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Circles & Seasons (Album of the Day)
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Born on this day in 1919, Pete Seeger was the embodiment of folk music. And not just American folk; dating back to his days with The Weavers, Seeger championed the music and causes of working-class people all around the world, and that holds true for CIRCLES & SEASONS, which includes “Mexican Blues,” the Italian-derived “Tarantella” and the Spanish Civil War song “Viva la Quince Brigada” among its 14 tracks. Former Weaver Fred Hellerman produced the collection (and provides much of the instrumental accompaniment), and as with their old band, these songs are socially conscious without ever becoming strident. Though 60 years old when this album was released, Pete Seeger was still in great voice, and the inspiring CIRCLES & SEASONS stands as one of his best studio sets.
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Gold - The Best Of Spandau Ballet (Album of the Day)
Monday, May 2, 2016
Though they'd worn a variety of musical hats in the 1970s, the members of U.K. quintet Spandau Ballet had donned New Romantic garb by 1980, sparking a bidding war won by Chrysalis Records. Though successful from the outset in England, the band really took off when it added blue-eyed soul to its sound on such hits as “True,” which sat atop the British singles chart on this day in 1983. GOLD: THE BEST OF includes all the group's U.K. charting singles for Chrysalis (plus a couple for their next label, Epic), among them “Communication,” “Only When You Leave” and the title song. Tony Hadley's achingly romantic croon is irresistible here, but as the 17-track collection covers the evolution of Spandau Ballet, you get so much more – GOLD is the definitive look at the band's early- to mid-1980s heyday.
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Faith Hill Take Me As I Am (Album of the Day)
Friday, April 29, 2016
Faith Hill's rise to stardom began at the Nashville music publishing firm where she worked as a secretary; overheard singing to herself one day, she got the chance to record demos for the company. Hill's talent is obvious on her 1993 debut, TAKE ME AS I AM, which brought her an Academy of Country Music Award as Top New Female Vocalist. The collection includes a pair of Country chart-toppers in “Wild One” and a powerful cover of "Piece of My Heart" (plus the No. 2 hit title track); impressive as these upbeat performances are, Faith's voice is just as appealing on the ballads (“But I Will”). Though Hill has achieved crossover mega-stardom in the years since, this triple-Platinum album shows her country roots while remaining very accessible, and is a superb introduction to the singer.
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Heaven and Hell (Album of the Day)
Thursday, April 28, 2016
It's pretty risky when a group changes frontmen, but Ozzy Osbourne's departure for a solo career and the arrival of former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio marked a new beginning for Black Sabbath. When the first Dio-led Sabbath album, HEAVEN AND HELL, hit the streets in 1980, it was clear the U.K. heavy metal quartet was firing on all cylinders. Featuring such superb songs as opener “Neon Knights,” “Die Young,” “Children Of The Sea” and the riff-driven title track, the collection became one of the band's most successful in America (and eventually went platinum). That nine albums into their career, Black Sabbath still had a stunner like HEAVEN AND HELL in them is one reason the group is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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Whammy! (Album of the Day)
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Following a brief detour into MESOPOTAMIA, the B-52's got their mojo back with WHAMMY! Recorded at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas, the 1983 Warner Bros. set gets the party vibes going on nine hook-filled originals including the irresistible "Legal Tender," "Song For A Future Generation" and "Whammy Kiss.” The album finds the Athens quintet embracing synthesizers and drum machines, but doing so with a playful approach that never descends into New Wave cliché. Today we'll wish B-52's singer Kate Pierson a very happy birthday with the Top 30, Gold-certified WHAMMY!
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Glider (Album of the Day)
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
GLIDER was My Bloody Valentine's first Sire release, and proved an auspicious label debut; the Irish quartet packed more musical invention in an EP than most bands did an entire album. The 1990 set features four songs penned by leader Kevin Shields, beginning with “Soon,” a 7-minute epic built from swirling layers of guitar noise and melody that would reappear on the band's LOVELESS a year later. The three songs specific to this release - “Don't Ask Why,” “Off Your Face” and the title track - are also worthy of that magnum opus, if a touch heavier on the vocals. GLIDER is prime My Bloody Valentine, and as such ranks with the very best shoegaze/dream pop ever recorded.
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Born Under A Bad Sign (Album of the Day)
Monday, April 25, 2016
Born on this day in 1923, Albert King was blues guitar royalty, and BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN stands as his crowning achievement. As the 1967 collection consists largely of singles, you'd expect the quality level to be high; that these sides were recorded at Stax with house band Booker T. and The MG's pushes them through the roof. "Crosscut Saw," "Oh Pretty Woman," "The Hunter" and the title track became modern blues classics in King's nimble hands, and his stinging leads inspired several rock players, including Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. The Grammy and Blues Foundation Halls of Fame have both enshrined BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN, and if you're just now discovering this blues masterpiece, consider it your lucky day.
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Gangsta's Paradise (US Release) (Album of the Day)
Friday, April 22, 2016
Coolio ascended into the West Coast hip-hop pantheon in 1995 with the release of his second album, GANGSTA'S PARADISE. The chart-topping, Grammy-winning title track had turned heads earlier in the year when it appeared in the film Dangerous Minds, but gains even greater impact in the context of these 17 originals. Rapping over samples of R&B favorites by the likes of the Isley Brothers, Smokey Robinson and Billy Paul, Coolio serves up slices of life in the L.A. hood that are insightful and consistently memorable; "Geto Highlites," "1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)" and "Too Hot" are just as strong as the set's iconic single. Surely Coolio's finest hour, the double-platinum GANGSTA'S PARADISE stands as one of the definitive rap albums of the 1990s.
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The Stooges (Album of the Day)
Thursday, April 21, 2016
The four Stooges – Iggy Pop, brothers Ron and Scott Asheton (on guitar and drums, respectively) and Dave Alexander (bass) are Rock And Roll Hall Of Famers for a short but incendiary string of proto-punk albums beginning with 1969's THE STOOGES. The Ann Arbor quartet's seminal Elektra debut captures their elemental power on eight songs including such restless anthems as "1969," "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "No Fun." Former Velvet Underground member John Cale turned out to be a savvy choice to produce the collection, which pushed sonic boundaries while remaining primitive enough to lodge deep in the cerebellum of listeners' brains. You'll have a "real cool time" with THE STOOGES, and we'll crank up that classic collection today in honor of Iggy's birthday.
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Deep Purple In Rock (Album of the Day)
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Deep Purple made their live debut in Tastrup, Denmark on this day in 1968, though it would take a couple more years and a lineup change (the first of many) before the band would find their signature hard rock sound. Gone were the classical and progressive pretensions when the U.K. quintet entered the studio to cut DEEP PURPLE IN ROCK; newly arrived were singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover. Opener “Speed King” sets the tone, with guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and organist Jon Lord riffing like there's no tomorrow, and the blistering attack never lets up through six more solid originals, including the epic “Child in Time.” Deep Purple's breakthrough album IN ROCK remains a milestone of heavy metal.
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