retroBlog

Album: Traffic
Artist: ABC
label: Borough Music
issued: 2008
review by: retroBlog.net

It’s hard to believe that it has been 11 years since ABC’s last studio release but Martin Fry is indeed back with a brand new album titled, Traffic. I’m one of those fans that faithfully followed them throughout the 80’s but lost track of them after their lackluster album Up back in 1989. So, it’s great to hear that Fry is keeping the flame alive with the new record along with a busy touring schedule to promote it.
Listening to the new album, I was pleased to hear that Fry and company have retained much of the classic sound that the group was known for back in their heyday. The record starts out strong with some well-produced material but by the second half, the songs unfortunately become non-descript with nothing memorable beyond the seventh track. But I have to give Fry, David Palmer and producer/co-writer Chuck Kentis credit for coming up with half an album’s worth of strong material. “Sixteen Seconds to Choose” kicks off Traffic with muscular drum playing and a fun distorted guitar riff. The song sort of harks back to the “That was then, This is Now” -era of the band. “The Very First Time” was wisely chosen as the first single off the album and it sounds very much like an updated reconstruction of “When Smokey Sings” (from the album Alphabet City) with its string arrangements and laidback motown groove. Other notable songs include “Love is Strong”, “Caroline” and “Ride”. The title track, “One Way Traffic”, is my personal favorite off the album. It’s got a Niles Rodgers/Chic-style groove complete with funky rhythm guitar licks and intricate hi-hat work. As a matter of fact, the song reminds me of Duran Duran’s “Notorious” which isn’t that surprising since Nile Rodgers was all over that song as producer and guitar player. But unfortunately Fry and company aren’t able to sustain that high level of songwriting throughout the whole record. as I mentioned earlier, the latter half of the record is pretty lackluster. but that being said, it’s still great to see new material from this ol’ 80’s band. I’m a bit sad that I couldn’t make it to see the Regeneration Tour last night but hopefully Martin Fry/ABC will be back touring the U.S. next summer.

Tracklist:
1 Sixteen Seconds to Choose 3:11
2 The Very First Time 3:38
3 Ride 3:37
4 Love Is Strong 4:06
5 Caroline 4:45
6 Life Shapes You 3:49
7 One Way Traffic 3:44
8 Way Back When 4:12
9 Validation 3:57
10 Lose Yourself 4:02
11 Fugitives 4:02
12 Minus Love 4:07
all tracks composed by Martin Fry, Chuck Kentis and David Palmer

listen to an excerpt of ABC’s “The Very First Time”:

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for more info, check out the official ABC website.
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Album: Arena
Artist: Todd Rundgren
label: Hi Fi Recordings (U.S.), Cooking Vinyl (U.K.)
release date: September 30th (U.S.), September 29th (U.K.)
review by: retroBlog.net

Back in the early nineties, Todd Rundgren once sang about “the old rocking chair” and how it beckoned him “like a junkie’s needle.” Well, thank goodness he never succumbed to that middle-aged temptation. This year, Rundgren has been busier than ever, touring almost non-stop with his own band as well as heading up a Beatles’ Sgt. Peppers tribute tour. He even managed to find time to record his twentieth solo album, Arena, which will be making its way to stores by the end of September. Arena is probably the most accessible sounding record Rundgren has made since the Nearly Human days. It’s essentially the guitar-rock album fans have long been asking for. You’ll find no church-bashing (i.e. Fascist Christ, Mammon), pseudo-rapping (i.e. No World Order, Individualist) or show tunes (i.e. The Smell of Money) here. You’ll even notice simpler chord progressions just by the fact that the songs are guitar-based rather than keyboard-based. So, those typical Rundgren-esque tone-clusters which are normally an integral part of the Rundgren sound aren’t as plentiful although they do pop up now and then like in the middle section of Afraid or the bridge in the song Today. But don’t get me wrong when I say “simpler” chords. This just means that the songs will have a more immediate impact on a wider range of listeners. Hopefully this new accessible version of Rundgren will allow him to reach a larger audience this time around which unfortunately didn’t happen the last go-round with his critically acclaimed Liars album in 2004.

As with most of his albums, Rundgren focused his material on a particular concept which, on Arena, is all about conflict and how we (men in particular) react to them. Rundgren was quoted in a recent interview that “this record is more about action. Time for talk is over. Now it’s time to actually do something.”

1. Mad
The album opens with a guitar arpeggio reminiscent of Rundgren’s “Buffalo Grass” but then kicks into a straight ahead rocker a la “Black and White”. “This is more than upset, it’s as enraged as I get and you ain’t seen me mad yet, and now I’m mad!” screams Rundgren in the chorus. His vocal performance is amazing here. Is this man truly 60 years old??!?!!?? The energetic performance on this song is that of a man half his age. it’s awe-inspiring. the song also features a tasty guitar solo that recalls the solo from Utopia’s “The Very Last Time”, which in itself was a nod to Tom Scholz/Boston. sweet. The strong album opener is also the first single off the album.

2. Afraid
“Mad” segues right into “Afraid”, one of the more typical “Todd” sounding songs on the album that could have fit right into his previous albums like The Individualist. The highlight is the middle section where Rundgren repeatedly asks “Why suffer for nothing? Suffer for something.” Then the song builds to a nice, restrained David Gilmour-ish guitar solo.

3. Mercenary
The opening metal guitar intro would work perfectly as some wrestler’s theme music on WWE monday night RAW. No one would ever recognize that this is the same dude that came up with “Bang on the Drum”. Rundgren even manages to sound pretty menacing with that Trent Reznor-type distortion on his vocals during the verses. The distortion effect goes away just in time to clearly hear Rundgren scream at the top of his lungs - “How do you like me now that I’ve done your dirty work? How do you like me NOW???” The song is obviously about the Iraq War but Rundgren leaves the door open to let it be just about any type of work being contracted out. You can even take it as some sort of statement about Rundgren’s work with The New Cars, being a “hired gun” and all. OK, that’s stretching it a bit but you get the gist. Oh, and I love the nod to Boston’s “More than a Feeling” in the acoustic-led bridge section. hhmmm, another reference to Boston? Maybe concert promoters should take note of this and somehow arrange a tour package next summer with Rundgren and Boston together? *hint, hint*.

4. Gun
“Gun” just screams ZZ Top with Texas blues riffs galore. Rundgren would say before playing this song at his shows that this is “a FUN song about something really CREEPY”. His stance on gun control is pretty clear with the chorus: “You better run ’cause I’m young, dumb and I’ve got a gun, public idiot number one, ’cause I’m young, dumb and I’ve got a gun!” and the reference to Full Metal Jacket is genius - “This is my rifle, this is my gun, this is for fighting, this is for fun!” and again, another great guitar break in the middle of this song. love it.

5. Courage
There’s a significant shift in the sonic palette once track 5 starts up. With “Courage”, Rundgren channels the 70’s version of himself, complete with jangly acoustic/electric strumming and sugary sweet harmonies. It’s interesting to note that the instrumental intro featuring the flang-y lead guitar seems to be a knowing nod to Moe Berg and the Pursuit of Happiness. A nice change of pace after the first four “heavy” sounding songs.

6. Weakness
“Weakness” is definitely one of the featured tracks on Arena especially after Rundgren dedicated the song to his wife, Michele, when he debuted the song live in Kauai at his 60th birthday bash. The song is a great hybrid of a bluesy guitar-riffed verse (a la Rundgren’s “Mystified”) mashed up with a soaring ballad of a chorus not unlike Rundgren’s “Hawking” (off of Nearly Human). His vocal performance is spectacular here which helps make those clunky superman references in the lyrics go down easier. Unfortunately the weak (yes, had to say it) part about the song is the stiff high-hat that gets pushed to the fore during the verses. It’s too bad Rundgren didn’t get Prairie Prince to overdub the cymbal work on the song because he would have been able to add that extra groove during those sparsely arranged moments in the song.

7. Strike
“Strike” is Rundgren doing his best AC/DC interpretation. There’s not a lot of substance in the lyrics here but it’s a fun song nevertheless with a lot of musical elements added into the pot to keep things interesting. The guitar solo isn’t all that striking (ouch, sorry. it was there.) here but man, that repetitive chorus will burn into your brain and last for days and days. It’s relentless! Listen to Rundgren screaming “Time to STRIKE while the iron is HOT!!” and tell me this guy ain’t 60 years old!!??!!

8. Pissin
“Pissin” is the required novelty track on the album. Rundgren always seems to include one on each of his records. It’s definitely not one of the better songs on Arena but it’s still pretty memorable. I mean, where else are you going to find someone singing the line “and now your dick is in the mayonnaise“??? The modulation into the instrumental section of the song is a nice touch.

9. Today
“Today” sounds almost like a leftover from the Liars sessions with the sequenced keyboard part and the pseudo-techno drum patterns. Here, Rundgren exhorts his listeners to resolve their differences with others, TODAY! It’s a great message and the song is a definite standout on the record.

10. Bardo
“Bardo” has Robin Trower’s “Bridge of Sighs” written all over it. I love the guitar work on this one and the mood that is set here. Rundgren expands on the message from “Today” and brings in a Buddhist concept of transition where you need to confront your own issues in order for you to move on. “You can’t go back from where you came, you must move on and face the flame of the last Bardo.” Rundgren interestingly adds some white noise during the ending guitar solo to create some tension a la the Beatles’ “I Want You (She’s so Heavy)”.

11. Mountaintop
Rundgren has already stated that he would love “Mountaintop” to replace “Bang on the Drum” as a sporting event favorite. and it has potential with the ever so catchy “higher-higher” refrain during the chorus.
Rundgren uses an interesting reverb effect on his vocals (during the verses) as well as on the bass drum that kind of recalls John Lennon’s use of the echo effect on songs like “Instant Karma”. The reverb effect on the bass drum is particularly distracting for me. I’m not sure if the general audience will pick up on it but since I’m a drummer, I notice it. basically, the digital delay on the bass drum is not in time with the overall tempo. I’m not sure if it’s intentional or not but it sure is distracting.

12. Panic
“Panic” is a great song that recalls both Rundgren’s “Yer Fast” and Utopia’s “Itch in My Brain”. Probably one of my favorites at the moment. His sense of humor shines through with lines like: “The zombies awake but it won’t help to panic… your boner goes soft but it don’t help to panic… and you just made a stinky…” classic!! heh.

13. Manup
“Manup” is a strong closer. It pretty much sums up what Rundgren wants us all to do which is essentially to stop our complaining, get up off our asses and do something! The ending guitar solo is sweet but stops short. In fact most of the guitar solos on the album are short and concise but as he has mentioned in previous interviews, that’s how Rundgren views “Arena rock”: very melodic with big hooks and concise to the point guitar solos. I would have given him more leeway with the guitar solos but that’s just me.

- Overall Sound - If you’re familiar with Rundgren’s output over the last decade then you basically know how he operates in terms of recording his albums. Arena was essentially recorded with protools on his macbook utilizing programmed/sequenced bass and drum tracks, virtual guitar amp emulators, etc. Personally I would have preferred real drums over the “canned” drum sounds but that just might be the drummer side of me talking. Those sampled drum sounds just don’t give songs like “Mercenary”, “Strike” and “Mountaintop” the visceral power they need to take ‘em over the top, you know what I mean? Aside from the guitars, the “virtual band” made some of the songs sound a bit more restrained than I would have liked. Not really sure if it was a time or budget limitation but I suppose that’s Todd’s call and who am I to argue, right? And I guess, in the overall scheme of things, the sound of the record isn’t as important as the songs themselves. As long as the songs are well written it really doesn’t matter how their recorded. Just take the timeless Beatles catalog as one example of that. And it’s safe to say with these 13 songs on Arena, Rundgren delivers! It’s definitely the perfect follow up to his 2004 Liars album.

Oh, and for those of us sticklers that still grumble over the use of drum machines and such, Rundgren’s got us covered by bundling the new album with a DVD and CD of Rundgren’s live performance of the new album from the July 14th Boulder Theater show. So the packaged bundle sounds like a great deal. Look for it in stores beginning September 30th.

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listen to an excerpt of Rundgren’s lead off single from the new album Arena - “Mad” (for streaming only):

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purchase Todd Rundgren CDs on Amazon:

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For all things Todd, check out Rundgren on myspace as well as over on the TR Connection. For detailed info on the U.K. Rundgren dates, head on over to the NoblePR Arena page. And be sure to catch Rundgren (along with Rachel Haden, Prairie Prince, Kasim Sulton and Jesse Gress) on tour which starts back up in October.
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Cheap Trick, Heart and Journey
Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek
Raleigh, NC 10 August 2008

People tend to be a bit wary of all the “packaged tours” that end up at the sheds each summer. And I totally understand it because typically they’re made up of has-been 80’s bands who are way past their prime. And I’m sure in some people’s minds, the Cheap Trick/Heart/Journey triple bill could be lumped with the rest of ‘em. Call it what you want - 80’s nostalgia, a blast from the past, whatever. But last night in Raleigh, the three bands truly rocked the lil’ ol’ amphitheater and the nearly sold out crowd (including me) enjoyed every minute of it.

Cheap Trick probably got the toughest job on the tour, playing to a half-filled house at 7pm each night. With the sun still blaring on their faces, the band blasted through their set just like they always do. Unfortunately their set was marred by a muddy sound mix. But Cheap Trick is a class act and they delighted their fans with stellar versions of “If You Want My Love”, “I Want You to Want Me”, “Surrender” and “Dream Police”. I always get a kick out of seeing Rick Neilsen’s unique collection of guitars. Felt a little sorry for his guitar tech though - tuning and maintaining all those guitars each and every night must be a bitch. Robin Zander’s vocals sounded strong for the most part but still has a tough time with “The Flame”. Even performing it tuned down a couple steps, Zander couldn’t cleanly hit that last high note in the song. It was spectacularly cringe-worthy. Other than that, CT’s set was pretty flawless. Oh, and Ross Valory (of Journey) came out in the middle of CT’s set to yell “these guys ROCK!” to an unsure crowd who were all probably wondering “who’s that old man?” heh.

Heart nailed their set last night. Definitely made them a HARD act to follow. By the time they got on stage, the place was pretty much full and raring to go. Ann and Nancy Wilson proved once again that they could rock just as good (or even better) as the rest of the boys on the bill. They played a nice mix of their 70’s and 80’s hits plus a Who and Led Zep cover. And yes, Ann Wilson is singing the songs in a lower key but it doesn’t really matter in this case because she belts these out like no one else can! If there were any wine glasses around that night, they would have been shattered by the time Ann hit that otherworldly vocal run in “Alone”. wow! She is amazing. Oh and Nancy got her time in the spotlight with a nice acoustic guitar solo before the start of “Crazy on You”. plus, she still does those high kicks that we all know and love.

And how do you follow that? It’d be tough for ANY band to keep that level of momentum going. Journey stumbles a bit at the beginning with singer Arnel Pineda not quite hitting the high notes on the set opener “Never Walk Away”. But the band quickly recovers and get things back up to fever pitch by the time they hit “Only the Young” and “Stone in Love”. I’m sure the band tries to keep things “fresh” for themselves by mixing up their setlist every night but at times the sequencing seems so random. There’s an art to building a setlist and last night’s set didn’t have that great of a flow. For example, they followed Separate Ways with Rubicon and then went straight into two new songs off of Revelation, “Change for the Better” and “Wildest Dreams”. Talk about a momentum killer. But odd sequencing choices aside, the band was phenomenal. Neal Schon, Ross Valory, Deen Castronovo and Jonathan Cain are spectacular players and all the musicians in the crowd were most likely slack-jawed in awe of their skill. Schon and Castronovo were especially amazing to watch.

Going into the show I was a bit worried that Pineda’s voice would show signs of the wear and tear of the road but Pineda was in fine form after the initial hiccup at the start of the set. Pineda was up and down the stage, dancing, jumping and shaking hands with those up in front. He was a bundle of energy and definitely brought new life into these old favorites. I’m not so sure performing “Escape” and “Lovin, Touchin, Squeezin” for the encore is the smartest choice in terms of keeping the interest of a huge crowd but all in all I had a blast seeing the newly reborn Journey with Pineda at the helm. It’s a strong show and definitely well worth seeing if it comes near your neck of the woods.
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I don’t have Showtime so I just recently had the opportunity to catch up on David Duchovny’s Californication - Season One on DVD. The story revolves around struggling writer Hank Moody (Duchovny) and his relationship with his ex-girlfriend Karen, and their daughter Becca. There seems to be some similarities to another favorite of mine - Rescue Me. Like Denis Leary’s critically acclaimed series, there are frequent dream sequences, issues with God/religion, divorce and substance abuse. The series seemed to struggle a bit during the first few episodes but by episode four, things began to click especially in terms of the dynamics within Moody’s family. Even though I’m all for nudity and sex scenes, the numerous scenes at the beginning of the series weren’t really that necessary. My guess is that it was pretty much done to boost viewer ratings on Showtime. But once you get past the gratuitous nude scenes, the great dialogue and the talented cast are surprisingly the main things that keep you watching.

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Long time fans of Toronto-based band Martha and the Muffins are probably rejoicing over the reissue of the group’s 1983 album, Danseparc which comes out August 4th after years of being out of print. Newly remastered by producer/engineer Peter J. Moore (Cowboy Junkies), the Cherry Red reissue features three bonus tracks including the 12″ Dance mix of “Danseparc (Every Day It’s Tomorrow)” and a B-side track “These Dangerous Machines”. But Martha and the Muffins fans have even more to rejoice about. The group recently finished recording a brand new album with grammy-award winning producer David Botrill titled “Delicate” which is scheduled for release toward the end of 2008.
I recently had the chance to listen to the remastered version of Danseparc and I have to say that the album still sounds fresh and inventive to this day. Early eighties recordings tend to sound dated with the heavy use of synths and drum machines that were in fashion at the time but producer Daniel Lanois (U2, Peter Gabriel, Bob Dylan) and the group wisely chose to minimize the use of those synth patches of the day and kept things more organic. Most of the songs have a quirky edge to them that places the group’s sound somewhere near the Talking Heads/the B-52s realm. My personal favorite off the album is “World Without Borders” which features a strong melodic bridge that reminds me of XTC or even Roxy Music. I love the fact that the group had the freedom to experiment on this album. A lot of bands on the charts today seem to cut songs out of the same mold. But Martha and the Muffins made an effort to explore new and different sounds. Singer Martha Johnson even went as far as to play Mark Gane’s guitar upside-down in order to find alternative chords to play. Their willingness to take risks while recording makes Danseparc an absolute joy to listen to. Gane’s inventive guitar playing keep things lively and interesting throughout the album. plus the percussion and drum work are top notch. The David Byrne-esque track “Several Styles of Blonde Girls Dancing” features a nice little syncopated drum fill right before one of the choruses that is pure genius in my book, especially for a song done in the early eighties. Other highlights on the album include: “Walking into Walls”, “Danseparc (Every Day It’s Tomorrow)” and “What People Do for Fun”.

For more info - check out the recent press release about the Danseparc reissue.
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Fans of Mates of State can be heard across the blogosphere griping about how Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel have turned away from their signature organ & drum-based sound from their early days. But it seems to me their latest album Re-Arrange Us is simply a natural maturation of a husband-wife duo that have been making music together for nearly a decade. You really can’t realistically expect a songwriting duo to continually crank out the same sounding stuff over and over again. Change is inevitable over time and so has the sound of Mates of State. And to my ears, it’s for the better. Essentially Gardner and Hammel have realized the limiting factor of cheesy keyboard sounds and the carnival-esque vibe. So, their musical arrangements have become more conventional with piano, bass and drums at the core of each track. What hasn’t gone away thankfully are their sing-along melodies and tenacious hooks. The album, Re-Arrange Us, is full of them including their solid album opener “Get Better”, “Lullaby Haze” and what’s most likely their strongest tune to date, “The Re-Arranger”. The one thing that does weigh the album down a bit are the lightweight lyrics. The words seem to be secondary to the music. When you hear lots of “da-da-da-da-da” and “now, now, now. Ho! Ho! Ho!” sung over parts of choruses, it’s pretty telling. Even so, the album is very enjoyable and will probably end up being one of my favorites of the year.

Tracklist:
1 Get Better 3:27
2 Now 2:39
3 My Only Offer 2:58
4 The Re-Arranger 4:28
5 Jigsaw 3:14
6 Blue and Gold Print 4:22
7 Help Help 3:44
8 You Are Free 3:19
9 Great Dane 3:04
10 Lullaby Haze 4:25

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Katy Perry’s new album One of the Boys has got to be this summer’s biggest guilty pleasure. Just forget about artistic integrity for a moment, shut off your brain and let your ears enjoy some sonic candy for a while. The music off of “One of the Boys” is the audio equivalent of fast food - quick and easy to enjoy. and just like fast food, it’s not something I’d want to consume over and over again on a regular basis. But for now, it’s a fun listen. As you’ve probably heard, Katy Perry started out in the contemporary Christian genre under the name Katy Hudson. Her 2001 album didn’t go anywhere and after her record label closed up shop, Katy had to re-group and figure out what to do next. And if Dana Carvey’s “Church Lady” was still around, she’d say at this point that Katy went off and sold herself to the devil. And that’s because the “Katy Perry” image is an absolute “180″ from her days as a Christian artist. One can only wonder now if “Katy Perry” is simply a made up corporate marketing scheme to sell records or a truthful maturation of lil’ “Katy Hudson”. If I had to guess, I’d lean toward the “marketing” aspect but like I said earlier, forget all about integrity here and just enjoy the music. Her team of producers, including Glen Ballard, Butch Walker and Greg Wells, must have some sort of specialized Pro Tools plug-in to help create radio-ready songs because this album is bursting with ready-made hits. Imagine them dialing in the “Alanis Morissette” setting for songs like “Thinking of You” and switching to the overused “Avril Lavigne” setting for the songs like “One of the Boys” and so on. It’s not the most original or creative by any means but producing “cookie-cutter” pop-rock can definitely help you land a spot on corporate radio rotation. And that seems to be the basic goal here: getting on the radio and selling millions of units. Hey, you can blame the girl for wanting to be successful. The hard part will be sustaining a music career beyond the initial 15-minutes.

Tracklist:
1 One of the Boys (Perry) 4:07
2 I Kissed a Girl (Dennis, Gottwald, Martin, Perry) 3:00
3 Waking Up in Vegas (Carlsson, Child, Perry) 3:19
4 Thinking of You (Perry) 4:06
5 Mannequin (Perry) 3:17
6 Ur So Gay (Perry, Wells) 3:37
7 Hot n Cold (Gottwald, Martin, Perry) 3:40
8 If You Can Afford Me (Hollander, Katz, Perry) 3:18
9 Lost (Bruner, Perry) 4:15
10 Self Inflicted (Cutler, Perry, Preven) 3:25
11 I’m Still Breathing (Perry, Stewart) 3:48
12 Fingerprints (Perry, Wells) 3:44
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who can blame Julianne Hough for taking advantage of the built-in audience she garnered from her stint on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars? releasing a new pop-country album is probably a wise business move on her part. since it has nothing to do with dancing, I’m sure ABC and the producers of DWTS don’t have any complaints about it. and thanks to her fan base from the show, the album debuted in the top 5 on Billboard’s Top album chart. but her “TV celeb” status can only take you so far. does the album deliver the goods? unfortunately, I’d have to say no. Julianne Hough is completely likeable and she obviously got the looks but her voice is pretty one-dimensional. Hough doesn’t have the vocal chops to pull listeners in and keep ‘em interested for 40 minutes. to compound the problem, the material is second-rate. the songs are just typical stuff that gets cranked out by the Nashville songwriting mill. they’re probably leftovers that Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill and the like passed on. since she’s on tour the whole summer opening for Brad Paisley, maybe she’ll get to work on those vocal chops. so who knows, maybe with some better material, her follow-up effort might be more interesting…

Julianne Hough TrackList:
1 That Song in My Head (Collins, Martin, Mobley) 3:13
2 You, You, You (Ferrell, Hicks) 3:45
3 Hide Your Matches (Carusoe, Lindsey) 3:40
4 My Hallelujah Song (McEwan, Wiseman) 3:30
5 Jimmy Ray McGee (Frasier, Kear) 3:31
6 Dreaming Under the Same Moon (Johnson, Malloy, Poole) 3:58
7 About Life (Andrews, Rosen, Rosen) 3:17
8 Hello (Dodson, Howard, Shapiro) 3:10
9 Help Me, Help You (Gravitt, Green) 4:01
10 Love Yourself (Irwin, Kear, Malloy) 3:02
11 I’d Just Be with You (Kennedy, Stople) 3:31

Watch Julianne Hough perform That Song In My Head live on ABC’s The View:

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Aimee Mann’s back to basics approach for her latest album @#%&*! Smilers is refreshing and a welcomed change of pace following her concept album The Forgotten Arm. by keeping the arrangements simple and straightforward, Mann brings the focus back to the songs themselves. and fortunately, she’s got some great material here. Mann skillfully conjures up detailed stories and characters in her songs that are intertwined with memorable melodies. she makes it look easy but obviously it’s not that simple.
lines like: “I thought my life would be different somehow, I thought my life would be better by now but it’s not and I don’t know where to turn..” (31 Today) resonate with most of us that are dealing with “this thing called life”. oh, and the cynicism behind her singing “Go, honey, go, into the ocean.. into the great beyond ’til you’re good and gone and you can hide away for when everything goes wrong..” (the Great Beyond) is absolutely perfect. I love it. @#%&*! Smilers is a strong effort from start to finish. personal favorites off the album include - Freeway, 31 Today, The Great Beyond and Borrowing Time.

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kudos to Rhino Records and Chicago for finally getting Stone of Sisyphus (XXXII) out to the fans after 15 years in limbo. Back in 1994, Warners/Reprise opted not to release the record stating that it wasn’t marketable at the time. and like most unreleased albums by major artists, the legend surrounding Stone of Sisyphus grew from that point on. Over the years fans clamored for its release, believing it to be a creative milestone for the group. ultimately the album’s backstory overshadowed the actual content. Listening to it now after all these years, Stone of Sisyphus sounds dated and a bit weak from a commercial standpoint. one can see Warners/Reprise’s side of the argument especially with subpar material like “Sleeping in the Middle of the Bed” which features some awful rapping and forgettable ballads like “Let’s Take a Lifetime” and “Here With Me”. also unique to this record is producer Peter Wolf. Wolf’s signature sound is all over this record. Wolf’s recognizable synth patches, mechanical drum & percussion programming and overly compressed sound made Chicago sound more like Starship, Go West or Wang Chung (Wolf’s other productions). overall, the album is a mix of weak material with a few good ones sprinkled here and there. the title track “Stone of Sisyphus” is a strong rocker but again, it sounds more like Starship than Chicago. “Bigger than Elvis” is a nice pretty ballad that was written for Jason Scheff’s dad. ironically the song is ruined by Scheff’s screeching vocals. “The Pull” has a great verse and chorus but unfortunately the awkward bridge in the middle brings the song to a grinding halt. “Plaid” is probably my favorite off the album. the song features a great groove and a fantastic instrumental break. if they just had a couple more like “Plaid” the album would have been so much better.

all the negatives aside, it’s great to see an album like this finally get officially released. not a lot of albums get a second chance like this. Stone of Sisyphus isn’t the long lost masterpiece that legend would have you believe but viewing it as a snapshot of the early nineties version of the group Chicago, it’s a nice document to have.

Stone of Sisyphus (XXXII) Tracklist:
1 Stone of Sisyphus (Bailey, Loughnane) 4:11
2 Bigger Than Elvis (Scheff, Wolf, Wolf) 4:31
3 All the Years (Gaitsch, Lamm) 4:16
4 Mah-Jong (Scheff, Walsh, Zigman) 4:42
5 Sleeping in the Middle of the Bed (Lamm, McCurry) 4:45
6 Let’s Take a Lifetime (Scheff, Walsh, Zigman) 4:56
7 The Pull (Lamm, Scheff, Wolf) 4:17
8 Here with Me (A Candle for the Dark) (Lamm, OConnor, Pankow) 4:11
9 Plaid (Champlin, Lamm, Mathieson) 4:59
10 Cry for the Lost (Champlin, Matkosky) 5:18
11 The Show Must Go On (Champlin, Gaitsch) 5:25
12 Love Is Forever [demo version] (Lamm, Pankow) 4:14
13 Mah-Jong [demo version] (Scheff, Walsh, Zigman) 4:59
14 Let’s Take a Lifetime [demo version] (Scheff, Walsh, Zigman) 4:15
15 Stone of Sisyphus [No Rhythm Loop] (Bailey, Loughnane) 4:35

listen to “Get On This” which didn’t make it on the official release:

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