1994 Deep Dive : Part Two

      Alright, here's part two of my 1994 album deep dive where picks 16-20 will be revealed. Overall, I was rather disappointed with the quality of Britpop albums in 1994, but I managed to get a handful in the top 25. Two of them are in this group. 

20. Seal - Seal ( 4.5 Stars )

     Back in the day, I listened to this CD all of the time. "Kiss From a Rose" was huge and it was one of my favorite songs. I hadn't listened to Seal in probably 20 years and wondered how it would hold up today. Well, it's still great. His voice is so distinctive. Smooth, but powerful. The vibe on all of these songs is laid back. "Bring It On" is a fantastic opener with slinky bass and Seal's unique vocal delivery. "People Asking Why" has some nice, jazzy piano and great lyrics. And really there is no denying "Kiss From a Rose". I love how it builds to that chorus. 

19. Veruca Salt - American Thighs ( 4.5 Stars )

     It was love at first listen when I heard "Seether". Veruca Salt was the whole package. The looks, the guitars, the lyrics. I'm a sucker for when Nina and Louise sing together. This whole album is excellent, as is their follow-up Eight Arms to Hold You, which featured "Volcano Girls". The Seether IS Louise!

18. Suede - Dog Man Star ( 4.5 Stars )

     As promised, some Britpop. I wasn't familiar with this album going into the deep dive, but I really dug it. I was instantly struck by the track, "We Are the Pigs". It's a great guitar rocker, but they sneak in some "Theme From Peter Gunn" horns. "Heroine" starts with a Lord Byron quote while singer Brett Anderson sounds like lower-register Geoff Tate from Queensryche. The band seem to straddle hair metal and Britpop. It's an effective combination. The song "New Generation" is prototype Britpop. I'll have to check out the rest of their discography. This was one of my favorite discoveries from the dive. 

17. David Kilgour - Sugar Mouth ( 4.5 Stars )

     This is a phenomenal solo album by the Flying Nun label veteran, David Kilgour, of The Clean. It's a guitar pop masterpiece. He has moved on from the lo-fi of early The Clean records to a more polished, straight forward delivery. The guitar sound is Tommy Keene adjacent. The track "1987" is the standout in this set. I really need to get this album in my collection. I have some of his more recent CDs with his band The Heavy Eights and those are very good as well. New Zealand must have more brilliant musicians per capita than any other country in the world. 

16. Blur - Parklife ( 4.5 Stars )

     I should go back and reread my post on Oasis vs. Blur, because I have no recollection of what I wrote. I know that in 1994, I was Team Oasis and wasn't familiar with Blur at all until Song No. 2. Even a couple years ago I wouldn't have had Parklife on a top albums list. Over that time, I have been deep diving Blur and now this is one of my favorite albums. The title track is tremendous. It's insanely British, in a fantastic way. I love Damon Albarn's accent and Graham Coxon's guitar style. "Girls and Boys" and "End of a Century" are also standout tracks. I feel that for sheer British-ness, you can draw a line from The Kinks to XTC to Blur. As you have already guessed, I do have Definitely Maybe rated higher than Parklife. It's like how I rate The Beatles higher than The Kinks, even though I love them both. Blur's music is certainly artier and more interesting than Oasis, but Oasis is more visceral and direct. That's probably why "Jubilee" is one of my favorite songs on Parklife. Ask me again in another few years and I may have changed my mind. Peace.

1994 Deep Dive : Part One

      I'm going to change up the format for these deep dives. In order to go a little more in-depth on these albums, I will divide the top 25 into 5 posts and then another post for songs. Unlike 1984, my Mt. Rushmore for 1994 has changed. But more about that later. Also, unlike 1984, there are no 3.5 albums in my top 25 and there are 10 5 stars. Before I reveal albums 21-25, here are some 4 star runners up: Morrissey, Grant Lee Buffalo, Beastie Boys, Hole, Toad the Wet Sprocket and The Grays.

25. R.E.M. - Monster (4 stars)

     When I began this dive, I didn't think Monster would make the cut. It's probably my 10th favorite R.E.M. album. However, it's still a really good record and a much needed change from Out of Time and Automatic For the People. As much as I love Peter Buck's jangly Rickenbacker sound, it was refreshing to hear him just rock out. "What's the Frequency Kenneth?" is a classic. Stipe's song about Kurt Cobain, "Let Me In" is another standout track. Monster gets a lot of hate, but it's solid top to bottom. Give it a re-listen.

24. Frank Black - Teenager of the Year ( 4 stars )

     It's interesting that Teenager of the Year came out the same year as Guided by Voices' Bee Thousand. It has 22 tracks, but it's twice as long, coming in at over 60 minutes. Free of the constraints of The Pixies sound, Frank Black bangs out a phenomenal collection of tight, idiosyncratic rockers. The highlight is the single "Headache". While overall this album doesn't have the highs of Bee Thousand there are very few throw away tracks. 

23. Stereolab - Mars Audiac Quintet ( 4 stars )

     Stereolab were one of those bands that I never got around to checking out back in the day. I love guitar rock. My lose, because this album is great. Turns out I like French / English, leftist, organ-centric space rock. Who knew. It was a bit of an adjustment getting the chord changes from a droning organ, rather than crunchy guitars. For the most part, the guitar and bass are way back in the mix, but on occasion they come to the front and it's a great change of pace. Interesting story, the track "International Coloring Contest" is a tribute to an eccentric album from 1969 by Lucia Pamela called Into Space. I was hoping it was a cool space-age, lounge album, but it's just a bonkers novelty record. I would imagine it being in Paul Ruebens' record collection. I gave it a 4 mostly because it's a little same-y and goes on for over an hour. I'm not sure what could have been cut, though. 

22. Velvet Crush - Teenage Symphonies to God ( 4 stars )

     Rick Menck is one of the unsung heroes of power pop. His solo album, The Ballad of Rick Menck, is brilliant as is all his other work, including with Matthew Sweet. He is mostly known, if at all, for his band Velvet Crush. Teenage Symphonies to God is a solid collection of power pop gems. It even has covers of Matthew Sweet and Gene Clark of the Byrds  and was produced by Mitch Easter. If you like this genre, this album is a must listen. 

21. Victoria Williams - Loose ( 4.5 stars )

     I discovered this album from a recommendation in the Tastes Like Music discord group. Victoria was a talented, struggling singer who was critically acclaimed, but couldn't breakthrough to the mainstream. She came down with M.S. and didn't have insurance, so in 1993 a tribute album, Sweet Relief, was put out to raise money for her medial bills. In 1994, Victoria recorded Loose with the help of artists like Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Dave Pirner. The combination of Victoria's vocals, at once fragile and powerful, and the sweeping Americana sound of the players, is revelatory. Highlights include, "Century Plant", "You R Loved", "Crazy Mary" and my favorite "Sunshine Country". She also does a solid cover of Spirit's "Nature's Way". My only gripe with Loose is no one needed another cover of "What a Wonderful World". Other than that, it's an album full of child-like wonder. Peace.

     

Yard Act - The Overload (2022)

      I am going to post about the new Yard Act album, Where's My Utopia?, but I promised two years ago to write something about The Overload and never did. It would be difficult to talk about the new album without the context of The Overload. The Overload is Yard Act's manifesto on capitalism, post-Brexit U.K., hopelessness and hope. Before I dive into all of that, I would like to mention that the music on this album is fantastic. The guitars are bright and angular and the rhythm section is punchy and propulsive. It's easy to miss what's happening under the barrage of James Smith's clever social commentary, but this album rewards repeat listening. In general, I don't do song by song breakdowns of records, but it's warranted in this case. This one may go long. 

     "I'm shaking up my eight ball, cuz I'm trying to see what tomorrow's world has got in store for me." Not a bad opening line. Abdicating your human agency to the random chance of a magic eight ball. Why not? "How am I supposed to cope in the age of the gentrified savage? There's no hope." The second verse consists of the band receiving unsolicited advice on how to succeed in the music business by not playing originals and doing what you're told. "The overload of discontent. The constant burden of making sense."

     "Dead Horse" is a scathing rebuke of post-Brexit U.K. Smith comes out swinging. "The last bastion of hope this once great nation had left was its humour. So be it through continued mockery this crackpot country, half full of cunts, will finally have the last laugh when dragged underwater by the weight of the tumour it formed when it fell for the fear-mongering of the national front's new hairdo." He continues. "Every card played is a statement made and there's always a new scapegoat to blame for it. England, my heart bleeds, why'd you abandon me? Ya, I abandoned you too, but we both know I wasn't the one lied to and I ain't scared of people who don't look like me, unlike you. So bold it is in its idiocy, so bound by its own stupidity, it does not realise it has already sentenced itself completely to death." My spell check doesn't like British spelling. Now he moves on to music consumers. "The last bastion of hope this once great nation had left was good music, but we didn't nurture it, instead choosing to ignore it. Yes we got trapped by the same crowd who don't like it less they've heard it before." And finally, the news media. "The last bastion of hope this once great nation had left was to converse in a manner that would pacify, divide and unite the room, but no one's talking and rational thought has been forced into submission by the medium through which all of our information is now consumed. Yes, fake news, it's fake news mate." Sounds familiar.

     "Payday" pretty much says it in the title. "What constitutes a ghetto, eh?" Potholes and local councils? "We all make the same sound when we get mowed down and there are starving children in Africa, so go take your toy guns to Bosnia. Take the money, take the money, take the money and run!" "What constitutes real change? Are we even vaguely aware of where we terminate the muse? If all offers are final then how is it even possible for you to be both flush and completely principled?" "Rich" another track about the nature of money in our culture. The openly line is hilarious; "Almost by accident I have become rich through continued reward for skilled labour in the private sector and a genuine lack of interest in expensive things it appears I have become rich." Then, of course the narrator loves being rich and worries about going back to not being rich again. Then "The Incident" continues this theme by commenting on corporate culture. I love the line, "We created rules you can't find in the book. A different type of prison for a brand new type of crook." 

     "Witness" is a fun, 1 minute, 20 second punk rocker about wanting to sue God for slipping on the ice.

     "The Land of the Blind" has another brilliant line, "And make no mistake we are living out our last days in the land of the blind where the one eyed man was king until he lost his fucking mind."

     "Quarantine the Sticks" is about a business man (probably from "The Incident") getting busted and acting like he's the victim.

     "Pour Another" addresses gender issues. "Pour another for my brother, sister or whatever other you prefer we call you. Yeah, there's no judgment, only understanding, when we're standing round hand in hand watching the world burn."

     "Tall Poppies" is an seven minute epic about a local kid who becomes a mid-level footballer (soccer). It starts out as an alright story song. About halfway through, the music becomes more urgent and intense as the footballer's life spirals out of control and he eventually dies. Then the music slows down and James becomes more philosophical about life. "He was doomed, same as me, same as you, same as everyone I ever knew." The final section of the song is tremendous, "So many of us, just crabs in a barrel, no feasible means to escape the inevitable cull. There are those of us grow thick skins quick for the sake of their sins and the savvy folk who just keep their mouths shut and take it on the chin. We collide with each other and submit, we bare our teeth, we catch fish using giant metal ships and scream with laughter at 4 a.m. staggering home down moonlit country lanes. We cry because children are dying across the sea and there is nothing we can do about it whilst we benefit from bombs dropped which we had no part in building. We are sorry. Truly we are sorry. We are just trying to get by too." 

     That's quite a bit of hopelessness. But then the album ends with "100% Endurance". "Death is coming for us all, but not today. Today you're living it, hey! You're really feeling it, give it everything you got knowing you can't take it with you, all you ever needed to exist has always been within you. Give me some of that good stuff, that human spirit. Cut it with 100% endurance." Peace.

1984 Deep Dive : Top 25 Songs

      So, when Tastes Like Music puts out a deep dive for a whole year of albums, they also give a top 20 songs list. I'm doing 25 though. Song lists are challenging, because often a song will chart the year after the album is released. For the purposes of my list, I am only counting songs from albums that were released in 1984. 

1. ( Don't Go Back To ) Rockville - R.E.M. 

     * I love the beginning "Looking at your watch a third time, waiting in the station for the bus." 

2. Middle of the Road - The Pretenders

     * "Don't harass me / Can't you tell / I'm going home / I'm tired as hell" 

3. What Difference Does It Make - The Smiths

     * Johnny Marr's guitar riff on this track is the best thing from 1984.

4. Do It Again - The Kinks

     * Ray Davies puts on a master class in vocal delivery.

5. Blue Jean - David Bowie

     * Tonight was not a good album, but this song is fantastic. 

6. Unsatisfied - The Replacements

     * Paul Westerberg summing up the plight of the modern man. 

7. The Unforgettable Fire - U2

     * My favorite U2 song. It's cinematic. 

8. Back on the Chain Gang - The Pretenders

     * Beautifully crafted pop song. Probably better than Middle of the Road, but I like the rockers. 

9. Smooth Operator - Sade

     * Not gonna lie. This song is like sex on a stick. 

10. Cold Shot - Stevie Ray Vaughn

     * Great riff. Great delivery. 

11. Fine, Fine Day - Tony Carey

     * Great "story" song. Another in the long line of songs about someone coming home from prison.

12. So. Central Rain - R.E.M.

     * "The wise man built his words upon the rocks, but I'm not bound to follow suit."

13. Panama - Van Halen

     * "Reach down between my legs and...ease the seat back."

14. Tinseltown - Tony Carey

     * Another great "story" song and it's a great guitar rocker.

15. Relax - Frankie Goes to Hollywood

     * Love the way this song is crafted and performed.

16. Round and Round - RATT

     * Also not gonna lie. This was my jam in 1984. That chorus is infectious.

17. Jungle Love - The Time

     * No Prince, but The Time made the list. I think he co-wrote it though.This song has a great groove. 

18. Boys of Summer - Don Henley

     * I can't stand him, but this song can't be denied. "I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac"

19. Out of Touch - Hall and Oates

     * Perfect pop from the 80's hit-makers. 

20. Between the Wheels - RUSH

     * Easily the most powerful track on Grace Under Pressure. Love it. 

21. I Want You Back - Hoodoo Gurus

     * Great indie rocker. I don't know how I missed them back in the day. 

22. Pride - U2

     * Powerful and anthemic track. The Edge is in top form.

23. Are We Ourselves? - The Fixx

     * The Fixx are one of my favorite bands from the 80's. Great song. 

24. John Coltrane Stereo Blues - The Dream Syndicate

     * Tremendous guitar jam. Makes me wonder, again, why I don'r like Lou Reed.

25. I Wanna Rock - Twisted Sister

     * This was my theme song in 1984. Peace.

1984 Deep Dive : Top 25 Albums

     I recently became a patron for a YouTube album ranking channel called Tastes Like Music. The channel was started by Jason, then a few years years ago he was joined by his friends Joe and Kramzer. At the beginning of this year, Kram left the channel, so now it's just Jason and Joe. They mainly rank albums by year or artist. I became a patron because I wanted to support the channel, but also to have a vote in what artist discographies they rank. We just finished Paul Simon and up next are Jethro Tull, Ween, Cake and Prince. I'm not super excited about any of those, but Paul Simon was better than I thought, so I'll keep an open mind. This year, they are also doing deep dives on all the anniversary years; 1984, 1994, etc. I wrapped up my 1984 top 25 albums ranking a couple weeks ago and thought I'd share it on Sound Mind as well. 1984 was a difficult year to find 25 albums I really liked. As I've mentioned before, the 80's were more of a singles decade, rather than a decade for great albums. The bottom of my list is mostly albums I don't even have in my collection. If you recall my Mt. Rushmore's for 1984, the top 4 remain the same.

1. R.E.M. - Reckoning ( 5 Stars ) All of R.E.M.'s IRS albums are 5 stars for me, but Reckoning is my 

                                                     favorite. There is not one bad song on this album, not even Camera.

                                                     I'm looking at you Stephen Malkmus. Stand out track is Rockville.

                                                     If I ever had a band it would be called Rivers of Suggestion.

2. The Pretenders - Learning to Crawl ( 5 Stars ) Peak Pretenders. Middle of the Road. 'Nuff said.

3. Iron Maiden - Powerslave ( 5 Stars ) This is peak Maiden and peak New Wave of British Heavy Metal. 

                                                              Every song is a banger. Bonus points for references to The 

                                                              Prisoner and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 

4. U2 - The Unforgettable Fire ( 4.5 Stars ) My favorite U2 album and I love the title track. 

5. RUSH - Grace Under Pressure ( 4.5 Stars ) My love for RUSH is well documented. This is an 

                                                                         excellent transition album, but a slight step down from

                                                                         Moving Pictures and Signals. Love Between the Wheels.

6. The Replacements - Let it Be ( 4.5 Stars ) Unsatisfied is so good. 

7. Hoodoo Gurus- Stoneage Romeos ( 4.5 Stars ) This is my favorite discovery from this deep dive. I only

                                                                              had a vague recollection of the song I Want You Back, 

                                                                              but this whole album is great. I don't have this in my 

                                                                              collection, but it's on my radar now. 

8. Let's Active - Cypress ( 4.5 Stars ) I used to have this, but got rid of it when I downsized at some point. 

                                                           It's a fantastic album and I will have to acquire it again.

9. Michael Hedges - Aerial Boundaries ( 4.5 Stars ) During the dark days of the late 90's, I turned to jazz 

                                                                                  New Age. This is when I discovered the insane 

                                                                                  guitar stylings of Michael Hedges. His alternate tunings

                                                                                  and percussive playing were totally unique.

10. SRV - Couldn't Stand the Weather ( 4.5 Stars ) Cold Shot is a killer track. He single-handedly got me

                                                                                into the Blues for awhile. 

11. Sade - Diamond Life ( 4.5 Stars ) One of my 80's guilty pleasures. Love her style. Great album.

12. The Fall - The Wonderful Frightening World of The Fall ( 4.0 Stars ) The title says it all. I like how the 

                                                                                                                   album has a wonderful side and a

                                                                                                                   frightening side.

13. The Kinks - Word of Mouth ( 4.0 Stars ) This album gets crapped on, but I think it's fantastic. Tracks 

                                                                      like Do It Again and Living on a Thin Line rank up there with 

                                                                      their best material. 

14. Midnight Oil - Red Sails in the Sunset ( 4.0 Stars ) Fiery political album by one of the most important 

                                                                                      bands in the world. 

15. The Smiths - The Smiths ( 4.0 Stars ) I have finally come around on Johnny Marr and this album is

                                                                 4 stars just for his riff on What Difference Does It Make.

16. XTC - The Big Express ( 4.0 Stars ) A really good, solid album but it lacks the high points of their

                                                               other releases. 

17. Tony Carey - Some Tough City ( 4.0 Stars ) This is the first of two appearances on this list by Tony

                                                                            Carey. Good album with two outstanding singles; Fine,

                                                                            Fine Day and Tinseltown, 

18. Dream Syndicate - Medicine Show ( 4,0 Stars ) This one starts out slow, but really picks up in the 

                                                                                  second half. John Coltrane Stereo Blues is the stand out

                                                                                  track.

19. Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry ( 4.0 Stars ) Maybe a surprising choice, but this is one of the best metal

                                                                        albums of the 80's. 

20. Husker Du - Zen Arcade ( 3.5 Stars ) I put this on the list for its major influence in the indie rock genre. 

                                                                 It's good, but I prefer Sugar and Bob Mould solo.

21. RATT - Out of the Cellar ( 3.5 Stars ) Back in the day, I wore the crap out of this cassette. Of all the hair 

                                                                  metal albums this one still stands up. Round and Round!

22. Flock of Seagulls - The Story of a Young Heart ( 3.5 Stars ) Solid album, but not as good as the debut.

23. Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Welcome to the Pleasure Dome ( 3.5 Stars ) Relax is great and so is the 

                                                                                                                           cover of Born to Run.

24. The Fixx - Phantoms ( 3.5 Stars ) Love this band and Phantoms had a couple stand out singles. 

25. Planet P - Pink World ( 3.5 Stars ) Solid, dystopian concept album by Tony Carey's other outfit. 

     You probably noticed that once again I have snubbed Springsteen, Van Halen and Prince. Are they really worse than Planet P? I do have them all as 3.5 stars, but yeah, I like this other stuff more. I eliminated Prince for the same reason I didn't include Talking Heads Stop Making Sense; soundtracks. Tomorrow I will post my top 20 songs of 1984. Peace.

2024 Rock Hall Nominees

     It's been a minute since I've written one of these. The past few years I've made a conscious effort to lighten up about this process and the Rock Hall in general. It is what it is and I have no control over it. I live in Cleveland. I like to visit the Rock Hall periodically. I met Geddy Lee there. I saw Guided by Voices there. I'm glad they are expanding it. We all have our feelings about what is, and isn't, rock 'n' roll. I have feelings about this years nominees. I had feelings about last years nominees. I wanted The White Stripes to get inducted. I didn't give a crap about George Michael getting inducted, but my wife loves him, so I was happy for her. In the end, all these artists have fans and I'm happy for them, even though I don't consider many of the to be rock. My question now is, have all the artists who deserve induction been inducted? I would say the answer is, mostly, yes. 

     Looking at this years nominees, there is no one who is newly eligible. Many of these artists have been eligible for quite some time. If I were to vote, I would probably select Oasis, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Ozzy and A Tribe Called Quest. But, I wouldn't feel good about it. I love Oasis and feel they should be inducted, but they aren't going to reunite for the Rock Hall and will just indulge in some Gallagher Brother brand nonsense. I liked Foreigner and Frampton almost 50 years ago, but are they really seminal acts? Probably not. Ozzy had a couple good solo albums 40 years when Randy Rhoads was alive, but his legacy is being in Black Sabbath. A Tribe Called Quest is an influential hip hop/jazz group and their album Low End Theory is a classic 5 star album, so I'm good with them. That leaves me with two artists I feel good about inducting. Why does the Rock Hall Foundation continue to insist on 5 inductees every year? There aren't that many deserving artist left. 

     I would like to see the Rock Hall shift to an induction process similar to the Baseball Hall of Fame. They have years where no one receives enough votes for induction. Most years, only a couple players are inducted. And people continue on with their lives. Why is 5 the magic number for rock 'n' roll? It's one less than 6, I guess. Maybe it should "Go to 11". No, it shouldn't. Just a little Spinal Tap joke. Not to be mean, but Sinead O'Connor is nominated because she died. I love Sade's voice, but she's not integral to the story of rock 'n' roll. I can't stand Dave Matthews Band, Jane's Addiction or Lenny Kravitz. If they've had to circle back around to Foreigner and Frampton, it seems that most everyone who deserves induction has already been inducted. Sure, I could argue artists from other parts of the world than the U.S. and the U.K. are deserving; such as Midnight Oil and Crowded House, but for the most part there work is done. Going forward, they should just consider newly eligible artists and vote yea or nay. But that's not going to happen, so I will try to be happy for the fans of all the future, undeserving inductees. Peace.

Tears For Fears: Songs From the Big Chair

      Yesterday, we had a memorial service for my father-in-law, who passed away in January. He was an interseting person. He was an O.G. sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll guy. Yet, since I've known him, he was a conservative, FOX News junkie. He was a nice guy, though, and was always there to help us or his grand kids. He served in the Navy during Vietnam. He was an electrician and fortunately didn't see combat. At some point, after he divorced my wife's mother, my wife cut off communication with him for several years. When our son was born in 2007, I asked her to call her dad and let him know he had grand kids, because I felt he deserved to know. After some soul searching, she agreed and we had a nice relationship with him for the remainder of his life. 

     After he passed, we had to take several trips back to Detroit to deal with his affairs and house. In keeping with the premise of the Sound Mind Blog, I brought back all 400-ish of his records. For the past six months, I've been cataloging, cleaning, grading and, most importantly, listening to these records. He was a chain smoker, so the collection was quite dirty and the sleeves and media were in various states. I found old notes and ads and even an old match book in some of the records. There's some great stuff in the collection; The Stones, Pink Floyd, Hendrix and Bowie. There's also things like, London Calling, Meat is Murder, a couple Depeche Mode albums and a Misfits record. I've gone through most of the good stuff and the best sounding record in the collection is Songs From the Big Chair. In fairness, it probably would have been the Robert Ludwig mastering of AC/DC's Back in Black, but it isn't in great condition.

     I know most people don't believe there's a difference between vinyl and other formats, but I have heard these Tears For Fears songs hundreds of times on the radio and CD and when I put on this record it was like hearing them for the first time. The production is clean and hot. There is amazing seperation of the instruments. This copy has some hairline marks on it, but it sounds immaculate. It was mastered by the legendary Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound, New York. I was also stunned by how great the whole album is. Back in the day, I never owned the album and only knew their hits. I thought they were ok, but not really my wheelhouse. 

     The record begins with "Shout". Sounds so powerful on LP. My mind was instantly blown by this pressing. The next track, "The Working Hour" has some great sax on it and sounds quite similar to Duran Duran, especially the vocals. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" has always been one of my favorite songs of theirs and it sounds tremendous here. Apparently, "Mothers Talk" was a single and had a video, but I don't have any recollection of ever seeing it. The video actually shows them rockin' out like a band. Great track. "I Believe" is dedicated to Robert Wyatt and is quite jazzy, with some beautiful Grand Piano and sax. "Broken" is a fantasic track that teases, then seemlessly leads into the stunning "Head Over Heels". The album closes with "Listen" which is '80's style prog rock/ jazz fusion. Great vocals by Roland Orzabal and Marilyn Davis. 

     I will probably post about some of the other albums from my father-in-law's collection, as there were many outstanding pieces in his collection. There may also be some additional Mt. Rushmore's and what not. Peace.