Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - ”Southern Accents” (1985)

I bought this album sometime around 1990, when you found it very cheap, ”For Sale”, in the stores. For me there was only one reason to buy it - the song Don't Come Around Here No More, a song I had, since the album's release, thought was a really groovy song. And it also had a really druggy and psychedelic video that came with it that made me suspect that Tom Petty was an LSD user and that his music mainly belonged to the hippie genre, at least in 1985. I hadn't heard much of Tom Petty's other works and had no proper idea of who he was. I had only heard his solo album Full Moon Fever from 1989, it was released when I lived a year as an exchange student in the US and thus had MTV. The songs Free Fallin' and Running Down A Dream were played / shown frequently and especially Running Down A Dream had a psychedelic touch that confirmed Petty's hippie streak.

Therefore, I was initially a little disappointed in Southern Accents. Except Don't Come Around Here No More it wasn't much psychedelia or magic mushroom trips on the album. I found one other song on the record I liked and that was Spike. These two songs were played some on the turntable, but the other songs were not. And after a while, I got tired of my favorites so then the record became unplayed.

Of course it was my expectations that were unrealistic, rather than it was a bad album. I will honestly admit that I still think my two old favorites are best numbers on the album, but there are other nice songs too. The opening track Rebels is good and appeals to the inner rebel in me that is not seen very often, but it's there (I wear a bandana sometimes). I was born a rebel... Another song I like, and which stands out with its different sound, is Mary's New Car. The song Dog's On The Run is also pretty good.

 
Dave Stewart of Eurythmics co-wrote three songs on the album, including Don't You Come Around Here No More. Apparently there were some tensions within the band during the recording, partly because of Dave Stewart's contribution that cut out three other songs from the album, and thus the original concept became less clear. At one point Petty became so frustrated during the mixing of Rebels so he punched his fist into a wall and suffered serious fractures in his left hand. Fairly advanced surgery was required for this.

Overall, I think it's an OK album but the music isn't really to my taste. It's a little Bruce Springsteen over it - great songs, but the American rock sound is not really my thing, especially not with a southern touch that mainly comes from Petty's own voice, which is a real Country & Western voice, and the harmonies that are sometimes used. Some individual songs are good and Petty seems to be a pretty cool guy based on the interviews I've read with him, so I wish I could enjoy the album a little bit more. But from the albums I've heard with him (which is not many) I probably choose Full Moon Fever in favour of Southern Accents.

 
And I now realize that I haven't really mentioned the Heartbreakers, but instead treated Southern Accent as a Tom Petty solo album. But make no mistakes, even if Petty is the one who has written all the songs (with a little help here and there), it's not a solo album. The Heartbreakers consisted at the time of Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Stan Lynch and Howie Epstein.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Rebels 5:20
2. It Ain't Nothin' To Me 5:10
3. Don't Come Around Here No More 5:06
4. Southern Accents 4:42

Side B

1.Make It Better 4:17
2. Spike 3:32
3. Dogs On The Run 3:39
4. Mary's New Car 3:45
5. The Best Of Everything 3:59

Zee – Identity (1984)

Zee consisted of Pink Floyd's keyboardist Richard Wright and Dave Harris, who had been a member of the band Fashion. Identity was the only album the duo released, and if I'm honest I don't think the world has missed out on too much by the lack of more releases. It's not a very good album.

The reason I bought the album was of course the presence of Richard Wright. As a fan of Pink Floyd I got hopes that it would be a really groovy album when I found it cheap in a record store, somewhere in Uppsala. But these hopes were extinguished fairly quickly when I listened to it the first time. There is a clear 80s sound, mainly thanks to heavy use of the synthezeiser Fairlight CMI. And I guess the songs themselves aren't that good, either, disregarding the sound. Now, I probably have somewhat higher demands / expectations since Richard Wright is one of the creators, which perhaps makes my review a little unfair. I guess you can say it's pretty ordinary 80s pop.

Some songs have the seed to be more interesting, such as Strange Rhythm and Voices, but unfortunately the sound is not to my taste and largely destroys the listening experience. Richard Wright himself has called the album a mistake that should never have been released.

So this record has been extremely unplayed in my record collection and probalby will remain so. Nevertheless, I'm still glad to own it, since from a collector's perspective most stuff associated with Pink Floyd is interesting to own. The cover is also among one of the more ugly in the collection, they also have persisted in putting two dots over each and every vowel in the song titles which don't make things better. But maybe as a Swede I should feel honored (since the letters å,ä and ö belong to our alphabet. Ü is german, though).

Tracklist

Side A

1. Confusion 4:17
2. Voices 6:21
3. Private person 3:36
4. Strange Rhythm 6:36

Side B

1. Cuts Like A Diamond 5:36
2. By Touching 5:39
3. How Do You Do It 4:45
4. Seems We Were Dreaming 4:57

Rush – "Power Windows" (1985)

Rush is a Canadian progressive metal trio whose members are top of the pops when it comes to virtuosity on their respective instruments. The three sons of Toronto are Alex Lifeson on guitar, Geddy Lee on bass and Neil Peart on drums. And although all three belong to the elite on their instruments, it’s probably Peart who throughout history has been regarded as the most talented musician of them. Many people, both experts and ordinary men, think he’s the greatest rock drummer ever.

Neil Peart replaced drummer John Rutsey in 1974 and since then the trio has been intact, almost a unique phenomenon in the music industry. Power Windows was the band's 11th studio album (they have to date released 20 studio albums and nine live albums).

Power Windows was created during a time when Rush used an unusual amount of synthesizers, which of course wasn’t uncommon in the 80s. Some fans didn’t like this, but personally I think it works OK. I don’t usually dig the typical synthesizer sound from the 80s, the somewhat thin sound with chords that drowns the music with cheapness. But somehow, Rush gets away with it. They had always used different electronic devices in their music, so it was nothing new. But synthesizers had never gotten such a prominent role as in the years in the mid 80's. Much at Lifeson’s expense as he had to stand back for some years.

Rush used for the first time Peter Collins as producer, and as usual Peart delivers the lyrics while Lifeson and Lee got the music together.

Despite a lot of synthesizer sound, Power Windows is (with some hesitation) a prog metal album. The synthesizers have a tendency to make the sound more of a pop album than usual in the case of Rush. Moreover, some of the songs are relatively calm without any roaring guitars or frenetic drums in them. But the metal is there under the surface all the time, if not always out in the open. The opening song Big Money is a classic that blows the listener away. Another one of my favorites has always been Marathon with its sweeping and pompous chorus. When I saw Rush live in Quebec in 2010 they played that particular song. A few months earlier, they had on Facebook posted a question which song the fans wanted to hear live on the upcoming tour. I of course answered Marathon in the comments. I've always wondered if it was because of me the audience was treated to this song during the tour (Time Machine Tour). We were around 150,000 people in the audience that night.

In addition to the concert in Quebec, I’ve also seen Rush live twice in Stockholm - 2004 during their R30 tour and 2007 on the Snakes And Arrows tour. So I have at firsthand seen Lee play his advanced bass lines, sing, alternating with synthesizers and manage all his pedals. At the same time. And Peart’s famous drum solos. And Lifeson’s guitar playing and all his equipment (which is quite a lot). I have also experienced the band’s ability to perform the songs with perfection without differing a beat or tone from the studio recording. For better or worse.

The world has always been divided into hate or love concerning Geddy Lee's voice. I stand somewhere in the middle of this polarization. I've never been overly fond of it but have gotten used to it and accept it.

I think Power Windows is a good album, but probably not an album for everyone. It has got some great songs, hard bass lines from Lee in contrast to the soft synthesizers of the 80s, and Lee’s shrill vocals. However, there are also some more boring creations, especially on the B-side. Maybe not an album that is fully representative of Rush.

It may be added that Rush is in the 4^th position when it comes to number of gold and platinum records (after the Beatles, Rolling Stones and KISS) and 3^rd on the list of number of consecutive gold and platinum albums (where they beat KISS). Despite this Rush counts, maybe not as an underground band, but in all cases as an alternative band that in many ways are beyond the commercial music industry and market. Probably the band members' integrity and the band's constant quest for independence is to thank for this.

The first video below, really smells of the 80s... But if you can see beyond the visual picture it's a really good song.

Track list

Side A

1. The Big Money 5:35
2. Grand Designs 5:05
3. Manhattan Project 5:05
4. Marathon 6:09

Side B
1. Terrirories 6:19
2. Middletown Dreams 5:17
3. Emotion Detector 5:10
4. Mystic Rythms 6:08

Talking Heads – "Speaking In Tounges" (1983)

This was the first album with Talking Heads I ever heard, I was 11 years old when it was released. Since my brother got the album the year of its release (I think) I got to explore this band at a relatively young age. Speaking In Tounges spun quite often on the turntable in our home, or rather - the tape rolled in the tape recorder, since at that time we usually recorded all of our albums on tape, " so not to wear out the record." So I was quite familiar with this album already as a child, an album I liked.

The album in my possession is a limited edition that was released in 50 000 copies. The disc is made of transparent vinyl and is inside a transparent sleeve, designed by Robert Rauschenberg. Inside the sleeve there are three round plastic discs, in three different colors, with text / photos on them. Robert won a nice prize for this design, a Grammy, indeed. The original sleeve looks like this, designed by the singer David Byrne:

As said, it was my brother who bought the album, but over the years it has somehow wandered over to my collection. Exactly how this happened I don’t remember, maybe I cleaned his room one extra time? Or was it a panic gift on a forgotten birthday? It could of course have been out of pure kindness, too. Unfortunately, the sleeve was bit too wide to fit in the record shelf. To solve this dilemma my brother cut it the to make it smaller. Almost 30 years later, with greater wisdom, we understand that this was probably not a great idea.

The collaboration with Brian Eno was at this time over and the band produced the record themselves. Apparently it was a successful move, the previous album Remain In Light had caught attention and been praised, but Speaking In Tounges became the band's commercial breakthrough. The hit Burning Down The House (which some might associate with Tom Jones) got on the US top-10 list, and the album got a second position on the dance chart for six weeks.

And it is a danceable record, full of groovy rhythms that are easy to jazz along to. Although there were lots of musicians involved in the recording, it's a pretty light and spacious soundscape. Some songs have similarities to the songs on Remain In Light’s A-side, but with all the layers of sound peeled away. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a minimalistic production, but at least a step in that direction. I often find myself sitting and grooving with the music when I play it, and I realize once again such a good record it actually is.

As always, the band succeed with the trick to find a new sound with a new album. And still it sounds just like you would expect Talking Heads to sound like. Byrne’s somewhat peculiar voice is a common thread through all of the band's recordings, which create a recognition. A consequence of his voice is that I experience the songs as a bit neurotic. Beacause Byrne has a semi-neurotic voice, it’s just the way it is. So even though it’s a rhythmic and dance-friendly album, I wouldn’t call it cheerful and happy music. Not unhappy either. Perhaps intellectual pop with a neurotic twist.

It’s in any case a really good album without any real lows. The quality of the songs are high throughout, and the music is quite accessible without being commercially tailored. Talking Heads (possibly read David Byrne) are good musical craftsmen, they create interesting pieces, not too simple, you can still dance to. One of my favorite songs has always been the closing song This Must be The Place (Naive Melody). A fine and unusually fragile creation to be Talking Heads.
　
Tracklist

Side A
1. Burning Down The House 4:00
2. Making Flippy Floppy 4:36
3. Girlfriend Is Better 4:25
4. Slippery People 3:30
5. I Get Wild/Wild Gravity 4:06

Side B
1. Swamp 5:09
2. Moon Rocks 5:04
3. Pull Up The Roots 5:08
4. This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) 4:56