Phaedra by Tangerine Dream

"....to sleep, perchance to tangerine dream..."

If you are looking for a great album to fall asleep to, then this album is for you. Even the painting on the cover and the song titles themselves can put you to sleep (I like to think that the music on the albums are soundtracks for the group's album covers). Phaedra, which was released in 1974, was Tangerine Dream's fifth album (if you don't count Green Desert, which was recorded in 1973, but not released until the mid 80's) and for me, was the album where Tangerine Dream, by then consisting of Christopher Franke, Peter Baumann and founding member Edgar Froese, finally came into their own with their unique brand of electronic, ambient background music. The first four albums, particularly Atem and Alpha Centauri, sounded too much like the group Pink Floyd around the time of Saucerful Of Secrets (I like that era of Pink Floyd, but Tangerine Dream were no Pink Floyd!). And the double album Zeit was four sides of sheer boredom....kind of like an ambient version of Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music. What made Phaedra so different was the abandonment of any acoustic drumming and the use of the sequencer, which provides the pulse for a good section of the 17 and a half minute title track, which takes up the entire first half of the album. To me, this is 17 and a half minutes of absolute soothing, electronic ambient bliss, my only complaint being that it's not long enough!

The second half isn't quite as spectacular, but it does get off to a good start with the mellotron dominated tune Mysterious Semblance at the Strand of Nightmares, which gets my vote for best Tangerine Dream song title of all time and outer space. It is also the only piece here to have anything even slightly resembling a melody. This band was never really about melodies or catchy guitar riffs, anyway. There are no vocals, so you can't sing along to it. No drums, so you can't tap your foot to it or dance to it. This is not music that one can memorize. Just put it the background, turn the speakers up and let the music absorb you or wrap around you like a blanket.

What's nice is that I don't even consider this Tangerine Dream's best album. I think they got even better at this kind of music on their next four albums, Rubycon, Ricochet, Stratosfear and the live album Encore. Phaedra is a great album, but it was really only the beginning for this group. Highly recommended if you have problems falling asleep at night! - Reviewed by Rich

Stand Up by Jethro Tull

How do I love this album? Oh, let me count the ways!! First of all, there's the cover, which I love so much that I got a t-shirt with it on the front. It is a drawing done from woodcuts off all four Jethro Tull members, which at the time consisted of vocalist/ flutist/acoustic guitar player Ian Anderson, bassist Glenn Cornick, drummer Clive Bunker and (then) new guitarist Martin Barre. The combination of yellows and browns and the leaves in the background and the band members' attire give the cover a very woodsy feel, which suits the music to a t...shirt. The artist even gives Ian Anderson an extra finger, maybe to better help him play his flute! Secondly, I like how if you put the last three song titles together without any commas (We Used to Know Reasons for Waiting for a Thousand Mothers) that you get a sentence! Third, I have some very pleasant memories of my walk back from the music store after buying this on vinyl in the summer of 1980. Fourth, and most importantly, there are the songs themselves, which I adore; even some of the lesser ones, like Back to the Family and For A Thousand Mothers, have one or two things to recommend about them.

The blues (which was all over the Tull’s debut album, This Was) still shows up on the album’s opening number, A New Day Yesterday, where Ian Anderson plays both harmonica and flute. Great tune - I think it sounds a bit like early Black Sabbath (Tony Iommi was in Jethro Tull for a few weeks before Martin Barre and I am now thinking that perhaps he had a hand in creating this song). Tull’s jazzy rendition of Bach’s Bouree is a pure delight, with Ian Anderson singing, breathing, sneezing and grunting into his flute. It also features a short but memorable bass guitar solo. Look Into The Sun and Reasons For Waiting are two overlooked and very folksy sounding tunes, both of them full of beautiful and sad vocal melodies, the latter featuring a string section and guitarist Martin Barre on flute. Nothing Is Easy is an up-tempo, bluesy hard rock number, during which each band member gets a chance to show off on their respective instruments. Fat Man, which shows off Ian Anderson’s unique sense of humor, sees Tull experimenting with world music and has balalaika and bongo drums on it.

Elsewhere, We Used to Know has a chord progression that Ian Anderson says The Eagles later stole for Hotel California (I think that's bollocks myself!) and is a fun song to play on guitar. Jeffrey Goes to Leicester Square is a short, but odd number, with Ian Anderson playing mandolin and guitarist Martin Barre once again on flute. The other two previously mentioned tunes, Back To the Family and For a Thousand Mothers are a bit too sloppily produced and played for my liking, but they still rock out quite a bit.

Overall, I think Stand Up is one of Jethro Tull's finest albums. It may not be as sophisticated musically and production wise of some of their later albums, but it is still a great record. And it's more than worth having on vinyl, as well, especially if you can find an original pressing, which comes with a pop-up of the band members! - Reviewed by Rich

Exit...Stage Left by Rush

I am a big fan of the Canadian progressive hard rock trio Rush, but I have never been a fan of their live albums, especially this one, Exit...Stage Left. Why? Mainly because Rush live are very similar to Rush on their studio albums, since they try to do the songs live the exact way they are done on the studio albums. And since the sound of their studio albums (at least from the era represented here, '74 to '81) were so perfect and the sound on this live album is not, there is not too much reason to want to have this.

I certainly approve of the song selection. Any Rush album to have songs like on it Xanadu, Jacob's Ladder, Beneath Between Behind, La Villa Strangiato, Freewill, A Passage To Bangkok (included on the original LP and remastered CD, but not here),and Red Barchetta is more than worth owning. For the casual Rush fan, their three most well known songs, Tom Sawyer, The Spirit Of Radio (a tune I’ve never liked!), and Closer To The Heart, are included here, the last one featuring a children’s choir. It is the mix that I have the biggest problem with. Alex Lifeson's guitar is very low in the mix, which is disappointing because it was so loud on the studio albums and a big part of their sound back then. I could also do without Neil Peart's drum solo, which is in the middle of the instrumental YYZ. Peart gets a chance to show off enough during the songs, so a drum solo from him is unnecessary.

The front and back cover, which show at least one object and/or person from every Rush album from their debut to 1981’s Moving Pictures, is kind of amusing. I like Alex Lifeson’s classical guitar solo Broon’s Bane, partly because it is one of the few times on the album his guitar is audible. And I like the introduction to Jacob’s Ladder, during which Rush play part of a Sam Cooke song; it may be the only moment of spontaneity on the whole album!

Like the first live album, All The World’s A Stage, Exit…Stage Left marked the end of an era for Rush. The next four albums (which include my least favorite album, Power Windows) would see Rush veer further away from their original hard rock roots and add more and more synthesizers and keyboards. I like this album, but do not consider it a must have for Rush fans. - Reviewed by Rich