Supergroups

     The "supergroup" is one of the great concepts in the long history of music. Cream, which consisted of Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, are generally considered to be the first supergroup. I could argue that they were preceded four years by the jazz trio of Duke Ellington, Mingus and Max Roach. I could further argue that they were preceded by The Million Dollar Quartet of Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis in 1956. Anyhow, I'm kind of conflicted about the whole idea of the supergroup. In 1982, I was jazzed when I heard there was a group made up of guys from Yes, ELP and King Crimson. A couple years later Paul Rodgers of Bad Company (also a supergroup) and Jimmy Page joined forces to start The Firm. My excitement for this project died with the release of "Radioactive". Then there was Power Station, which combined Robert Palmer with the Taylors from Duran Duran and Tony Thompson of Chic. That one turned out much better. Anyhow, my conflict with supergroups stems from the fact that they aren't organic. Even though I love the idea of an all-star band like Asia being put together, I still like the idea of a bunch of guys practicing in the garage, playing shows and breaking through to stardom. Band chemistry is an illusive thing and it's hard to artificially manufacture, but if you combine George Harrison, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Zimmerman the odds go up significantly.
     The supergroup genre is a mixed bag and is sometimes hard to define. I don't like to count one off projects like Them Crooked Vultures as a band, but they technically are a supergroup. Some consider Journey to be a supergroup, but I've never thought of them in that context. They were basically a spin off of Santana that stumbled across an iconic lead singer. And for every Asia or Power Station or Traveling Wilburys there is a Chickenfoot or Damn Yankees or Bad English. Then there are groups that sound good on paper that just don't work in reality, like Dead Weather and Atoms For Peace. So today, I thought I'd run down the best supergroup albums in my collection. Sorry Crosby, Stills and Nash fans.Peace.

Traveling Wilburys- I love that whole period when Harrison, Petty and Lynne were all working on each others projects. Maybe that's why the chemistry is so good on the Traveling Wilburys albums. They are so good, I can put aside my hatred of Zimmerman and my indifference to Roy Orbison. "Handle With Care" and "End Of The Line" are magnificent.

Asia- Hi, my name's Tom and I love prog rock. The great thing about Asia (besides the Roger Dean album covers) is they had prog rock street cred, but their songs were actually just good pop songs. I did stop buying them after Alpha, though.

Bad Company- The first Bad Company album is swaggering guitar rock at it's finest. When I was a kid, I thought the title track was the most bad ass song ever. It still may be. I also loved when the DJ would come on and say "that was Bad Company, by Bad Company from the album Bad Company". Too bad Paul Rodgers had to ruin his legacy with The Firm and trying to be Freddie Mercury.

Tinted Windows- Once again, I don't understand why power pop isn't the most popular musical genre. This is a great album and most people have never heard of it. The rhythm section of Cheap Trick's Bun E. Carlos and Fountains Of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger are power pop savants. All I know about Hanson is "MMMBop", but Taylor Hanson more than holds his own on vocals. The surprising element of Tinted Windows is James Iha on guitar. With the exception of the opening track, "Kind Of A Girl", you would never guess this was Iha on guitar. He set aside the bombast of Smashing Pumpkins and fit in beautifully with the rest of the group. Not that there's anything wrong with the Smashing Pumpkins bombast:) If I could make this a dream band, however, I would replace Hanson and Iha with Tommy Keene. that being said, this is probably my favorite supergroup album.