Back in 1988, I thought I’d totally lucked out. I got a job writing for the Daily Texan, the UT-Austin student paper, and worked in the entertainment department. Instead of writing hard-hitting journalism pieces about the news of the day, I got to type in club listings for the weekend guide and do record reviews. That last part meant free vinyl.

One of the albums I scored as a review copy was Metallica’s …And Justice for All. I was so thrilled about it, since I really enjoyed Metallica’s previous work. I got it home, unwrapped it and…

Uh…

I got excited about it because I was supposed to be excited about it. I was a kid, I didn’t know what I was doing, really. The album rocked, but there was no bass to it. It sounded tinny most of the time. The rhythms were complicated and, frankly, distracting. “Shortest Straw” was really annoying. I remember hating that and I remember a bunch of friends getting after someone that said he liked that song. “One” was pretty cool, but took forever to get through. I gave the album an overall good review then, but…

I can’t stand by that anymore. It’s 22 years later and I have no intention of ripping it to MP3 or buying it on CD. I don’t even want to get a bootleg MP3 version of it. I don’t want to dust it off and relive old times with it. Reading over the track list, I feel a lot of “meh” towards it. I remember one of the songs had a stupid “Oh-Wee-Oh” part to it, but I can’t be bothered to try and find it.

So many people put this on their list of awesome albums, but I feel like that’s only because Metallica made it. If anyone else but Metallica had turned in a turgid collection of overly-long songs with poor production, it would have been consigned to the cut-out bin. To me, this album proves that Metallica’s been pretty much dead from the neck up since they lost Cliff Burton. I can’t really give this album any more than a 2 out of 10 since I could listen to it again if I had to, but I have absolutely no desire to do so. I only reviewed this album because it caught my eye in my collection and I remembered how I always regretted giving it a good review when I first got it.

Herb Alpert Presents Sérgio Mendes and Brasil ’66… the first album from Sérgio Mendes and Brasil ’66, hence the “presents” in the title. This album went platinum in the USA with the catchy opening track, “Mas Que Nada.” I can hear why, too. It’s a great vocal mix on top of a tight support band. Lani Hall’s vocals are amazing on this release and there’s much to recommend in Mendes’ arrangements and stylings.

Mendes’ style, of course is that of the lounge. It’s laid-back and easy-going. While some may deride him for not adopting an edge, I find Brasil ’66 to be perfect for unwinding and relaxing. Sure, I still like metal and hard rock, but there are times when my knees hurt or I just need to chill. For those times, I can turn to Mendes with regular reliability.

Rather than go through a song-by-song assessment of the album, let me just say the whole thing plays through marvelously and that I’ve played it over and over and over again many times. There are moments when Hall’s vocals just soar into my imagination, only to come back to earth in quiet stirrings. It’s a great, soft, comfortable set of songs and wears well with time. Electronica acts that dabble in lounge turn often to Mendes for inspiration and his original work stands up well in comparison with the modern remixes. Indeed, the remixes are done with loving respect for the old masters and for good reason. They’re fantastic.

Whenever I give an album a 10 out of 10, I have to ask myself, “Really? Is this really a 10, or am I just feeling a buzz from digging it out after a while?” This is a 10. I keep coming back to it and I savor each note, just like I do with other albums I score at 10 out of 10.

I had no idea this was Billy Squier’s second solo album. I thought it was his first. Turns out, it was his monster release that kinda overshadowed all his other work. It’s a monument of rock and shouldn’t be missed.

Don’t Say No got lots and lots of airplay. Yet, unlike a lot of other albums that got played a gazillion times on the radio, it remained fresh and listenable. Well, “The Stroke” kinda got old for me, but “Lonely Is the Night” won’t ever fade. “Too Daze Gone”, “In the Dark”, and “Don’t Say No” all rock out with consummate awesomeness. This is one of those great albums you can put on the playlist and repeat it for a day or two. Squier rules on this album.

9 out of 10 for this one. It’s a great and you young people are well advised to seek out the Squier.

I’m sick, it’s Monday, I need to do a disappointment review… Time for Grand Funk to face the music.

I don’t hate this album, but I really don’t like it. There are three OK songs on it, “Flight of the Phoenix,” “I Just Gotta Know,” and “Rock and Roll Soul.” I really like that last one, come to think of it. The other seven songs are not ones I enjoy. The band had just left Terry Knight’s management and decided to produce the album themselves. The result: a failed production.

They were lots better in the hands of other producers, which would later include Todd Rundgren, Jimmy Ienner, and Frank Zappa. The sound on this record is flat, the vocals often didn’t harmonize properly (a Funk problem on other songs, as I recall), and the music often turgid. Grand Funk’s Phoenix should have stayed in the ashes until a real producer came along. 3 out of 10: go find your 70s rock jollies elsewhere.

This is a great symphony for Sunday afternoons. The rolling violins and proud horns bring to life a mental landscape of verdant hills, home to a herd of wild horses. At times, the beauty of the music moves me deeply. Each movement flows beautifully from one to the next.

I actually prefer this symphony in its totality to the 9th or the 5th. Make no mistake, the choral movement of the 9th symphony is by far my favorite piece of orchestral music, but the 6th symphony is the one I love most from start to finish. It’s a perfect 10 and I can listen to it without end.

Foghat. Yeah. Nothing reveals a member of my generation like a Foghat reference. They dominated the album rock formats in the late 70s and early 80s… and then sort of fell off the map, radio-wise.

Which is a shame, because these guys could play and sing some great Rock ‘n’ Roll. In the studio or live, you got what you saw: four dudes that knew what they were doing around a 12-bar blues number. No frills, straight-no-chaser hard rock. Multi-purpose music that had no pretensions about it whatsoever.

Foghat Live has six tracks, kicking off with a rousing “Fool for the City,” then getting into the upbeat and energetic “Home in My Hand.” Personally, I’m not a fan of the next cut, “I Just Want to Make Love to You,” but that’s for lyrical reasons, not instrumental. I just don’t like the lyrics, but I have to hand it to Foghat because they play the heck out of this one.

Side two is a great run… manic fun with a one-two pairing of “Road Fever” and “Honey Hush” – that last song taking the Yardbird’s arrangement of the blues standard, “Train Kept A-Rollin'” and giving it totally different lyrics. And then…

ARE YOU READY…
ARE YOU READY TO TAKE A…
SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW RIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE?

Eight minutes and twenty-two seconds of “Slow Ride.” Live. Insane slide guitar frenzy at the end. Dude.

If you don’t know what a Foghat sounds like, start here and be ready to be amazed. If you remember Foghat, you’re already singing “Slow Ride” while you look this up on Amazon, iTunes, or YouTube.

8 out of 10. It’s solid and great fun. I’m in the mood and the rhythm is right. Groove to the music, we can go all night.

All in a row, 10 great songs. Individually, 8 of them stand on their own. All in all, I have always liked this album.

I first got it when I was in my hard rock/metal phase, when just about everything I bought was either hard rock or metal. I’d read good things about Utopia, and liked their song “Caravan”, so I tried out this LP when I saw it for cheap at Half-Price Books at their old Richardson location off of Belt Line. I bought it, raised an eyebrow at the preppy look of the band on the cover, put it on the turntable, and got hooked.

My favorite from the album is still “Caravan”, but I also keep a warm spot for “Set Me Free”, “Rock Love”, and “Second Nature.” The overall style of the album is accessible pop, edged in the last days of progressive rock and the first glimmers of electronica. Todd Rundgren always finds a way to innovate without alienating with his projects, and this album shows that talent at its best. It’s fun, the overall mood is bright, and only some of the songs make me want to skip them after I’ve listened the album 7 or 8 times in a row. 9 out of 10 for this one.

So I’ll go with a quick one this morning…

Grong Grong is the band name, album name, and title of the first track. I store it in my suite of music that can be used in torture sessions, right along Don Ho’s “Tiny Bubbles” and Barney’s “I Love You” songs. It’s horrible, horrible, horrible stuff. If the band actually tried to sing or play their instruments, I’d call it music. I saw one guy refer to the band as “unsung pioneers.” Dude, they were just plain unsung. The only reason I got this album was because it was free. I bought it almost 20 years ago, and I can remember how awful it was as if it were only yesterday.

It’s a 1 on the 1-10 scale. I’m not going to be cute or clever and give it a minus or a zero. The 1 is for music that’s as bad as it can get, and this is just that.

I’d always heard John McLaughlin was a great guitarist. I’d never thought about spending any money to find out just how good he was. I just sort of accepted that and went on with my life, unaware.

Then I saw this album in a donations bin at a charity that gave away free books and records to teachers and other non-profit folks. So I went for it, took it home and invested time where I had not been willing to invest money.

Therefore, this album is priceless to me. It’s 52 minutes of incredible acoustic performances. McLaughlin plays an amazing set, and the classical Indian flavor throughout was completely novel to me at the time. Even after nearly a decade of watching Bollywood, I still find this album to be electrifying and uplifting with each listen. It’s easily a 10 out of 10. If I had to go to a desert island that forbade rock and roll, I’d take this album. I strongly encourage any fan of virtuoso guitar performances to check this out.

Look Into the Future was Journey’s second studio release, and it’s amazing how great they sound without Steve Perry. From 1975-1977, Journey’s style blended prog-rock, fusion, and hard rock in an expert blend. Gregg Rolie served as their vocalist. While he’s not a Perry tenor, his vocals are earthier, more rocking. Perry’s got a great set of pipes, but he’s a balladeer, not a rocker. This album, therefore, is a rocker because it has 0% Steve Perry.

You won’t hear any of these songs sung on Glee, except maybe Journey’s cover of “It’s All Too Much,” but I doubt New Directions would use Journey’s arrangement. As a Beatles cover, I like it. It’s a fresh take on the song and Rolie’s keyboards work great with Schon’s guitar, just as they did back on Santana’s third album. It’s a great song for settling back into a comfy beanbag chair with headphones around your ears.

Oops, I missed the opening track, “On a Saturday Nite.” It’s not a special song, but it’s competently done. I like second track better, as well as the third one, the progressive, droning “Anyway.” Hearing that song makes it very easy for me to believe these guys called San Francisco home. It’s very moody, but retains a certain laid-back quality in spite of the tension of the vocal and guitar part. It’s hard to explain or categorize, so I guess that’s why I enjoy it.

I didn’t enjoy “She Makes Me (Feel Alright).” It was needlessly profane and I skip past it. It’s totally not in the same character as the rest of the album, so my guess is that the band put it on their because their manager told them a song about sex sells. Let this be a lesson to anyone else that’s looking to make money: if the price of success is your soul, you didn’t really succeed.

Side two kicks off with “You’re on Your Own,” a complicated rocker that’s back in the spirit of the rest of the album. It switches time signatures around deftly, so it’s one for those of you in the Math Rock crowd. I love Schon’s spiraling downward rhythm guitar along with Rolie’s Hammond Organ solo in the middle, followed by a real firecracker from Schon.

I should mention also that I absolutely love Aynsley Dunbar’s drumming and Ross Valory’s bass playing. These guys were a solid rhythm pair and help make this album a great one.

Next up is the title track, “Look Into the Future.” It’s a ballad, but not in a sappy, teenage heartbeat sort of way. It’s heartfelt, it puts the instruments up at the front, and the bluesy, heavy rock is first class. It’s a lot like a really good Kansas song with vocals that growl instead of soar, if that’s any help. At 8:10, this song is the album’s longest, but it delivers all the way through.

The last two songs, “Midnight Dreamer” and “I’m Gonna Leave You,” go great together. The first one rocks out for the first minute in a way that neatly dovetails with the title track. After that, it’s four minutes of fusion jamming that plays beautifully, featuring Rolie on a lovely electric piano solo that segues into a synthesizer, followed by Schon’s top-drawer playing. The last song picks up where “Midnight Dreamer” ends, growling and rumbling its way to a hard rock finish.

I just gotta love this platter’s second half, no question. On my 1-10 scale, this second release from Journey is a good 7. It could have been better, sure, but I always have fun with it.