RELEASED THIS DAY: July 3rd

Published on July 3rd, 2012

 

By Dolph Chaney

Writer, SNSPost

In this series, I look at the slate of new releases for the week and point out some of the highlights. Then, I take a look back at music released on this date in past years, to see what commonalities might be found from music old and new.

 

 

Highlight: Parlovr, Kook Soul (Fontana)

There have been a lot of enjoyable garage-rock releases this year, but Montreal’s Parlovr brings a bit more playfulness and sonic variety (thanks to including a keyboardist) than the genre sometimes allows. (album stream at Paste)

 

Special Topic: When Is A Band No Longer The Same Band?

Last week’s post included a brief review of the Smashing Pumpkins’ Oceania, which spurred some discussion on Facebook about what constitutes a different enough lineup that a band should use a different name. On recordings since their debut Gish, Billy Corgan played all instruments except drums, and so Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin are the key members to most ears. Chamberlin quit the band in 2009; legally, Corgan has the right to continue with a new drummer, and so he has. But is it really the Smashing Pumpkins? Is it any more so than Zwan, for example, his supergroup of the early ’00s that did include Chamberlin?

Around the same time, Queensrÿche announced that they had fired longtime singer/songwriter/conceptualist Geoff Tate, following increasing tension between Tate and the three remaining founding members, culminating in a physical altercation backstage. Can they reasonably continue as Queensrÿche without Tate’s dramatic voice?

Consider the following bands — what makes them who they are?

  • The Beatles: Now matter much of a George Harrison fan one is, it’s hard to argue that any group with both Lennon & McCartney could’ve qualified. And apparently, based on the 2 posthumous songs from Anthology, McCartney + Harrison + Starr + old Lennon demos was good enough, even with Jeff Lynne instead of George Martin producing.
  • The Rolling Stones: Jagger, Richards, & Watts required.
  • The Kinks: must include both Davies brothers, but drummer Mick Avory’s departure in the mid ’80s took more out of their sails than Ray or Dave would’ve admitted.
  • The Who: Creatively, they died with Keith Moon in 1978 and everyone knows it (including Pete Townshend). According to Pete, the reality is that a lot of the post-1982 reunions were begged for by bassist John Entwistle, as cash flow became an increasing problem due to the lifestyle that took him. Yet still, people will pay extravagantly to see a Who comprised of Roger Daltrey, Townshend, and a loud enough bass player and drummer.
  • The Band: Disputes over Robbie Robertson cutting short their touring life and taking nearly all songwriting credits (together resulting in a huge disparity of income among the band members) led the other members to tour without him in the ’80s, even continuing after the suicide of pianist/vocalist Richard Manuel while on tour. It’s a particularly thorny case, considering that the group was named “The Band” by Bob Dylan during a period when drummer/vocalist Levon Helm had quit. With only two surviving members, the case is now moot.
  • Led Zeppelin: Page, Plant, Jones, and some sort of Bonham OR two enormously loud non-Bonham drummers (Tony Thompson from Chic / The Power Station, plus Phil Collins) if it’s Live Aid.
  • Black Sabbath: Technically, only Tony Iommi is required; any lineup with at least two of the original members has been acceptable to at least some fans over the years. But now, with Ronnie James Dio gone, the only reunion that matters is the original four, and that looks very unlikely given recent, very public, disputes via Internet.
  • Styx: No surprise to anyone who’s heard him sing that Dennis DeYoung tends toward the overbearing and melodramatic, and Styx was always beset by tension between him and guitarists James Young & Tommy Shaw. In the end, DeYoung was fired because he couldn’t tour temporarily due to a medical issue (a fate that would befall many singers on this list), and long after his recovery the band continues — without their most distinctive singer and founding member, whose name was even excised from the band bio.
  • Journey: Here, the case is murky, what with the band never having had a consistent lineup for more than two consecutive studio albums during its heyday. Only guitarist Neal Schon has appeared on every album, though bassist Ross Valory has only missed a few. With Youtube find Arnel Pineda replacing a series of lead vocalists that succeeded Steve Perry, however, few who’ve heard the new lineup continue to question it. The Pineda experiment is the most successful of its type.
  • Yes: Chris Squire owns the legal rights to the name, so when the other 4 members of its most celebrated lineup reunited in 1988, they had to release their album as Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, sounding (appropriately enough) more like a law firm than the name Yes could ever connote. In Yes, the only requirements seem to be that Squire will play bass and at least one other member will quit or be sacked before completing three albums together.
  • Pink Floyd: For all the legal proceedings and whatnot between Roger Waters & David Gilmour, there are the following defining elements — the madness of Syd Barrett (either present in his own singing/songwriting or as a source of inspiration), Rick Wright‘s keyboards (indispensable — the key missing element, having been fired during The Wall, that made The Final Cut not sound like Pink Floyd), and piercing lead guitar (of a type pioneered by Barrett but refined extensively and codified by Gilmour). Waters would claim in the ’80s that, even though he quit the band, he *was* the band — hence, they had no grounds for carrying on with their hugely successful A Momentary Lapse Of Reason album and beyond. All this aside: Barrett and Wright are dead now. We were astonishingly fortunate as listeners that Live8 gave the ’70s quartet lineup a chance to say a last goodbye. But the band is done.
  • AC/DC: The Young brothers, a macho squealer vocalist with a command of innuendo, and a rhythm section that can make quarter notes swing.
  • Sonic Youth: any lineup must include Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, and Lee Ranaldo — and with the former two now divorcing after having been a couple for over 30 years, the band is likely over.
  • Guided By Voices: Despite a list of former members long enough to wallpaper a case of beer, apparently Robert Pollard can only use the GBV name if the lineup includes at least two other guys from Ohio.
  • Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: They changed drummers and keyboardists early on, but what to do when first Danny Federici and then Clarence Clemons pass away? Springsteen’s answer thus far has been to replace them with more than one person (in the latter case, with Clarence’s son Jake as well as Ed Manion both on sax). It’s a noble impulse, but when they’re in their 70s there may be more people onstage than in the audience.

 

Notable New Releases for July 3rd, 2012
  • Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O., Son of a Bitches Brew (two discs; available on vinyl) (Important)
    - Japan’s greatest psychedelic band continues to destroy on their new release.
  • Asia, XXX (FRR)
    - The prog-rock supergroup behind “Heat Of The Moment” celebrates their 30th anniversary. Unfortunately, choosing the Roman numeral for 30 as their title results in an artist/title combination that is less than ideal for, say, entering into Google without SafeSearch on. This is by far the edgiest thing about the album. Also, demerits for a song where the word “simpatico” is pronounced “SIM-pa-TEEEEEE-coh” to squeeze out a rhyme with “be so” — in the chorus, no less — which is inexcusable from any band but especially one whose combined age is 250.
  • Atlantic Avenue, When the Lights Go Down (Vinyl) (Eulogy Recordings)
  • B-Side Players, Revolutionize (Global Noize)
  • Bonded By Blood, The Aftermath (ECH)
  • Chris Brown, Fortune (first single: “Turn Up the Music”; Deluxe edition) (RCA)
  • The Cheats, Pussyfootin! (Screaming Crow)
  • Chrome Waves, Chrome Waves (MUB)
  • Deathspell Omega, Drought (Season Of Mist)
  • James Luther Dickinson and North Mississippi Allstars, I’m Just Dead, I’m Not Gone(Memphis Int’l)
  • Tha Dogg Pound, Doggy Bag (WideAwake / Death Row)
  • Donots, Wake The Dogs (OK! Good Records)

  • Drop the Lime, Enter the Night (Ultra Music)
    - (album stream at Spinner / AOL)
  • Dub Pistols, Worshipping the Dollar (Sunday Best Recordings)
    - Guests include Red Star Lion, Akala, Dan Bowskill, Rodney P, Kitten, The Hip, Darrison, Sir Real, TK Lawrence, Lindy Layton, and Bunna. (first single: “Alive”) (album stream at AOL)
  • Duran Duran, A Diamond In The Mind (live from 2011) (ERE)
  • Jeremy Fisher, Mint Juleps (HPN)
    - (album stream at Soundcloud)
  • Flo Rida, Wild Ones (new single: “Whistle”) (IMG/Poe Boy/Atlantic)
  • Forefather, Last Of The Line (Metalhit.com)
  • Gold Motel, Gold Motel (Good As Gold/Thirty Tigers)
    - (album stream at Spinner / AOL)
  • Johnny Hickman, Tilting (Campstove)
    - As his ex-Cracker bandmate David Lowery gets attention for weighing in about the state of the 21st-century music business, Hickman sets about releasing a fine set of Americana tracks that’ll make you wonder why he didn’t sing lead more often in his old band.
  • James Horner, The Amazing Spider-Man [score] (reboot opens in theaters today) (Sony Classical)
  • Joshua Hyslop, Where the Mountain Meets the Valley (Nettwerk)
    - (album stream at Spinner / AOL)
  • Stevie Jackson (Belle & Sebastian guitarist), (I Can’t Get No) Stevie Jackson (Vinyl) (Banchory Recordings)
    - (album stream at Spinner / AOL)
  • Mongrels Cross, The Sins of Aquarius (Hell’s Headbangers)
    - The album debut (following last year’s Whoresanna EP) of this thrash/black metal band from Brisbane, Australia. (album stream at Invisible Oranges)
  • Nile, At the Gate of Sethu (producer: Neil Kernon) (Nuclear Blast)
  • Periphery, Periphery II: This Time It’s Personal (Sumerian)
  • Prodigy of Mobb Deep, H.N.I.C. 3 (producers: The Alchemist, S.C., Young L, Sid Roams, Ty Fyffe, Beat Butch; guests: Wiz Khalifa, T.I., Havoc, Willie Taylor of Day 26; Vinyl) (Infamous)

  • Jay Shepard, Harsh Mistress (producers: Matty Amendola, Shepard) (825)
  • Noah Stewart (American opera singer is the first black performer to top the British classical music charts), Noah (Verve)
  • The Sufis, The Sufis (Ample Play/Burger)
    - Highly recommended: super-groovy music from Nashville.
  • Various artists, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter [Film soundtrack] (Sony Masterworks)
  • Various artists, American Idol Season 11 Top 10 Highlights (Interscope)
  • Various artists, Science Fair (exclusive kid-appropriate tracks from 18 artists, including Mates of State, Laura Veirs, Elizabeth Mitchell, Babe the Blue Ox, Frances England, and more; producers: Elizabeth Mitchell, Dean Jones, Molly Ledford, Bill Childs; first single: Mates of State’s cover of Guided By Voices’ “I Am a Scientist”) (Spare the Rock)
  • Russell Watson, Anthems: Music to Inspired a Nation (guest: Dame Vera Lynn) (Sony UK)
  • Keller Williams with The Travelin’ McCourys, Pick (SCI Fidelity)

 

Notable Reissues for July 3rd, 2012
  • Bronski Beat, The Age of Consent / Hundreds & Thousands (1985 album and 1985 remix album; two CDs) (U.K. – Edsel)
  • Solomon Burke, Solomon Burke’s Greatest Hits (1962 album) (Rhino/Atlantic)
  • Byron Cage, Playlist: The Very Best of Byron Cage (12 songs) (Gospocentric/Legacy)
  • Glen Campbell, 10 Great Songs (Capitol)
  • Champaign, How Bout Us (1981 album; remastered) (Funkytowngrooves)
  • Christian Death, Death Box (five CDs, one DVD; featuring three full-length studio albums, the “Original Shadow Project EP,” remixes, live tracks and solo Rozz Williams recordings; the DVD contains the band’s 10th anniversary show in Los Angeles in 1993) (Cleopatra)
  • Cradle of Filth, Cruelty and the Beast / Dusk… and Her Embrace / From the Cradle to Enslave / Lovecraft & Witch Hearts / Midian / PanDaemonAeon (video) (The End / Music For Nations)
    - The British gothic extreme metal stalwarts see the bulk of their formative discography reissued.
  • Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits [24 KT + Gold CD] (1967 album; remastered) (Audio Fidelity)
  • Bob Dylan, Playlist: The Very Best of Bob Dylan ’70s (Columbia/Legacy)
  • Every Mother’s Son, Come on Down: The Complete MGM Recordings (23 songs) (U.K. – Now Sounds)
  • Five For Fighting, Playlist: The Very Best of Five For Fighting (Columbia/Legacy)
  • Crystal Gayle, 10 Great Songs (Capitol)
  • Merle Haggard, 10 Great Songs (Capitol)
  • Donny Hathaway, Live (1972 album), The Best of Donny Hathaway (1978 album), In Performance (1980 album) (Rhino/Atlantic)
  • Jellyfish, Live at Bogart’s 1991 (Omnivore Recordings)
  • George Jones, 10 Great Songs (Capitol)
  • Marillion, Best.Live (two CDs, 20 songs) (Madfish)
  • Harvey Mason, Earthmover (1976 album) (Arista/Legacy)
  • George McCrae, Rock Your Baby (1974 album; remastered) (U.K. – Big Break)
  • Eddie Money, Take Me Home Tonight: The Best of Eddie Money (including three acoustic bonus tracks) (100% WOMON)
  • múm, Early Birds (Morr Music)
    - The Icelandic group, best heard on their album finally we are no one, release this compilation of rare recordings. (available on vinyl)
  • Peter Nero, I’ve Gotta Be Me (1969 album), Summer of ’42 (1973 album) (Columbia/Legacy)
  • Our Lady Peace, Playlist: The Very Best of Our Lady Peace (Columbia/Legacy)
  • Ray Parker Jr., Two Places At the Same Time (1980 album, with Raydio; remastered), A Woman Needs Love (1981 album, with Raydio; remastered), The Other Woman (1982 album; remastered), Woman Out of Control (1983 album; remastered) (Funkytowngrooves)
  • Petra, More Power to Ya: 30th Anniversary Edition (1982 album; remastered, with three bonus tracks) (Star Song)
  • Wilson Pickett, In the Midnight Hour (1965 album), I’m in Love (1968 album) (Rhino/Atlantic)
  • Pointer Sisters, Contact (1985 album) (RCA/Legacy)
  • Otis Redding & Carla Thomas, King & Queen (1967 album) (Rhino/Atlantic)
  • Buddy Rich Band, The, Very Alive at Ronnie Scott’s (1971 album; remastered) (RCA/Legacy)
  • Searchers, The, Hearts in Their Eyes: Celebrating 50 Years of Harmony & Jangle [Box set] (four CDs, 121 tracks) (U.K. – Sanctuary/Universal)
  • Marvin Sease, The Real Deal (1989 album) (Island)
  • The Spinners, Truly Yours: Their First Motown Album (1967 album; remastered, with 14 bonus tracks) (U.K. – Kent/Ace)
  • The The, Playlist: The Very Best of the The (14 songs) (Epic/Legacy)
  • Tyrese, Playlist: The Very Best of Tyrese (14 songs) (RCA/Legacy)
  • Various artists, All Kinds of Highs: A Mainstream Pop-Psych Compendium 1966-1970 (two CDs, 52 songs) (U.K. – Big Beat/Ace)
  • Various artists, Have Mercy! The Songs of Don Covay (26 Covay songs covered by Aretha Franklin, Solomon Burke, Wilson Pickett, Chubby Checker, Connie Francis, Little Richard, etc.) (U.K. – Ace)
  • Young Flowers (1960s Danish rock group), Take Warning: The Complete Studio Recordings (two CDs, 20 songs) (U.K. – RPM)

 

Notable July 3rd Releases from Past Years
  • Quincy Jones and his Orchestra, Newport ’61 (Mercury) (1961)
  • The High Numbers, “Zoot Suit” / “I’m The Face” (Fontana) (1964)
    - If you see this band name and say “who?”, you’re right. It’s The Who.
  • Cilla Black, Sweet Inspiration (Parlophone) (1970)
    - Produced by George Martin.
  • Parliament, Up For The Down Stroke (Casablanca) (1974)
  • Ronnie Wood, Now Look (Warner) (1975)
  • The Jam, “Just Who Is The 5 O’Clock Hero?” (Polydor) (1982)
  • Michael Jackson, “Human Nature” / “Baby Be Mine” (Epic) (1983)
  • Elton John, “I’m Still Standing” (Geffen) (1983)
  • Lindsey Buckingham, Go Insane (Reprise) (1984)
  • Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes, “(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life” (RCA) (1987)
  • George Michael, “Monkey” (Epic) (1988)
  • Michael Jackson, “Liberian Girl” / “Girlfriend” (Epic) (1989)
  • Harry Connick, Jr., We Are in Love (Columbia) (1990)
  • Harry Connick, Jr. Trio, Lofty’s Roach Soufflé (Columbia) (1990)
  • Suicidal Tendencies, Lights…Camera…Revolution! (Epic) (1990)
  • D’Angelo, Brown Sugar (EMI) (1995)
  • Whitney Houston, “My Love Is Your Love” (Arista) (1999)
  • The White Stripes, White Blood Cells (Sympathy for the Record Industry) (2001)
  • Los Campesinos!, Sticking Fingers Into Sockets (Wichita / Arts & Crafts) (2007)
  • T.I., T.I. vs. T.I.P. (Grand Hustle / Atlantic) (2007)
  • Velvet Revolver, Libertad (RCA) (2007)
  • Childish Gambino, Culdesac (free download) (2010)
  • Liz Phair, Funstyle (Rocket Science Records) (2010)

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