For Vinyl Fans
Collecting music on vinyl continues to enjoy a resurgence and if you have any music lovers on your holiday gift list they'd no doubt welcome some of the recent releases we recommend here: reissues from Pat Benatar, Pete Townshend and Ministry along with a new compilation of Little Richard's early 1970s work.
Little Richard - Settin' the Woods on Fire: The Reprise Rarities - (Orange vinyl)
Taken from his output from 1970 through 1972, this compilation presents 13 Little Richard tracks that have all been available before on various releases but that have become hard to find; 10 of those cuts are making here their first-ever appearance on vinyl. The album begins with an oddity, a radio ad for his
The Rill Thing album where Richard touts the release of the album with his instantly recognizable shouting and whooping and some of his usual braggadocio. A take on the funk-infused Quincy Jones-penned "Money Is" follows as does the instrumental funk workout "Mississippi," "Still Miss Liza Jane" which takes its time getting started but then turns into a great showcase for Richard's gritty and soulful vocals, and Version 4, Take 3 of the country blues "In the Name." The side ends with the album's title cut, rollicking instrumental "Settin' the Woods on Fire." Side Two kicks off with another Quincy Jones cut; "Do It - To It" is gurgling funk with psychedelic guitar and plenty of Richard's famed woo-wooing. Classic Little Richard-style piano pounding highlights "Open up the Red Sea," basically an instrumental save for Richard's quick spoken intro. The song also benefits from a raunchy mid-song sax solo. Richard pays homage to Hank Williams with a take on "Why Don't You Love Me" which is followed by another take (Version 2) of "In the Name," a little more R&B than blues in this version. The album ends with instrumental dance floor burner "Sneak the Freak," the bright and hopeful "Shake a Hand (If You Can)" and another radio ad for the
The Rill Thing album.
Pat Benatar - In the Heat of the Night, Crimes of Passion, Precious Time
Rock fans were in for a real treat and the old school "only men can rock 'n' roll" attitude was about to hear a final death knell when Pat Benatar stormed on the scene with her 1979 debut,
In the Heat of the Night. This reissue presents the album exactly as it was presented back in the day. In that era it was typical to sequence the songs so that the cuts the label and artists perceived as the strongest takes were placed as the first songs on each side of the record, and boy were they right in starting Side One with "Heartbreaker." The cut, a great introduction to Benatar's voice and style and the searing guitar work of Neil Geraldo, ended up spending nearly five months on the charts and remains a staple at classic rock radio today. Side One also includes a take on John Mellencamp's (John Cougar at the time) "I Need a Lover," the matter of fact treatise on the difficulty of relationships that is "If You Think You Know How to Love Me," the simmering and lusty title cut "In the Heat of the Night" and side closer, the amusingly-titled "My Clone Sleeps Alone." Side Two begins with another hit in "We Live for Love" where Benatar shows off the sweet side of her vocal ability; she still sounds sweet but she's in a different mood on follow-up "Rated X." The closing lyric of the song, "satisfaction guaranteed," also applies to the album as a whole. On her second album
Crimes of Passion Benatar proved that she was on the scene to stay as she racked up four big hits, nearly half of the album's offerings, with "Treat Me Right," "You Better Run," "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" and "Hell is for Children." For good measure, Pat even throws in a nice take on the early Kate Bush hit "Wuthering Heights." On her third release
Precious Time Benatar rounds out an amazing career-defining trifecta with another batch of hits including "Promises in the Dark," "Fire and Ice," "Just Like Me" and dreamy title cut "Precious Time" (that's everything on Side One!) Benatar tunes into a reggae/rock groove for Side Two opener "It's a Tuff Life" and follows it up with biggie "Take it Any Way You Want It" and rocks the album to a close with "Evil Genius," hit "Hard to Believe" and a take on the Beatles chestnut "Helter Skelter."
Pete Townshend - The Iron Man: The Musical by Pete Townshend, Psychoderelict (Music Only) - (Half Speed Masters)
With the issuance of these two limited edition albums Universal Music Recordings completes their series of Pete Townshend solo studio albums released in versions mastered at half speed, a technique that brings out the ultimate in quality and clarity of the music. That of course is fitting for an artist like Townshend; the guitarist, singer and songwriter for the Who is known not just for his creativity but also for being a bit of a perfectionist. Townshend's 1989 release
The Iron Man: The Musical by Pete Townshend features Pete portraying the part of Hogarth, a 10-year-old boy who tells the story of The Iron Man from his perspective; other characters include The Vixen, played by Deborah Conway, The Iron Man played by blues man John Lee Hooker, The Space Dragon played by Nina Simone, Hogarth's Father played by the Who's Roger Daltrey, and a five person group of Woodland Creatures that features Chyna, Billy Nichols and Pete's brother Simon Townshend. Side One opens with Townshend and Conway singing "I Won't Run Any More" over a music bed with guitar playing that's instantly identifiable as Townshend before moving into the catchy and jazzy "Over the Top" with Hooker on lead vocals; Simon Townshend takes lead vocals on the brief "Man Machines" and the Who with Daltrey on lead vocals perform "Dig." Side One finishes with Pete back behind the microphone on "A Friend is a Friend," a cut that got plenty of FM airplay, and another Hooker vocal on the ominous "I Eat Heavy Metal." Highlights of Side Two include the boisterous and somewhat amusing "Fast Food" with Simone on lead vocals, the gentle samba of "A Fool Says..." and another cut featuring the Who, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown's "Fire," the only song on the album not written by Townshend. A very nice multi-page libretto with lyrics and player information is included.
Psychoderelict (Music Only), from 1993, is actually the most current Townshend solo studio album to date and it is a bit of an odd duck. Originally a radio play, here the program, on two LP's (first appearance on vinyl) is presented without the dialog, perhaps because with the dialog it would not be conducive to repeat listening. It should be noted that "without dialog" does not mean without vocals as Townshend rocks through opener "English Boy" where his guitar gets delightfully quirky while he sings lines like "I'm an English boy/I was brought up right/Hold me down/And I will bite." Townshend's guitar in fact puts the "psycho" in "psychoderelict" throughout, often veering from his normal riffing into nearly unhinged psychedelia. "I Want That Thing" somewhat echoes the sound of the Who classic "Won't Get Fooled Again," "Outlive the Dinosaur" moves to a funky bass groove and has a catchy chorus and "Don't Try to Make Me Real" features Pete at his best vocally as each word hits with a rare potency. A few very cool keyboard interludes, "Meher Baba M3," "Meher Baba M4 (Signal Box)" and "Meher Baba M5 (Vivaldi)" are interspersed throughout and the program ends with a reprise of "English Boy." Each album contains a certificate of authenticity regarding the half-speed mastering process.
Ministry - Twitch, The Land of Rape and Honey - (2-LP, Limited Editions)
Both of these Ministry vinyl reissues have been recut from the original album master tapes so you'll hear every pounding beat, swirling synth riff and growling vocal from group main man Al Jourgensen just as intended. 1986's
Twitch has fan favorites "Just like You," the militant-sounding march of "We Believe" and "Over the Shoulder;" the industrial rockers also include here the squonky "The Angel" and a 12-minute mashup of "Where You at Now?," the percussion heavy "Crash and Burn" and title cut "Twitch (Version II)." A special treat for fans is the inclusion of two rarities as bonus tracks: an extended 12" version of "Over the Shoulder" and "Isle of Man (Version II)." Both were previously released on a 1985 single but have been hard to find until now.
The Land of Rape and Honey is another tour de force from the band and they begin the album with "Stigmata" where you can almost feel the nails being pounded in. The cut is a fan favorite, maybe because Jourgensen sounds Johnny Rotten-snotty with his vocals. Other fan faves on the album are the pithy title track that sounds like the soundtrack to an angry rally, and "You Know What You Are," enhanced with a psychotic laugh at the beginning. Also included is "Hizbollah" which has a title that is timely today thanks to the current conflict in the Middle East. The song is not overtly political and the lyrics here are not decipherable; instead the cut is, with the inclusion of some Middle Eastern musical references, one of the most intriguing songs on the album. Two rare bonus tracks are appended: a remix of "Stigmata" and the delightfully-titled "Tonight We Murder."
