MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: TINA TURNER - PRIVATE DANCER 30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION

The most famous legs in r'n'b were walking the comeback trail back in 1984.  Turner hadn't made an album in five years, and had never really been a solo star.  Having escaped the abusive marriage with Ike Turner, she went back to basics, hitting the road and getting a new image for the MTV era.  A cover of Al Green's Let's Stay Together did well in the U.K. in 1983, and a management/production team put together a plan of attack that brought her more fame and acclaim than ever before. 

The comeback album featured the huge, #1 hit What's Love Got To Do With It, the decent follow-up Better Be Good To Me, and the kinda okay title cut, written by Mark Knopfler.  Turner could make anything sound good, but thirty years later, it's surprising how, umm, '80's this sounds, with overwrought synths, shrill production and odd song choices.  A slowed-down version of Help?  Bowie's 1984 at least had the right year for the project, but it's one of his worst clunkers.  The album proper is saved by the hits, but the other tracks drag it down.

Thankfully, it's made much better in this 30th anniversary edition.  When you put all the b-sides, remixes and live tracks back-to-back on Disc Two, it's far better than the original Private Dancer album.  Cuts such as I Wrote A Letter, Rock 'n' Roll Widow and Keep Your Hands Off My Baby should have been on the proper album.  Then you get her concert duets with Bowie (Tonight) and Bryan Adams (It's Only Love), highlighting her tremendous stage presence.  I'm not a huge fan of the Mad Max theme We Don't Need Another Hero, but it's here too.  Good job, deluxe set-makers.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: NEIL YOUNG & PROMISE OF THE REAL - THE MONSANTO YEARS

There is probably a team of lawyers working overtime for Monsanto and Starbucks, pouring over the lyrics here, asking "Can he say that?" As usual, Young pulls no punches here, delivering several songs directly attacking the corporate giants. And as usual, with his diatribe-based albums, it's a chore getting through the lyrics. He's not even trying to make them rhyme, and considers his message more important than our enjoyment. I'm certainly not going to argue with his views, or his willingness to use his star status for causes, but there's not a drop of subtlety and not much skill in this words.


As for the music, that's a different story. This is the most inspired I've heard Young in years, thanks to the new band on board. Promise of the Real feature two of Willie Nelson's kids, so they had an in with the boss already. And it didn't hurt that they took their name from a line in Young's song Walk On, "sooner or later it all gets real". While they may pray at Young's alter, the young folks add a spark, and a few chords not usually in Neil's charts. There's a conga player in the group, lots of interesting harmonies, and even new lead guitar playing.


Young and the Real mix it up nicely, between full-on rockers, mid-tempo grooves and a couple of nicer, dreamy numbers. But you really do have to tune out the singing, especially when he turns on the audience. People Want To Hear About Love is a shot at music fans who don't want to hear about corporations and dying fish and pesticides, just love songs. You know what Neil? I'd be fine hearing a protest song where the words weren't tossed off in five minutes.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: JETHRO TULL - THICK AS A BRICK (vinyl reissue)

The Tull classic has held up remarkably well, and hopefully this latest reissue will win some younger fans new to the fluted fabulousness of Ian Anderson. After all, it's on vinyl, so that should attract the kids. And us old guys too, who lost their original somewhere...can't quite remember...anyway, always loved it.


This version features the new mix prepared for the 2012 deluxe set, which didn't change any of instruments or levels, or add anything, just made it a little clearer. It's a grand, heavy, 180 gram pressing, and those famous notes sound warm and bright again, an old friend to these ears.


The packaging was different though. I was hoping for an exact replica of the original, famous newspaper cover, which was a fold-out. Instead, it's the next best thing at least. It's been included as a glossy booklet, quite big for an album really. It also includes the book notes from the 2012 box, which are first-rate, with nicely bitchy quotes from Anderson, full of lots of great details. As much as I loved the old fold-out paper, the inclusion of the extra info and photos more than makes up for the change. All kidding aside, it is one of the albums that belongs in your vinyl collection. And it also comes with a download card, giving you your digital option as well.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: CRISSINGER - BLUES EXPRESSION

Out of B.C. chugs Mark Crissinger, although he did twenty years in Toronto, schooled at the Elmo, the Horseshoe, Grossman's, etc., a member of various bands and outfits. After some rock and roots outings, he's settled back in the blues, a re-birth in a way. There's no falling back on covers on this one, it features a full twelve original cuts, Crissinger obviously ready to express himself this way.


Crissinger has that rare asset for a blues guy, quite a pleasing voice. So not only are you getting wall-to-wall solid grooves, there's a polish to the performance as well. The tunes range from laid-back to excited, his band able to pound when called on, and Crissinger an able guitar slinger and soloist as well. Plus, the sound on the disc is crisp and clean, with the arrangements vibrant. Writer, singer, player, bandleader, recording artist, as they say in baseball, he's a five-tool star. Great to have him on the blues side.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: THE GOOD LOVELIES - BURN THE PLAN

For their first studio album in four years, the Lovelies do indeed burn the plan, or at least ignore the expectations as Canada's leading folk-roots vocal trio. Instead they deliver a much more layered and pop-driven set of songs. Producer Les Cooper is back on board, but this time he's given more space to drop in some of the dreamy textures and uptempo touches that he used for others such as Jill Barber and Meaghan Smith.


The heavenly vocals of Caroline Brooks, Kerri Ough and Sue Passmore are still there, but there's a lot more polish to the sounds. Waiting For You shimmers with ringing guitar, its pop hooks as big as the harmonies. Broken Hearted's background doo-de-doo' are processed as well as pretty. Banjo and mandolin are occasionally present, but certainly not at the level of the keys or slippery bass lines.


Fear not, folk fans, it's still ear candy, and the songwriting from the trio is lyrically sharp, adventurous and compelling. And the all-important vocal arrangements remain the greatest strength of their sound, no matter what direction the group leans.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: FLEETWOOD MAC - VINYL REISSUES

Just imagine if on one of these endless Fleetwood Mac reunion shows, the curtain opened to expose three guitar players, none of them Lyndsey Buckingham, and the music largely guitar blues, with some psychedelic numbers in there as well. In the rush to get their money back, the hoards might not notice the handful of fans staying behind, cheering like mad. There was a moment, back at the end of the '60's, when this version of Fleetwood Mac was the real deal.


First formed in 1967 as a blues group out of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Peter Green was the early leader and guitar hero. It was a rare time when blues groups could actually have pop hits, and the band scored with such numbers as Oh Well and Albatross. This got them a pretty healthy record deal for a third album in 1969 from Reprise, which is where we pick up the story with this series of vinyl releases.


These four albums are the band's third to sixth releases, dating from 1969 to 1972. The early success of the group did not bring them stability, and a series of steady and confusing personnel changes happened with each album, through until the Buckingham-Nicks era began in 1975. Green was the first one gone, leaving after 1969's Then Play On, and the group struggled to find a consistent sound amidst the bodies shifting.


Then Play On was also the first album where band pal Christine Perfect from Chicken Shack would guest, although she's not credited. A couple of albums later, the one-time British Female Vocalist of the Year would join full-time, now going by her married name of Christine McVie, wed to the bass player.


Then Play On was the group's first rock album, although the blues are still felt in a couple of instrumentals and Green's monumental Rattlesnake Shake. Slide guitar specialist Jeremy Spencer barely appears, while new guy Danny Kirwan supplied more pop/rock material. It was all over the map for styles, and interesting because of it.


With Green gone for the next album, Spencer contributed more tracks for 1970's Kiln House. However, by this time he'd become interested in recording cuts that were basically tongue-in-cheek rewrites of old rock and roll stuff. Buddy's Song is simply a bunch of Buddy Holly song titles strung together as lyrics over the music to Peggy Sue Got Married. Danny Kirwan does supply a couple of nice ones, including Earl Gray, and there are good group instrumentals, but this is a band unsure of its future.


1971 saw the release of Future Games, and a much stronger lineup with Spencer gone (famously leaving to join a cult while on tour). In his place was U.S. guitar player Bob Welch, and Christine McVie was now an official full-time member. The transition to pop-rock was complete, and for now the band was better off for it. Welch was able to jump in with solid, melodic material such as the title cut, and McVie wrote and sang a couple more, the lovely Show Me A Smile hinting at her hit-making talents to be discovered four years later.


The next year Bare Trees continued the solid results, including the first version of Welch's Sentimental Lady, which he would re-record as a big solo hit in 1977. Kirwan was quite a handful of a person, and was fired after the release of the album. Fleetwood Mac would go through more instability until the miraculous rebirth in 1975, but there are many fine numbers to enjoy on these albums, with Then Play On the best of them, Bare Trees and Future Games equal, and Kiln House a troubled but decent effort.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: ROLLING STONES - STICKY FINGERS (Super Deluxe Edition)

I've already reviewed the recent deluxe, 2-CD reissue of the Stones' glorious 1971 release, Sticky Fingers, but I'd been hearing that the Super Deluxe version was a top-notch one. These Super Deluxe boxes are tricky things. They are designed for bigger fans of the band, and music collectors, those willing to shell out $100 - $200 bucks. Sometimes, all you are really buying is nicer packaging and some minor novelty recordings, and basic fans can get all the music needed on far cheaper editions. But other times, you get what you pay for; the recent Dylan Basement Tapes big box features six CD's of music instead of the two in the regular set.


The Stones have had a so-so record with box sets. While they are always quite special in the packaging department, often they fall flat when it comes to actual content. The huge Grrr! box was big in size at about 18 inches tall, and included the first-ever Stones demos, plus a vinyl EP of a BBC session. But at $200, that was still just 4 discs of the same hits, and the pretty book was mostly photo reproductions of various promotional materials such as posters and trinkets, with no text. The Exile On Main Street box was just the 2 CD deluxe set version, the two-album vinyl set, and the DVD of Stones in Exile, which you could buy for 10 bucks separately.


So I'm happy to report that the Sticky Finger Super Deluxe is real value for the dollar, if you have enough of them. First, there's a live CD that's only available in this package, a 1971 concert from Leeds University in London. Some of it was released before, but not legally. There was a famous bootleg called Get Yer Leeds Lungs Out, named for a line spoken by Jagger at the show. Here we get the complete concert recording, and of course in much better sound. There is a DVD included as well, but don't pay much attention to that. It's only two cuts, and they are taken from this week's full release of The Marquee Club Live in 1971, which you will want to get on its own.


As for the package, this time the book not only looks great, it actually has excellent notes and photos as well. I'm not a Stones nut, but I'm pretty knowledgeable, and there are some stories here that are new to me. I didn't know Can't You Hear Me Knockin' came out of a one-take only improv. Also, the bonus track version of Brown Sugar, with Eric Clapton on guitar, happened not as an out-take but rather an after-party jam with the band pal. It looks great, the paper is the highest quality glossy art-book stuff, you get a bonus 45 of Brown Sugar/Wild Horses with a sleeve reproduction, posters and such, and of course, a working Warhol zipper. That's super, and deluxe.