Album Review: Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (1975)

Five tracks, consisting of three normal length songs, and bookended by "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" severed in two, Pink Floyd's often unjustly ignored 1975 album is by far the band's crowning effort. A synth-laden progressive rock masterpiece, it is also a favorite of one half of Pink Floyd themselves. The infinite, synth driven tribute to the late Syd Barrett "Shine on You Crazy Diamond", whilst taking forever to digest, rewards the listener in the end with its pedantically precise aural construction. The anti-music biz "Have a Cigar", oddly the only single released off this album, and voiced not by Waters or Gilmour, but by Roy Harper, is set in the middle and bordered by the synthesized "Welcome to the Machine" on it's left and by the simple, acoustic affair that is "Wish You Were Here" on the right. Forget about "Dark Side of the Moon", which is what you buy mostly to try to be 70's cool, and buy this, one of the finest albums in the history of prog rock. And yes, I myself once asked which one was Pink. A

Album Review: Joe Perry - Have Guitar, Will Travel (2009)

A bland, but not horrible, 'deafen yourself with Philips screwdrivers' kind of album, the latest offering from Aerosmith's Joe Perry can only be described (to the best of my ability) as being marginally interesting, which is a bit like saying your grandma's '86 Corolla is still good for drifting in. And that is, of course, when Joe is on a roll - something that now and then stops me from nodding off, which for the most part is why I try to avoid listening to the album in stifling heat. And I certainly wouldn't drive a car with this album on, unless I had lost the will to live. Hang on, why am I complaining? I got this album for free. And frankly, let's hope it stays that way. Stick to listening to Aerosmith, people, if you want to hear Joe Perry at his finest. C

Album Review: Groove Armada - Black Light (2010)

My first foray into investing in a proper electronic album is both an interesting and disappointing one. Groove Armada's 2010 effort, Black Light, is a step in the right direction musically, in part because of its influential roots in the likes of New Order, David Bowie, and Roxy Music. And I'm happy to say it contains tracks that give me goosebumps, which for me, is the gauge of a good song. After listening to it playing in the music store and subsequently asking who it was, I eventually bought it, albeit at a hefty price of 27 bucks. Which for me nowadays is a lot of money to be spending on music. And alas, much of it was essentially a let down; certainly not crap, just not what I was expecting. Still, I'd much rather listen to this than the drivel produced by the likes of LCD Soundsystem. And if you were to ask me what songs on this album I would recommend, I would most certainly recommend, "Paper Romance", "Cards to your Heart", & "Shameless", featuring the ever-so-cool Bryan Ferry. Which reminds me - wait 'til I get my grubby little paws on Olympia. B+