lee.

Springsteen, Darkness on the Edge of Town: I wanted to like this album more than I actually did. My absolute favorite track is Racing in the Street, and Badlands and the title track are quite good.

The Cars, Move Like This: You could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw this on iTunes. I think I hesitated about 3 tenths of a second before buying it. This is a solid Cars album: even though it’s clearly not nearly as good as their debut album or Heartbeat City, it’s the best Cars album since 1984, and I for one am very glad that they decided to enter the studio again. Sad Song is my most-listened-to song purchased this year.

Weird Al Yankovic, Alpocalypse. Another return by an old favorite, and one of my two pre-orders this year. I liked Craigslist a lot, and I found Skipper Dan and the inevitable Polka tune funny. My kids and I enjoyed Ringtone, Party in the CIA, Perform this way, and Stop forwarding that crap to me. I have to say that I didn’t recognize any of the official parody songs on this one: my wife pointed out to me later that I’d heard one piece of the Polka song in a YouTube video she showed me once, but I couldn’t have picked it out of a line-up.

Sara Bareilles, Kaleidoscope Heart: I passed over this last year when it came out but my Devoted Wife bought the album for me and I’m very glad she did. On this album, Sara Bareilles seems to be in the same style as Aimee Mann and Sarah McLachlan, and I think this may be the best album I’ve heard from a female lead vocalist since Aimee Mann’s last release. A very enjoyable listen all the way through.

The Alan Parsons Project, I Robot: I have only sampled the Project’s greatest hits, but I decided to give this one a try after reading in an iTunes review that it was a ‘must-buy for fans of 70’s prog rock.’ Yep, I’m afraid that’s me. I was very glad to have picked this one up. I don’t think its theme comes together as well as a typical Pink Floyd album, but it’s solid, thoughtful music throughout.

The Eagles, Long Road out of Eden: I stayed away from this one when it came out in 2007 because I wasn’t sure I really wanted the political commentary, but I succumbed finally and overall I feel good about doing so. About half of it, including tracks like How Long and What do I do with my heart, could stand up there with their best albums and do just fine. Seriously, Henley and Frey still sound great singing together, Schmitt has a great voice, and Joe Walsh’s two songs are a lot of fun. As for the rest, well, I do find myself wishing they’d made a single album rather than a double.

The Rainmakers, 25 on: Another knock-me-over with a feather moment. These guys used to play a concert on the last weekend before classes started when I was at Kansas State, and I figured they were done for since they last released an album in 1997. I think this is their best album since 1989’s The Good News and the Bad News. They’re more country than they used to be but I find I can live with that. Given Time, Go Down Swinging, and Missouri Girl are three good songs from the album. Kansas City Times makes me laugh out loud. Not for everyone, but if you’ve ever heard of and liked these guys before, you have to get this one.

Coldplay, Mylo Xyloto: My other pre-order this year. A very impressive album all the way through. Three of the songs — Every Teardrop, Paradise, and Hurts Like Heaven — appear in my type 20 songs for the year despite being the last album purchased on this list.

Overall I’m quite happy to have purchased 9 decent new albums within the same year, and I’ll be surprised if I can repeat the experience in 2012. I’ve heard that Aimee Mann is working on another album, and am looking forward to seeing that along with whatever else the year brings.

Album Review: Move Like This

I was caught totally off-guard last week by the arrival of the new Cars album Move Like This. After Ben Orr’s death and the “New Cars” album a couple years back (pleasant and nostalgic, but without much content) it didn’t seem likely that we’d hear from this group again. I listened to it 4 times in the first 3 days I owned it and am really pleased with it. It sounds enough like their old stuff to be familiar, but is interesting enough to feel like something new and different. I never bought their last studio album, Door to Door, in part because it sounded extremely overproduced. This album is very synth-heavy, but manages to avoid this problem.

My favorites on the album are Blue Tip and Sad Song. I wasn’t sure what to make of the extreme synths on Blue Tip at first, but they have grown on me. Sad Song is the most overt homage to the classic Cars songs, complete with handclaps.Drag On Forever is a nasty breakup song and I confess I like it anyway. Probably my least favorites on the album are Soon and Take Another Look. These are ballads, which I wasn’t expecting and which have never been the Cars’ best songs in my opinion. They aren’t bad but would probably be the last songs I would buy as individual tracks.

My complaint about this album, and it’s not a big one, would be that there don’t seem to be any simple, sing-along songs like Shake It Up or My Best Friend’s Girl. The songs Free, Hits Me, and Keep on Knocking sound like they might be trying to be such songs, but they lack the huge hooks and the perky guitar solos that the group was known for 30 years ago. Instead, the whole album feels like it’s more complex and needs repeated listening to appreciate. In this it reminds me more of my favorites on the album Candy-O, or of what Panorama might have sounded like to me if I had actually enjoyed it.

Overall, Move Like This is a nice surprise and a great way to start the summer. I’d recommend it to anyone who even remotely liked the old Cars albums. (If I was still in touch with him, I’d even recommend it to my friend Joe the Cars fanatic, who hated Heartbeat City and said Candy-O was his favorite album.) It’s like a visit from an old friend: neither of you are the same as you used to be, but it’s still good to spend time together again.

Review: No Line on the Horizon

I’ve planned to write a review of the new U2 album since I bought it a month ago. (It auto-downloaded to my iPod on the morning of its release, which I think is the coolest way that I’ve ever bought an album). It’s taken me so long because I have no idea what to say. Three weeks ago, I was ready to write the review one way, then I listened again and totally changed my mind. And now I’m somewhere in the middle.

The big disclaimer here is that my favorite U2 album is The Joshua Tree. The standard U2 storyline is that in the ’90s they reinvented themselves without alienating their core audience. Well, I was one they alienated: I didn’t buy any of their albums between Joshua Tree and All That You Can’t Leave Behind. I realize that most people like Achtung Baby much better than I do, and if you fall into that category, I wanted to give you that context before reading what I have to say about this album.

In general, No Line on the Horizon strikes me as a really mixed bag. I can listen to Get on your boots but there’s not much to recommend repeated listening. One good track is Magnificent, which is probably the most straightforward, traditional-sounding U2 song here. I like the title track, but I greatly prefer the “Version 2” bonus track that I got off of iTunes, which turns up the guitar a bit. And I like White as Snow — it’s a quiet, well-executed change of pace from the rest of the album. Cedars of Lebanon is also interesting and likable, though I can’t really follow the song’s storyline from its very personal beginnings with pictures on the fridge to its global-sounding ruminations about friends and enemies.

There are quite a few songs on this album where I’d like to like them more, but can’t bring myself to. The primary example here is Breathe, where I really like the refrain, but can’t get past the strange lyrics about “a long line of travelling salesmen” or the howling vocals at the start. Another example is Unknown Caller: I really like the intro, but dislike the “choral” effect on the refrain, and I don’t get the point of using all the computer terminology. And I have similar problems with Stand Up Comedy, and I’ll Go Crazy. Parts of each are good but the overall effect is lacking. In general, I think that the lyrics on the album aren’t nearly as good as in past U2 albums.

Finally, there’s Moment of Surrender. One month on, I still can’t figure out how to rate it. Does it deserve the two stars that I want to give it? Or is there something else here that I’m just not getting?

So, yes, this is not my favorite U2 album. I really did like How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, and am disappointed at this as a follow-up. Fortunately, U2 doesn’t need my approval, and I am grateful enough to them for so much of their other music that I’m quite happy to take the good stuff from this album and quietly disregard the rest.

An Irish Lullaby

Kiddo #4, age 9 months, was unwilling to go to sleep at the normal time the other night, so I came downstairs with him and put in the copy of U2 Live at Red Rocks that I received for Christmas. [A friend from work swears that John Coltrane puts babies to sleep, but I don’t own any.] I admit I was concerned that U2 would keep him active and awake. Apparently I needn’t have worried. At first he giggled at the strange men on the screen — as if to say, Daddy, why are you watching this? — but then he paid it no further attention. By the middle of track 2, he was swooning in my arms, and by the end of track 3, he was out cold and I was heading up to bed. I had wanted to see more of the video, but I really couldn’t complain. A big thank-you to Bono and the Edge for helping to put my son to sleep.