Richard Wright - "Wet Dream" (1978)

To me, Richard Wright is the same sort of figure as George Harrison - the number of songs he wrote wasn't that large compared to the two dominant persons in the band, but the songs he wrote were often really, really good. Wright was the creator of songs such as Remember A Day, Paint Box, Us And Them, and contributed a lot to suites like Atom Heart Mother, Echoes and others. A solo album with such a guy must be filled with treasures. Right?

For those who don't know him, Richard Wright (1943-2008) was the keyboardist of Pink Floyd. As a 12-year old, he taught himself to play guitar, trumpet and piano, and when he met Roger Waters and Nick Mason in the mid-60s, the embryo of Pink Floyd was born.

Wet Dream was created between the Pink Floyd albums Animals and The Wall. During the recording of The Wall Wright was forced to leave the band as he and Roger Waters ended up at odds with each other, he participated thereafter on the The Wall tour, as a hired keyboardist. Thus he was the only one of the Pink Floyd quartet that made money on this tour since it made great financial losses, which affected the people responsible (= the other three PF members). Well, of this Wright was blissfully unaware of the year of 1978 when Wet Dream was recorded.

On the album we hear Mel Collins on saxophone and Snowy White on guitar, both experienced fellow musicians to Pink Floyd. I found the album in Quebec last year for a sum that must be considered reasonable in this context. A great find, but I didn't have high expectations - I had never heard of it, which might be a sign that it didn't arouse much emotions in people, and I have another one of Richard Wright's solo projects (Zee) which is not too good, honestly. And frankly, it was probably good that my expectations were pretty low, it's not an album full of treasures.

It's music that is neither seductive nor challenging, rather it just passes quietly without arousing any reactions from me. Many of the songs are instrumental and the sound is quite soft and gentle, the music gives me some associations with summer, which in itself might be positive - sunny days, no worries, holiday from work but in this case also a fairly uneventful life. One almost longs for a heavy rain, lightning and rolling thunder. Somewhere, there is an embryo of something good, something that stands out and makes you curios, but Wright never takes hold of this and develops. Instead the flowing music continues along its soft lines. It doesn't feel as if Wright has a clear goal or focus with what he does on Wet Dream.

If I pick a song I like a little extra it's Waves, the finishing number on side A. Especially the end of it is beautiful, Wright's fat and powerful synth chords along with a saxophone that somewhere in the distance is heard playing. More of this would have been fun! The song before, Summer Elegy, is also quite OK. Pink's Song on side B is the top number on that side.

In summary, there is no real need to have this album in your record collection. It's not really a bad album, but it's not a very good one either. The problem is that it doesn't do anything for me - no joy, no disgust, no fascination. Neutral music, pure and simple. Maybe even a little bland and boring. Wet Dream made no success at its release, it passed without attracting much attention. As a true Pink Floyd fan, I am nonetheless very pleased to own it. Contradictory? Not at all.

Tracklist
Side A1. Mediterranean C 3:52
2, Against All The Odds 3:57
3. Cat Cruise 5:14
4. Summer Elegy 4:53
5. Waves 4:19

Side B1. Holiday 6:11
2. Mad Yannis Dance 3:19
3. Drop In From The Top 3:25
4. Pink's Song 3:28
5. Funky Deux 4:57

Pink Floyd - "Wish You Were Here" (1975)

Some bands become such institutions that they almost become clichés, and some albums are such classics that they almost become boring to discuss (because so many other have already done so). This applies very much to today's theme, both the band and the album. When someone asks me what my favorite band is, and I, after some pretended reflection, respond Pink Floyd, I hear how boring it sounds. It sounds so much cooler to answer Zappa, The Strawbs or Hatfield & the North. And as I often respond Wish You Were Here on the issue of favorite album, again, it sounds a bit boring and average. Almost a little mainstream, and is there anything a music connoisseur don't want to be it's mainstream.

However, it can not be helped, I'm a big fan of Pink Floyd and especially this album. Although not always ending up on the top spot in my own "Best album ever" list, it always gets a top 3 position. In other words, a really good album. (Sometimes, when I'm in an extra adventurous mood, I can give first place to an album like Love's Forever Changes).

This album was purchased in the golden teenage years, an era which was a great journey of discovery in the musical landscape. I was problably around 18 years old when I bought it. Some music I bought in my teens I have trouble listening to today. It's too associated with these years and I have progressed in my musical taste. But Pink Floyd's creations are as good yet, and I will most certainly still like them when I'm  70+.

What can you say about the music on the album? First of all, the preceding album was Dark Side Of The Moon, and how can you make a follow up on a record like that? The answer is of course Wish You Were Here where, according to me, PF reached even higher. Most of you have probably heard the song/songs Shine On You Crazy Diamond, which is divided into two long suites, one on each side. A superb song which is kind of dedicated to Syd Barrett, but "Shine On is not really about Syd—he's just a symbol for all the extremes of absence some people have to indulge in because it's the only way they can cope with how fucking sad it is, modern life, to withdraw completely. I found that terribly sad. " (Roger Waters). This is one of my favourite song, all categories. The essence of modern music?

The title track is also a classic that doesn't really need to be commented on, problably the song from this album that's been played the most - both on radio and by street troubadours. I myself was extremely proud when I managed to play the song's riff on guitar. On the song Have A Cigar, the folk singer Roy Harper sings since Waters had some voice problems and thought that he didn't have the vocal range required for the song, and Gilmour simply didn't want to sing it. Apparently, Gilmour added some guitar on one Harper song (he recorded in a neighboring studio at the same time), so Harper returned the service. Waters, however, later regretted this decision since he then thought he should have sung himself. But perhaps it was wise since the song is a murdering criticism of the music industry. Better let Harper take the shit for that, right?

A classic story from the recording, that most of you probably already have heard, is that of Syd Barrett coming right in to the studio during the recording. The band members hadn't seen him in years and as he now looked radically different they didn't at first recognize him. When they realized who it was some started to cry. According to legend Syd listened to Shine On ... and didn't like it. He then disappeared from the studio.

Syd visiting the studio

This was Pink Floyd's ninth studio album and was recorded at Abbey Road Studios. One of my favorite albums but I really don't have much to say about it. Maybe you find that strange, but most have already been said.

Tracklist
Side A
1. Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Pts. 1-5 13:32
2. Welcome To The Machine 7:31

Side B
1. Have A Cigar 5:07
2. Wish You Were Here 5:34
3. Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Pts. 6-9 12:29

Steve Kilbey - "Earthed" (1988)

A Markus 17-18 years old. A cool cover. A cheap price. The combination was irresistible. So once again I got home with a record that I had no idea what it was, didn't know the artist but with a cover that aroused both the imagination and curiosity. What a great way to broaden one's horizons.

Surprise # 1. When I took out the disc itself, I noticed it wasn't black. It was transparent. Cool.

Writing posts like these increases my wisdom. Now I know that the big mystery Steve Kelbey is an Australian who was / is the singer and bassist in the band The Church, a band that is not completely unknown. This is one of his solo albums, a creation which is rather interesting. There are quite a big number of instrumental tracks that in most cases are admirably short. It's difficult to define the music, perhaps art rock is suitable. The album could be a soundtrack or music to a somewhat heavy theatre piece. Sometimes instrumental songs like these tend to get little bit boring in the long run, therefore my opinion that they are admirably short. You never have the time to grow tired on them.

It's pretty funny and interesting little pieces of music which in many cases are quite catchy. As I understand it, Steve plays all the instruments himself, the drums are, however, played by a drum machine. The 80s and drum machines are often a bad combination, but on Earthed it's tolerable. Apparently, it initially was a book of poems with the record, poems written by Steve. These was to be read with the music. I guess the man has many talents.

Surprise # 2. When you flip the side and start playing the first track, you hear a number of voices speaking. One of these, a female one, speaks Swedish!

I was somewhat shocked the first time I heard this. I hade come home with one, in my view, extremely obscure record that was a big enigma. And on this mysterious thing someone spoke Swedish. This was completely incomprehensible. If you look closely on the cover it says that all songs are written by Steve except one, which is written by K. Jansson. This should have given me a clue.Thanks to the internet I now know that Steve's ex-wife is called Karin Jansson, you have to look for a more Swedish sounding name than that and that is surely the explanation for this mystery. What she expresses in the song may be described as a pretty profound poem which content is too subtle for me to understand. I may add that the song with her voice is not the one she has written.

In my teens I was pleased to have this record since I found it both mysterious and obscure, the kind of record that transforms you into an interesting person. I played it once in a while but the last 20 years it has been untouched in my shelf. It was fun to revisit it. Now I might become an interesting person again.

Tracklist

Side A

1. The Dawn Poems 2:57

2. Neuman 2:51

3. Dreambeings 0:41

4. The White Plague 2:41

5. A Loveletter From Sydney 2:07

6. Carthage 4:14

7. City Of Women 1:06

8. Hotel 1:06

9. The Empire Mourns Her Sun Without Tears 1:11

10. Cornucopia 1:58

Side B

1. Memory 5:24

2. Aphrodite 3:10

3. ...The Reality Generators Malfunctioned 1:45

4. Napoleon's Army, Christmas Eve, Outside Moscow 2:41

5. Sad Little Piano Piece 1:02

6. Atlantis 3:13

7. Pan 0:30

8. The Woman Who Was Married To Love 3:06

9. Agog 1:22

10. Earthed 3:51

Buffalo Springfield - "Again" (1967)

Buffalo Springfield existed a relatively short period, 1966-1968, and managed to make three albums. Again was their second and is widely regarded as a masterpiece and as the high point in the band’s career. The band consisted of several prominent persons - Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Richie Furay, Dewey Martin and Bruce Palmer, where especially the first two are well known to a wider audience. The recording was not an entirely smooth process, there were some tensions between band members and Neil Young was largely absent. Also Bruce Palmer was absent in large part because of charges for drug possession. In contrast to their first album, Again is rather a collection of songs by individual artists than an effort from a band. Fortunately, each member had such musical qualities that the result was magnificent.

This album is a newcomer in my collection. As mentioned earlier, I regularly browse in the dangerous book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The purchase of Again is a consequence of this browsing. A growing list of other records I need to buy is another. I found.Again in one of Uppsala's stores for used records, and it proved to be an American second pressing from 1968. It was Mint condition (=like brand new), which commanded a price that was a little bit higher than I usually pay for a record. But I made ​​an exception. The business owner himself was thrilled when he found the record in his back room and photographed it before giving it to me. The vain part in me has thus raised the emotional value of this album many times and I can see myself bragging a bit about it when such things come up in conversations. Of course I instantly looked up the price on popsike.com when I got home and was happy to see that it had been sold for quite a lot more than I had paid.

The first time I listened to the album, I found it so-so. Two songs stand out, Expecting To Fly and Broken Arrow, both Neil Young compositions and two songs I already knew well. Expecting To Fly has a completely different sound than the other songs with its delicate but immensely powerful arrangement. An incredibly beautiful song. Broken Arrow also has a different production and is a song that sets out on a lot of adventurous detours and side roads. That’s fun. The other songs I thought sounded pretty standard. The second time I listened to the album, these "standard" songs suddenly sounded a little more interesting. The third time I listened through the record, I realized its greatness and saw that (almost) all the songs are, if not fantastic, yet very, very good. The fourth time I listened through the album, I couldn’t do anything but be fascinated at how great the songs and the album was.

Buffalo Springfield is often described as a folk rock band, and maybe it's folk rock the music on Again should be described as. I don’t know. Somewhere you will hear a spice of country & western, somewhere else some rockn'roll, at a third place a touch of psychedelia and so on.

It is worth mentioning that David Crosby helped Stills write the song Rock and Roll Woman. This is thought to be their first collaboration, a collaboration that later led to the legendary band Crosby, Stills & Nash. A band that also in periods was known as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young as Neil Young reunited with Stills and his friends. But until then it was a few years, and in the meantime, I can’t help but recommend this album. But give it a few sessions on the turntable, it grows with each listening.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Mr Soul 2:35

2. A Child's Claim To Fame 2:09

3. Everydays 2:38

4. Expecting To Fly 3:38

5, Bluebird 4:28

Side B

1. Hung Upside Down 3:24

2. Sad Memory 3:00

3. Good Time Boy 2:11

4. Rock And Roll Woman 2:44

5. Broken Arrow 6:13

Lee Hazlewood - "Trouble Is A Lonesome Town" (1963)

Lee Hazlewood is a cool guy who in periods has been one of my favorite artists. I'm not a big fan of Country & Western, but Lee's version of this music is really enjoyable. It has often been described as Cowboy Psychedelia or psychedelic Country & Western, a description that often fits pretty good with what he created. His music is often quite beautiful with a dark sense of humor that makes the listening a remarkable experience.

Best known to the world is probably Lee's classic song These Boots Are Made For Walking, which he wrote and produced for Nancy Sinatra. The two made a lot of beautiful music together and the lover of psychedelic music problably knows the great song Some Velvet Morning, one of the best songs coming out from the 60s.

Trouble Is A Lonesome Town was Lee's first solo album. During the 50s he had started to write and produce music for other artists, including a lot of work with Duane Eddy. The music on Trouble... is relatively simple. Besides his deep baryton voices the listener rarely gets to hear more that a couple of acoustic guitars and a bass. Here and there a harmonica pops up. The songs begin with Lee telling a story about some character in the town of Trouble, an imaginary town loosely based on Lee's own birthplace. His narrative is quitely accompanied by a guitar playing some blues chords. Thereafter, the song starts in which we get an in-depth description of the events surrounding the described character.

Already the opening song Long Black Train the listener gets an example on (in my opnion) Lee's funny humor, in his description of the drama concerning his wild friend Jim:

And so I cut my friend

Twelve men covicted him

Ninety nine years is what he got

I'll bet it seems like a hundred to Jim

And so continues the record with Lee's narrative and the following, somewhat twisted, country & western songs. It's a good album and an impressive solo debut. But later in the 60s and the 70s I think Lee made even more interesting music where the twisted psychedelic touch were even more visible. Especially a lot what he did with Nancy Sinatra is really enjoyable. Overall Trouble... is relatively "normal" album where Lee still shows what to expect in the future. Other highlights from the album is We All Make The Flowers Grow and Look At That Woman, the latter again with a text which makes me smile.
 

Look at that woman standin' there

Look at that woman ain't he fair

Look at that woman seems so nice

Lord I wish that woman was anybody else that mine

Anybody else but mine

She can't cook and she can't love

and she ain't worth a dime

And Lord I wish that woman was anybody else but mine

Now, isnt' that humor?

In the 70s Lee lived quite a long time in Sweden where he did some work together with Torbjörn Axelman. The copy of Trouble... in my possession is a swedish cover, a reissue from 1971.

In summary, I recommend this album, it's a good way of gettinig to know Lee. But I also recommend the reader to explore his other work, if this has not already been done. There's a lot to discover, often music with a dark, but humorous, twist.

Tracklist

Side A
1. Long Black Train 2:23
2. Ugly Brown 3:24
3. Son Of A Gun 2:53
4. We All Make The Flowers Grow 1:50
5. Run Boy Run 2:19

Side B
1. Six Feet Of Chain 1:40
2. The Railroad 1:38
3. Look At That Woman 2:33
4. Peculiar Guy 2:17
5. Trouble Is A Lonesome Town 3:46

Julian Lennon - "The Secret Value of Daydreaming" (1986)

It can't be easy having the name Julian Lennon. On one hand you've got an easy step into the music industry thanks to your last name, on the other hand people will always connect your name with your father. And who wants to be compared to a legend all the time? Can you ever win?

Not Julian in this case, not with this album. I must be clear from the start, I think this is a really lousy album. It's got all the bad things I connect with the dark 80s - that polished, boring, lightweight sound where nothing, absolutely nothing, catches your interest. Where everything is wrapped in... in... I don't know... the 80s?

The production and sound is easy to hate, unfortunately the songs are as bad as the production. According to me, not one song gets an A on this album. Or a B. Or even a D. With a different production the closing song Want Your Body maybe could get a C. And too often the songs are too long, it seems like the producer wanted to drag them out as long as possible just to fill the album with time. The music can be described as typical commercial 80s pop.

My criticism doesn't come from comparing Julian with his father. That's not necessary. But if I do compare with my last post which I defined as public therapy, this record is an exercise in total shallowness.

Julian may be forgiven. He was only 23 years old when he made this album, and from what I've read it was made in a hurry due to his earlier success with his debut album. Gossip also say that he didn't really live a healthy life after his initial success which might have affected his song writing.

I don't really like hammering down on a record like this, but in this case I can't do anything else. I bought this album in my teenage years just because I was curious how an album with John Lennon's son would sound like. I played the record once, then it found it's place far back in the collection. There it stood for 25 years until I played it again before writing this post. I'm absolutely sure I will not play it again.

Tracklist

Side A
1. Stick Around 4:04
2. You get What You Want 4:04
3. Let Me Tell You 4:17
4. I've Seen Your Face 3:28
5. Coward Till the End? 6:12

Side B
1. This Is My Day 3:55
2. You Don't Have To Tell Me 4:56
3. Everyday 3:51
4. Always Think Twice 3:58
5. Want Your Body 3:26

John Lennon - "John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band" (1970)

Brutal honesty. Personal lyrics. A dose of bitterness. A dose of primal therapy. A relatively tight sound. There you’ve got some of the elements of John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band. When I as a teenager bought this album, I listened a lot to the Beatles, especially I liked their more psychedelic creations. Most of all I liked Lennon's songs. They were often both druggier and more experimental than McCartney's contributions. Therefore I was quite disappointed with this album. It was not at all druggy and psychedelic. There were no backwards guitars or LSD-induced lyrics. Instead it was quite dark and anguished music. Brutal reality.

This was Lennon's first full length album as a solo artist and was recorded at Abbey Road Studios. Much of the music was inspired by the primal therapy he underwent at this time, which explains some heavy themes in the lyrics. Ringo Starr played drums on the album, and Phil Spector plays piano on one song (Love), he’s also mentioned as co-producer. In practice, however, John and Yoko produced most of the album themselves, since Spector was often away on other assignments.

It’s not an easy album to digest and not something you play as nice background music to create a gentle atmosphere. The album requires focus and attention to be fully appreciated. McCartney’s and (sometimes) Lennon's playfulness from the Beatles' days is far away. This is serious, sad, angry, bitter and Lennon makes things clear. Very clear. The opening line from the opening song Mother tells you what it’s all about - "Mother, you had me, but I never had you.".

Probably the most famous song from the album is Working Class Hero. Another famous song is God where John lists everything and everyone he no longer believes in, and where he finally says the now classic line, "I don’t believe in Beatles, I just believe in me."

The album is considered to be one of the major albums in musical history and often gets high positions in the "Best of" lists. Personally, though, I have not had an easy ride with it. Maybe it requires too much of the listener. The lyrics are often too personal and brutally honest. The sound is a bit too cut-down and ”simple”. There are no unusual time signatures, no big arrangements or complex song structures. On the contrary, the songs are quite "simple" - verses and choruses. I miss the experimental Lennon from a few years earlier (not to say that complex song structures and adventurous musical experimentation are always good things).

At the same time I respect the album a lot just because of the above mentioned. And in many ways it’s a groundbreaking album unlike anything else in its mental nudity where nothing is hidden. In other words, more innovative and experimental than most other things made ​​at the same time or later (complex song structures, strange time signatures and backwards drums included).

Although I don’t listen to this album often I must, at the end of the day, say that this is a good album. The opposite, that it’s a lousy record, feels like a quite strange conclusion. John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band is an extremely ambitious album where you’ve got a musician / artist who is very serious about his work. It’s far from commercial radio pop, it’s more like public psychotherapy. It feels as if Lennon was really serious about this album.

Parallel with this recording Yoko Ono recorded Yoko Ono / Plastic Ono Band, which was released the same date. The same musicians and production team were used for both albums. That record hasn’t got the same attention, though.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Mother 5:34

2. Hold On 1:52

3. I Found Out 3:37

4. Working Class Hero 3:48

5. Isolation 2:51

Side B

1. Remember 4:33

2. Love 3:21

3. Well Well Well 5:59

4. Look at Me 2:53

5. God 4:09

6: My Mummy’s Dead 0:49