Pat Martino - "Starbright" (1976)

Furthering my excursions into obscure 1970s jazz records, Pat Martino's Starbright is more proof that jazz wasn't completely dead in the 70s. I tried to listen to this as background music while getting ready for work this morning, but by the end of the record, I was still unsure if I liked it or not. Fortunately, I decided that I probably just hadn't been listening closely enough, and indeed the second listen proved that to be the case.

This is a jazz-fusion record featuring Martino on guitar and keyboards, but is largely a solo jazz guitar affair. The reason it didn't work for me as background music is because Martino's playing is largely slow and subtle and often stays well away from the rock guitar style to which I am accustomed. But when listening more closely, I found that his quiet pieces conjured up a nice atmosphere and the funky pieces which did catch my ear on first listen had more going on than I realized. Best of all, Martino has a diverse approach, being comfortable in classical guitar pieces as well as funk-jazz fusion. So in the end, this record is another keeper in my collection, but definitely an odd one for me to get used to.

Gary Burton and Chick Corea - "Duet" (1978)

I don't consider myself very knowledgeable regarding jazz, although I did take a History of Jazz course my freshman year of college, so perhaps I am underselling myself. But at least relative to my rock and pop tastes, where I basically know what I like, and have basic aesthetic criteria that I use to evaluate it, my jazz tastes are much less well-defined. I know that I consider Kind of Blue to be a masterpiece, but that's about it. I say all this because Gary Burton and Chick Corea's 1978 Duet is a hard-core jazz record, consisting of 50 minutes of piano/vibraphone improvisation.

Yet although I was skeptical about the use of vibraphone, especially as one of only two instruments, I enjoyed this record quite a bit. Corea is a name I know from my freshman year class, and I found his piano-playing to be exciting and rarely boring, continuously exploring new themes and motifs, and I found Burton's vibraphone to be a great accompaniment. So in the end, if I am less certain about whether this is a 3 star or a 4 star record then I would be if it were a rock album, I am certain that this is good music, and as such, it easily makes the cut to stay in my collection.

Joni Mitchell - "Ladies of the Canyon" (1970)

Although I've heard a lot about Joni Mitchell, I haven't actually heard much of her music, so Ladies of the Canyon is really my introduction to her work. Generally, I'm impressed, and since this one is generally considered to be a step below the albums that came right after it, I am intrigued enough to hear more. This album is largely just Mitchell and an acoustic guitar, but she makes sure to stay well away from the boredom that legions of less-talented singer/songwriters would surely have induced. Instead, with her ear for odd harmonies and chord progressions and love for quirkiness and dissonance, this music is really anything but boring. If anything, my biggest gripe (and my girlfriend's, who hated this record) is that at times, her high-pitched delivery and wacko song structures are just too weird to fully comprehend. So don't do Mitchell the disservice of dismissing her as some sort of boring 70s singer that old people like and please don't judge "Big Yellow Taxi" by the Counting Crows/Vanessa Carlton cover.

Elton John - "11-17-70"

Well, I'm not exactly making good on my promise to review a record a day. Such is life. But I'll keep trying! As for Elton John's live album, appropriately titled "11/17/70," it is no doubt a keeper. I admit, I am not as keen on live albums in general as some, though I do appreciate most of the undisputed classics of the genre (i.e., The Who's Live at Leeds or Deep Purple's Made in Japan). So I found John's sparse lineup of piano, bass and drums to be more solid than outstanding. All that said, the three players are impressive (especially Dee Murray on bass) and this record is a reminder of a time not so long ago when Elton was not a musical has-been but a vibrant and sometimes thrilling performer.

Roxy Music - "Siren" (1975)

Much like Alice Cooper's Killer, Siren is an album that I own that is widely acknowledged to be a classic, and yet I had never listened to it until yesterday afternoon. So in addition to the joys of reviewing random bad records, this project is also motivating me to listen to my GOOD albums too. What an outlandish idea. At any rate, I am becoming more and more confident in my ability to determine if I will like an album on one listen (as I am of the opinion that it takes at least 3 listens to properly assess a record, at least to make fine distinctions about whether something is a 4 star or a 4.5 star album), and after about 10 seconds of hearing the bass intro to "Love is the Drug," I knew this record was a definite keeper.

There is something to be said for contrast, and indeed, Roxy Music's intelligent, dance-oriented sound which signals both towards New Wave (I had heard the stellar "Love is the Drug" on the radio before and would have guessed it was an early 80s single) and hearkens back to 40s and 50s lounge music as well, sounds especially great to my ears right after listening to Seals and Crofts. I especially like the voice of singer Bryan Ferry, who weirdly, reminds me of Antony Hegarty from Anthony and the Johnsons when he croons. I don't know that this album will become a masterpiece in my mind, as it at times is a bit too self-consciously weird, but I would still heartily recommend it.

Seals and Crofts - "Get Closer" (1976)

Seals and Crofts' trademark is "soft rock", which I have always found is a veiled way to call something boring and watered-down. And indeed, Get Closer is exactly that. On the surface, it might not seem that bad. The duo plays around a little bit with psychedelic song structures, even jamming out (so to speak) on the final track "Passing Thing" and none of the songs are particularly poorly written. Yet the vocals of either Seals or Crofts (I don't really care which) have absolutely no emotion whatsoever, calibrated to sound smooth and good on the radio. The instruments all wash together, with nothing really standing out. And as such, the result is aurally-induced narcolepsy. There is nothing here that could qualify as a guilty pleasure like their hit single "Summer Breeze" and the free-spirited 'jam' on "Passing Thing" is the most boring part of the record since neither Seals nor Crofts nor their armada of studio musicians is capable of an interesting musical idea beyond quoting "As Time Goes By." Blue bin, of course.

Howard Jones - "Dream Into Action" (1985)

A lot of the fun of this project for me is the idea of listening to random records, setting aside my biases for 40 minutes, and letting my ears do the judgment. I had never heard of Howard Jones before acquiring this album, and I admit I do tend to be biased towards artists whom I've never heard of, based on my optimistic theory that over time, good albums will always be remembered (by music critics at the minimum) and that the best artists will stand the test of time. So by this theory, the fact that I'd never heard of Howard Jones (keeping in mind that I read A LOT of music and album reviews and can expound on the traits and most highly-regarded albums of plenty of artists I have never actually listened to) is a red flag that that there was something lacking in his discography.

Yet much as I'd like to make a lot of corny jokes about how this album is a turkey in honor of Thanksgiving, I actually found "Dream Into Action" to be a very impressive record. Although the sound is very dated to 1985, with plenty of automated rhythm tracks, synthesizers, and a singing voice which is hardly distinguishable from other 80s British New Wave artists from the same time period, I found the songs to be consistently creative, interesting, and diverse. The singles that lead off each side - "Things Can Only Get Better" and "Look Mama," are both top-tier mid 80s singles and the surrounding tracks are not much worse.

My major criticism of the album lies with the fact that the sound is so dated - although the individual songs are fairly creative, I have to suspect that the major reason Jones has largely been forgotten is that the album is so locked into its time period, and worse yet, does not really have a personality that sets it apart from other artists working in the same genre. It's a good record, but there are better albums with a similar sound, making it all too easy for Jones to have fallen out of favor when recalling the best records of the 80s. But setting that aside, I enjoyed this album quite a bit, and would definitely recommend it.