Album Reviews

This page is dedicated to music.  I want to share the the music that has made my life a more beautiful one.

The James Gang- "Bang"

By: Steven McArtin

Growing up with music in our home whether it was Allan Bruce singing Scotland,The Brave or Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass – we always seemed to have music playing.

Being a teenager, having the opportunity to live in Japan and going to an International School, we were always listening to great music. My classmates would go on home leave for the summer, when they came back, they would talk about this great band and the album they bought while at home. We all would then borrow the album and record it on a cassette.

This brings me to my  musical love affair with the Band – The James Gang.  I was turned onto the band by my classmate Glenn Fuji.

I purchased their albums while living in Japan and loved the voice and guitar of Joe Walsh.  While not being a fan of every song on their first three albums, I did love a majority of the music.

During the second (or actually the third incarnation of the band as Bassist Tom Kriss left after the recording of “Y’er Album) I did not immediately fall in love with the addition of Roy Kenner and Dominic Troiano.   Their sound was more funk than rock.  After two less than stellar albums, Dominic Troiano left to join The Guess Who.

At the urging of Joe Walsh – he contacted Jimmy Fox and Dale Peters of the Gang and said he found a great replacement for Dominic.  Tommy Bolin.

I picked up the James Gang Bang album and put it on our turntable at home in Japan and was immediately blown away.   Tommy’s guitar playing was light years away from the traditional guitar sound.  The very song Standing in the Rain rocked from start to finish.  Roy Kenner’s vocal’s to Tommy’s song writing was better than a lot of what I hear today.

Tommy’s first foray into singing was on the song Alexis.  A love song but not a traditional one.  Love Lost.  His guitar playing was off the charts for that time of year 1973.  Song for song, note for note – it to this day is my favorite album of all time.  Tommy’s Guitar, Roy’s Vocals, Dale’s thunderous bass playing and Jimmy Fox drumming as though it were his last day on earth – amazing.

Tommy recorded one more album with the James Gang  - Miami which was also a great album but nothing like Bang Album.

After leaving the James Gang, Tommy did some session work and then joined Deep Purple and they put out – Come Taste The Band.  Naturally I purchased the album and loved it.  In 1975 in Japan, my very first concert was Deep Purple in Osaka.

To this day, The James Gang Bang Album is in heavy rotation in my car and when it is warm – everyone can hear my coming a half mile away and singing at the top of my lungs.

* Sadly Tommy passed away from a heroin overdose on December 4, 1976 – 3 days shy of my 18th birthday.

Jellyfish "Spilt Milk

By: Doug Irwin

When it came to rock and roll in the 90s I wasn't into what was happening at the time, no, I wasn't a flannel-wearing Nirvana-loving hipster, in fact, I was the furthest thing from a hipster and I never really wore flannel. My favorite band at the time was not of the angst-ridden, navel-gazing, grunge genre. It was a little old band from San Francisco by the name of Jellyfish.

Jellyfish was a ray of sugar-coated sunshine, during the dark, hazy heroin days of grunge. If you like The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Badfinger, The Move, Supertramp, ELO, Queen & Wings you will really love this band. I was immediately drawn to Jellyfish, after hearing them for the first time.....that was in 1993.

I was a music geek from the outset, during my formative years, I obsessively listened to my 45's of Glen Campbell, The Cowsills, Tommy James and the Shondells, Tommy Roe, The Cuff Links, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Burt Bacharach, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, and Badfinger.

So, when I heard Spilt Milk for the first time, it hit all the sweet spots. I remember it well. I was driving in my car, listening to WXPN and "New mistake" came on, I literally had to pull over and stop driving until I heard who the artist was... from that day on my love affair with Jellyfish was born. 

I was fortunate to see them twice in Philadelphia (once with Tears for Fears) and was heartbroken when I heard they broke up.

Sturmer and Manning, are the chief songwriters and definitely wear their power pop influences on their technicolor sleeves but never imitate, their songs are original. The album is full of memorable melodies, beautiful harmonies, adventurous arrangements, and production that gives Spilt Milk a sunny shimmer that was missing from most recordings at the time. Spilt Milk though, completely out of step during the 90's, is one finely crafted album and each song is a jewel.

Unfortunately for Jellyfish they received little support from their label, had virtually no radio exposure and the recording Spilt Milk took 6 months to record at the staggering cost of  $600,000.00.

The band toured extensively, made no money, and there were mounting creative differences between Sturmer and Manning but when it came right down to it, the recording of Spilt Milk killed the band.

So they broke up.

Jellyfish has two brilliant albums Bellybutton and Spilt Milk both get 5 stars out of 5. Highly recommended.

Roger Manning since being in Jellyfish has been a member of Imperial Drag, TV Eyes, The Moog cookbook, has recorded with Morrissey, Blink 182, tours with Beck and records his own material.

Andy Sturmer has been busy with composing cartoon soundtracks for the Japanese band Puffy AmiYumi, has worked with The Black Crowes, Bleu, Mandy Moore, Katey Sagal, The Candy Butchers and my favorite The Merrymakers from Sweden.

Unfortunately for all included, Andy and Roger don't speak to each other anymore.

The band personnel for this recording: Andy Sturmer (vocals, drums, guitar, keyboards) and Roger Manning Jr. (keyboards, guitar, vocals), Tim Smith (bass) and session assistance from T-Bone Wolk (bass), Jon Brion (guitar) and Lyle Workman (guitar). The album was produced by Alby Galuten, Jack Joseph Puig, Andy Sturmer, and Roger Manning Jr. 

YES Relayer

By: Doug Irwin

In 1974 YES released RELAYER. This is by far my favorite album YES ever recorded. It is in the same configuration as Close to the Edge, 1 side-long song (Gates of Delirium, a mere 21 minutes), and 2 shorter pieces (Sound Chaser and To Be Over, 9 minutes and change) each. This was Yes's 7th album and features their 3rd keyboardist, ex Refugee member Patrick Moraz.

RELAYER had a huge impact on me as a 14-year-old, it hit all the right notes, so to speak. With soaring crystalline vocals from Jon Anderson, Steve Howe's frenetic, angular guitar playing, the precise timekeeping of Alan White, Chris Squire's melodic, lead bass, and the spaced-out, counterpoint keyboards of Patrick Moraz.

This album is in my opinion incomparable and hard to define, it was YES at their most adventurous, venturing into jazz/fusion.

While my friends were getting into Springsteen, Bad Company, and BTO, I was being sent into the stratosphere with Yes and this album took me to places I’ve never been before.

It still does.