MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: THE KINKS - PART 1. LOLA VERSUS POWERMAN AND THE MONEYGOROUND

Best known for delicious hits and brotherly feuds, The Kinks remain more famous than popular. Despite chart-topping singles in three decades, The Kinks haven't maintained the sales status of their closest contemporaries, The Who, The Beatles and The Stones. And several of the group's very best albums continue to suffer ridiculous neglect. And don't say that they were too British; they didn't sell there either.

Fifty years ago, case in point: The band had a hit single on both sides of the Atlantic, the saucy "Lola," somehow bending genders into the Top 10, #1 in England. The jokey "Apeman" did pretty good as a follow-up too, but still the album stalled out in the mid-'30's in the U.S., and didn't chart at all in England. It seems the band was stuck between two worlds; pop hits and concept albums, and the concepts were a little too hard for the kids to fathom. Starting with 1968's The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, and continuing with '69's Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire), this album featured a full concept to rival The Who's Tommy, and lots of Ray Davies' growing theatrical flair. 

This two-disc reissue is edited down from the new mega-box issued for the 50th anniversary, and is no doubt a better and cheaper introduction to the album. Disc one features the original, plus some mono single mixes of the hits. Disc two sees the album repeated in alternate versions, some demos, some alternates, some live and a couple of complete tracks dropped from the album back in the day. The story is pretty much about all the garbage and trickery a rock band goes through, thanks to the lawyers, agents, managers, groupies and all the other people trying to take a bit of your soul and a lot of your money. This was very much on Davies' mind at the time, as he was nearing the end of a crushing lawsuit with original management, and had seen his money tied up in proceedings and the spoils divided by countless greedy hands around the world.

That's best described in "The Moneygoround," which names names involved in the suit, and how publishing gets split and split among companies around the world doing not that much other than signing cheques to themselves. "Top Of The Pops" is a very cynical look at success, and how the fame game works as you climb the charts. There are more reflective numbers as well, among the best cuts. "This Time Tomorrow" sees our narrator looking down from another trans-Atlantic flight, taking stock while he can, the trip the only quiet time. "Strangers" is one of the great Kinks album tracks, an almost hopeful song about unity, but at that point in the album, the divide-and-conquer people hadn't entered. The set does end in a positive light though. Our hero, despite all the ill treatment done in the name of commerce, retains his humanity and protects his art, things more precious than cash.

The Lola album is the last great Kinks release. After that, Davies got too enamoured by his concepts, and throughout the mid-'70's delivered a run of increasingly difficult sets, slaves to the story rather than the songs, especially the ones developed around theatrical scripts. Muswell Hillbillies was quite good. Soap Opera was a mess. But the three albums ending with Lola match the great periods of The Who, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, those glory years of the late '60's and early '70's, and deserve to be heralded as such. Me, I think I'm going to go back and buy those Super Deluxe sets.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: PRINCE - SIGN 'O' THE TIMES Super Deluxe Edition

This has been a banner year for boxed sets and super deluxe reissues. For so-called heritage artists, even the biggest names, it's become one of the only sure-fire ways to sell physical products. For record labels, the deluxe packaging means bigger price tags. And they sell themselves, based on long-standing artist support among fans and collectors. Artists such as  The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney now sell super deluxe versions of middling catalogue albums like Goats Head Soup and Flaming Pie for $150 - $250, a far cry from the $3.99 or so consumers first shelled out for them.

If you're paying out that kind of money, you want value and volume. Vinyl is nice, so are great big books and informative notes. I'm not a fan of photos and trinkets, and I could care less about posters and postcards. Give me extra cuts, out-takes, unreleased live shows, the more the merrier. Dig deep in the vaults, remaster, remix, and keep 'em coming.

Under that set of criteria, the box set reissue of the year award has to go to Sign 'O' The Times. The Prince estate obviously gets it. After an excellent job on the 1999 album, they have truly outdone themselves on this set. The super deluxe version features a whopping eight CD's, plus another two-hour DVD of a live concert. It's pretty much exhaustive. We get the original double LP, a CD full of 12-inch mixes, b-sides, extended cuts and edits, and then the real glory, a full three CD's of completely unreleased out-takes and alternates, almost four hours of unheard Prince music. Then there's a full two-hour concert from June of that year, in Utrecht. Other boxed sets might include a DVD of the same show, but instead the DVD here is another complete concert, a famous New Years Eve gig at Paisley Park, which included a cameo by Miles Davis.

Sign 'O' The Times may not be the very best Prince album, but it is the most varied, and it is still very good. The hits were the title cut, a dark tale that recalls Marvin Gaye protest and Curtis Mayfield movie edge, the Sheena Easton-vehicle "U Got The Look," and the joyous "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man." They don't sound much alike, because they came from a very big pot of different projects and shifting styles. Prince worked on at least three different albums at this point. There was Dream Factory, which was to feature Wendy and Lisa, but that project collapsed and the duo bolted. Then there was Camille, which was to feature funky cuts and Prince's phase-shifted vocals. Then came Crystal Ball which was originally meant to be a triple album, but Warner made/convinced Prince to scale it back to two LP's, at which point it gained its final title. Fans will know that a Crystal Ball album did come out in the '90's, made of a few of the tracks from these sessions, but that's not what we get here. 

There are highlights galore. The original version of "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man" dates back to 1979, and while it's rougher and less sophisticated, it plain rocks, and how he held it back from any of his albums for the next eight years tells you a lot about his productivity. There are studio jams which take off in special moments, "Power Fantastic" still including Prince walking the band through the changes, telling them "bridge" and "chorus". There are three versions of the song "A Place In Heaven," including the original with a Lisa Coleman vocal, which got dumped after The Revolution disbanded. 

Putting together a new group made Sign 'O' The Times come alive, and Prince was justifiably proud of this unnamed ensemble. Only Dr. Fink on keyboards remained from the original Revolution, although some of the extra players (horns, dancers, etc.) were upgraded to full membership, and opening act/protege Sheila E. became a central member. The DVD is particularly revealing, as Prince spends lots of time dancing in well-choreographed segments with all the singers.  But it was much more than a stage show, as the band takes off in great jams, including a massive, half-hour final encore where Prince boldly and proudly claims it's the funkiest band in the world, and who could argue. He had become James Brown, Hendrix and Smokey Robinson all rolled into one, the best band leader, musician and songwriter on the planet. 

You can easily go down the Prince rabbit hole with this collection, going back and forth in archive websites, piecing together all the various track versions, songs that would later show up on Lovesexy, The Black Album and the '90's Crystal Ball. That's a ton of fun, something else I truly appreciate with a great boxed set release. You can spend hours learning more about the artist, and that's when these mega-boxes truly deserve the big price tags.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: JACK DE KEYZER - TRIBUTE

Not actually a tribute to de Keyzer, but that would certainly be valid. Nor is it his tribute to one artist. Instead it's a homage to various styles of blues and soul, all of which the veteran Toronto axeman attacks with expertise. He stays in his comfort zone, more modern and electric stuff, no acoustic or country blues for instance, but that leaves lots to tackle. Oh, and these aren't covers, de Keyzer wrote every track here, in the spirit of the classics.

Whether it's the smooth groove of "Just For The Funk," or the raw Chicago of "If My Baby Left Me," de Keyzer sounds like 12 different guitar players on this set, each one a master. Some are more obvious tributes than others. "Supernatural" is pure Santana, although he manages to reference two eras in the one track. It has a bit of the "Smooth" sound in the verses, while the guitar solos go back to late '60's Latin jams of the early Santana band. Throw in Stax ("On The Money"), Yardbirds/Mayall British ("Let's Do It") and even some reggae-fied blues on "Keep The Fire Burning," and this disc keeps shifting and surprising. Another smokin' effort from the wily Canadian blues star.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: PoLe- CHESTNUTS ROASTING ON A DUMPSTER FIRE

Well that sucked. Yeah, 2020, I'm looking at you. All that's left to salvage from this year is Christmas, and let's hope it's a good one, to quote Lennon. 

PoLe, a new project made up of Hamilton artist NLX and producer Rick Coluccio, took refuge from this dumpster fire of a year by getting into a Christmas vibe. The duo took some old favourites and reimagined them, the results being this five-song alternative Christmas E.P. You'll know the titles, but not like this. It's chill-out, wintery music, soothing but delightfully fractured. 

Auld Lang Syne, Jingle Bells, 12 Days Of Christmas, and the like all start with NLX at her piano, but instead of the usual holly-jolly versions, we get moody takes, slowed down and soft. Then the trickery comes in, beats added, synths burbling, some FX to go with your NLX. But throughout, her calm and caring vocals make this a balm for our world-weariness. Take a deep breath, relax, put on repeat, and kiss 2020 goodbye.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: NEIL YOUNG - AFTER THE GOLD RUSH 50th ANNIVERSARY

So Young's long-delayed second volume of his archives series has finally arrived, albeit only for super deluxe, website orders right now. The retail edition comes in the spring, in a cheaper, less deluxe box. That should be enough, 10 cd's of classic and unreleased material, from 1972 - 1976, right? Right? 

Of course not. There are anniversaries to honour as well. This is the 50th birthday for the classic After The Gold Rush, one of the very best sets in his career. It featured a hybrid group of Crazy Horse players (Danny Whitten, Ralph Molina), CSNY types (Stills, bassist Greg Reeves) and wild cards (Jack Nitzsche, Nils Lofgren). It was a purple patch for great songwriting from Young, coming off the huge success of CSNY's Deja Vu, and about to blow the roof off with his Harvest album. This album had a grand mix of folkie acoustic ("Tell Me Why," "Birds") and sizzling electric ("Southern Man," "When You Dance I Can Really Love") plus of course, the immortal title cut, a sci-fi anthem. 

The carrot for buying this version of the album is the addition of two cuts. They are both of the same song, very different versions of the delightful trifle "Wonderin'." That was a song Young cut several times, trying to find a home and arrangement for it, and was an acoustic concert favourite. It finally did get put out on the rockabilly-styled Everybody's Rockin' in 1983, but like the rest of the album, it was done as a cheesy throwaway. Here we get the original folkie-styled version with Crazy Horse that could have fit on After The Gold Rush, which first appeared on his first Archives box, and an out-take that makes it more country, with Lofgren on the session. This newly-found second version has never been released, so it's a bonus for collectors and fans. 

Speaking of Young's archives, the real goldmine can be found on his website, www.NeilYoungArchives.com, which is a fan site you have to subscribe to, 20 bucks a year. Young has now made it completely free for the rest of December, so you can stream all his music in Hi-Res, including the new Archives box, and also get exclusive concert films, videos, and all sorts of info and mayhem. It's truly worth it just for the reading and instant access to the tons and tons of material you won't get on Spotify.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: THE WHO - WHO

Last year's new Who album, simply called Who, was greeted with a very large yawn by the public, no surprise for heritage bands in the streaming era. And it's been a very long time (decades) since there's been a good Who album, so that didn't help. 

 

Well, it was actually pretty darn good. It features some of Pete Townshend's best songwriting in ages, and passionate, later-life vocals from the still-inspired Roger Daltry. It's a shame it stalled then, but now it's been reissued with a bonus live disc to try to drum up some new interest. 

There are several songs that touch on The Who's legacy, Townshend writing directly about the band's earlier days and what it all means now. Some of that is navel-gazing, but it also speaks to the artist's dilemma, to keep creating or to relive past glories and hits. Also, the group has always been wise to the fact they speak for their audience, from the Mods when they started to the boomers who embraced them through adulthood. Pete's still trying to keep connected, and it's a more successful effort here. That's not to say it's full of top-level Who. A song about the Guantanamo Bay U.S. prison, "Ball And Chain," falls flat, a rare topical song in Townshend's catalog and basically preachy. Sometimes it sounds like Pete did a little bit too much production at home before overdubbing Roger and the guest players, and I'd rather they had crafted this with a band in the studio, but that's only occasionally. All-in-all, in my ranking of Who albums, I'd put this ahead of even some original group albums, certainly it's better than The Who By Numbers. 

The bonus disc is a good listen too. Yes, there have been tons of live Who discs, seemingly every time they go on a Tommy or Quadrophenia or Anniversary tour. This one is a bit different, a stripped-down acoustic show for charity. It's a half-hour, seven-song outing, with a couple of the news ones and some of the usual classics: "Substitute," "Squeeze Box," and "Won't Get Fooled Again" among them. Best of all is a rare outing for "Tattoo," and the light-hearted stage banter between Daltry and Townshend. They both seem at peace with the role their band plays these days.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: GOOD LOVELIES - CHRISTMAS TIME'S A COMIN' & VIRTUAL TOUR DATES

If you're missing the usual holiday concerts and feel like it's the year of No Christmas, take heart. The Good Lovelies have you covered. Since you can't go see them this year, they're coming to see you, with their Virtual Christmas Tour. For 15 years the Lovelies have been getting festive this time of year, and they were determined to not let the tradition fail. The group has teamed up with venues and charities across the country and internationally to present 10 virtual shows. The whole thing starts Thursday, focusing on different areas each night. London, Ontario gets the honour of the first night, Friday sees a show for Atlantic Canada, and so on.

Each show features a special, secret guest, announced just a couple of days before the event. So far, we know that Jenn Grant & Family will be hooked up for the London concert, and now word is out that the Atlantic show will feature local favourite Ria Mae. For that Atlantic Canadian show, my particular area, the show is being presented by the venerable Indian River Festival in P.E.I., and part of the proceeds will go to the Chief May Bernard Women's Memorial Shelter on the Island.

If you want to invite the group into your home for one of these shows, you can find all the details here:  https://goodlovelies.com/frequently-asked-questions-virtual-christmas-tour-2020/  . Also, check out the group's brand-new holiday song, the old country classic "Christmas Time's A-Comin'." The trio charm it up with their usual high and sweet harmonies, old-time feel and bluegrass liveliness. If the concert is this much fun, Christmas is saved!