Howling At The Moon - The Punk Panther's Album Reviews

Long before Kool & the Gang became exponents of chart-oriented disco soul they were, initially, an instrumental jazzy funk band. This was their 1970 debut and it plays largely like a jazz album in places, albeit a very funky one though, loaded with trumpet and various types of saxophone and devoid of any vocals. There are periodic uses of nice funky guitar from Claydes Smith and Woody Barrow and some seriously good fatback drums from George "Funky" Brown, notably on Kool & The Gang and Breeze & Soul but for many of the tracks there is a distinct jazz feel. Check out the rumbling bass and solid drums on Chocolate Buttermilk for funk, but the saxophone is also pure jazz at times. It is the drums that make this album funky, however and the ability to make jazz funky. The funkiest cut is the grinding Give It Up, featuring some excellent funky drums while Since I Lost My Baby has a sumptuous, melodic bass line underpinning its catchy saxophone and trumpet breaks. Kool...

Move on a few albums later, to 1973, and the band had added vocals to their funky sound and this was seen as their "breakthrough" album. The vocals were mere occasional additions, really, as instrumental funk was still the order of the day, now accompanied by what would soon be obligatory (for funk bands) whistles.  Funky Stuff was an intoxicating funker of the sort that James Brown was releasing at the same time. Needless to say its bass, drums and horns are outstanding. It has that insistent strummed funky guitar sound that Brown also used so well. The track has been sampled regularly over subsequent years. Even more cookin', guitar line wise, is the irresistible More Funky Stuff.  The well-known, much-played Jungle Boogie was the first track to get really popular from the band, as they tell us to "get down, get down" and do the jungle boogie. Check out the clavinet soloing half way through. Excellent. These tracks had all been influenced by Manu Dibango's...

A few years later and disco was beginning to make its presence known and this is one of the best albums to exemplify that. Quite a bit of the funk of previous years had given way to a slicker, smoother soul sound.  The band go all Earth, Wind & Fire on the mystical, Eastern-influenced Open Sesame (Part 1), while Gift Of Love combines laid-back soul balladry with some serious wah-wah funky guitar breaks. Little Children has an initial Michael Jackson-esque sweet soul vocal before it breaks out into a Parliament-style chunky funk chorus.  All Night Long is a brassy, upbeat piece of of disco-oriented funk featuring an absolutely killer Isley Brothers-style guitar solo. Whisper Softly is one of those typically laid-back mid-seventies soundtrack-sounding light soul grooves. Super Band gives us some lively, brassy funk while L-O-V-E slows the pace down for a soulful ballad while retaining the trademark brass.  Sunshine is melodically rhythmic in a classy disco meets Earth, ...

  An interesting band here. Not named after any member of the band, but after a piano tuner, apparently, they were one of the few groups to be initially classified as "progressive country". Was such a thing possible? The mind boggles at the thought of good ol' boys in cowboy hats freaking out for over ten minutes per track with multiple changes in musical style, singing about wizards and backed by lots of proggy keyboard noodling. Don't worry, it's not quite like that! Not at all.  This was the group's debut, and it is the one that exemplifies the progressive country thing more than any of the subsequent releases.  That said, it sounds far more Southern and bluesy as far as I'm concerned. Take The Highway opens the album as if The Doobie Brothers, The Flying Burrito Brothers and The Allman Brothers Band have teamed up with (non-brothers) Jethro Tull, found someone to play the Tull-esque flute and add a mid-song guitar solo while still singing harmoniously ...

This second release was slightly more country than the previous album had been. The "progressive" thing gives way to a more defined rock sound too, along with some jazzy influences, despite the obviously prog-inspired cover! This is perfectly represented by the muscular rock of the opener, A New Life, a track that nevertheless still manages to reach nearly seven minutes. That old experimental/workout urge is obviously still there.  A really infectious bassline and slow rhythm underpins the excellent Southern Woman, another lengthy track. It sounds like a more melodious, less down 'n' dirty Lynyrd Skynyrd. Mid-track the band launch into a distinctly jazz groove, featuring some highly impressive saxophone and a great jazz guitar solo. This group had a lot of strings to its collective bow. They were definitely not in the stereotypical country rock pigeonhole. How many other country rock bands put out stuff as inventively different as this? Not many, if any.  A very Pure ...

This was the most country album from the Marshall Tucker Band. It was country infused with rock, however, leading to some people claiming that it is a "progressive rock album". No. I'm not having that, despite the proggy artwork on the cover. It is country. Inventive country but still country. Fire On The Mountain is a melodious serving of typically-seventies country rock, augmented with some winsome flute along side the pedal steel guitar. Similarly country is the Pure Prairie League meets Firefall meets The Ozark Mountain Daredevils strains of the title track . It's The Allman Brothers Band's Dickey Betts on guitar, by the way. Walkin' And Talkin' is an absolute joy of bar-room pickin', this time enhanced with some intoxicating saxophone. This was something MTB did really well - integrating non-traditional country instruments such as saxophone and flute into country songs. Virginia is a big, powerful country rock ballad. Check out that killer guit...

Many say that 1975's Searchin' For A Rainbow was The Marshall Tucker Band's most country album but you can add this one in there too, for sure. Get an earful of Charlie Daniels joining the band on fiddle for the superb country rock of Long Hard Ride followed by Property Ride . Country or what? Yee-haw indeed. Lots of pickin'. Lots of fiddle. The cover backs the sound up as well.  Material like this was enormously successful in the US in the mid-seventies, but in the UK it did not appeal at all at that time. There was definitely not a market for it. There was The Eagles and not much else for us here. Certainly not anything like this to be found alongside David Bowie, 10cc, Steve Harley and Ian Hunter, not for me, anyway. Back to the songs. Am I The Kind Of Man is a really good ballad, featuring superb instrumentation and a country-soulful vocal. Walkin' The Streets alone is a really good song too, with a fetching melody, great guitar and great saxophone. There...

  Linda Ronstadt's big commercial breakthrough, although it didn't differ in style much from any of her other recordings.  It was one of the first of Linda's that I was aware of - I remember the album's title, for some reason, no doubt from flicking through those record shop piles of album sleeves. What a pretty girl, my fifteen year-old self thought, quite rightly, she was a stunner.  The album was largely made up of Linda's usual serving of contemporary, quiet, reflective country material, something that actually contrasted quite a bit with the chugging, bassy funk/rock-lite hit of the opener,  You're No Good  - another one that I recall from the time.  I have to say that it is a really impressive track and I like it a hell of a lot. This is gutsy Linda at her best. She didn't just deal in country tear-jerkers, she could give it some. We also got attractive re-workings of classics like the Everly Brothers'  When Will I Be Loved  and Buddy Holly'...

This is an entrancing debut album from an underrated singer/songwriter. It is a soulful concoction of gentle, tender country-ish rock. Rumble Doll is an absolute beauty. One of my favourite songs. Scialfa’s appealing vibrato voice flows airily and soulfully over a lovely melody.  Come Tomorrow has a similar appeal, her voice is haunting, sexy and plaintive all at once. The guitar plugs away rhythmically in the background as Patti pours her heart out, subtly, as is her preferred method of delivery. There has always been an immensely cute, feminine, softly-spoken shyness about her and this comes across strongly on this album. The songs and the backing put me in mind of Mink/Willy De Ville at times, obviously the voice is different. In My Imagination is a far tougher edged, chugging rock ballad, while Valerie is a return to the evocative sounds of the first few tracks. There are moments when Patti hits a certain part of the vocal that is just so emotive. There really isn’t a duff trac...

  It was eleven years until the release of  this album  and here we saw a few "contemporary" programmed rhythms employed on the percussion, but, that apart, the style of the songs are p much the same - thoughtful, evocative expression of feelings against a background of wistful nostalgia.  Patti's voice is again moving in its sort of expressive urban-country style and her songs well-written and interesting. Highlights are the addressing of lost youth in  You Can't Go Back , the riffy  City Boys ,  Yesterday's Child , the shuffling  Each Other's Medicine  and the Deacon Blue meets Patti's husband vibe of  Stumbling To Bethlehem .  There is something vaguely Dylanesque in a lot of the lyrics and delivery too and  Romeo  is very redolent of hubby.  Musically, it is a subtle album - subtle guitars, subtle keyboards and subtle backing vocals, sort of in keeping with Patti's gentle and elegant character (as I see it). Look,...

  This was  Robert Plant ’s first solo album and came as something of a surprise to Led Zeppelin diehards. It is very much a product of its time and it features  Phil Collins  on drums for six of the eight tracks ( Cozy Powel l on the other two).  It is culturally at odds with early eighties genres like post-punk, two tone and new romantic, but it is in line with the direction that mainstream rock was taking - all programmed synthesisers and drums and riffs played on keyboards instead of guitars at times. It is still early eighties enough to have not bowed completely to the great god synthesiser, however, and I much prefer it to some of Plant’s subsequent eighties work.  Burning Down One Side  is a thumping, riffy, rocking enough opener, despite some of its eighties instrumentation. It still retains a considerable power to it.  Moonlight In Samosa  is a lovely, slow, bassy ballad, full of atmosphere and featuring a winsome vocal from Plant. H...

  Robert Plant 's second solo album is quite a solidly rocking affair, not as synthesiser-dominated as one might expect from an eighties album, with "proper" drums (from  Phil Collins  on six tracks) and some bona fide rock guitar riffs. By the end of the eighties, these had been somewhat swamped on occasions by synthesisers. Not here, though, this is, for me, very much a rock album.  Other Arms  is a solid piece of riffy rock to open the album.  In The Mood  is a strong, rock number with a thumping drum sound and an uplifting vocal from Plant. There is an anthemic quality to the song.  Messin' With The Mekon , whose title references the green egg-headed character from the  "Eagle"  comic. As often with Plant's songs, the title bears little reference to the lyric of the song. There is a bit of a latter period Zeppelin feel to this, together with a  John Bonham -like thump to the drums. There is a vague reggae-ish, bassy groove to th...

This was a surprise experiment between  Robert Plant ,  Jimmy Page ,  Jeff Beck  and  Nile Rodgers  - a brief, five track EP of bluesy-early rock 'n' roll done to present  Atlantic Records' President Ahmet Ertegun  with recordings of some of his favourite late fifties songs.  Apparently, Plant was appalled that the crooning  S ea Of Love  became a hit, instead of the upbeat  Rockin' At Midnight , thinking it  would ruin his solo career. He needn't have worried, people just enjoyed it for what it was. The EP is only a short blast, but it is a pleasure from the first note to the last.  I Get A Thrill   is a lively, infectious piece of jazzy, shuffling rockabilly. Very sort of  Stray Cats -ish in its big rubbery bass line. Robert Plant does his best late fifties  Elvis  and there is a killer guitar solo in the middle too. I have to say I really like this.  The classic ballad  Sea Of Love ...

  This was simply a lovely debut album from  Bruce Hornsby & The Range . Released in 1986, I love this album dearly.  Even if I don't listen to it all the time these days, every time I give it a whirl, it cannot help but lift the spirits - Hornsby's instantly recognisable, melodious piano, his yearning vocals and his often inspiring, evocative, emotional and pertinent lyrics are all vital ingredients in what is a fine piece of work.  From the opener,  On The Western Skyline , the violin and guitars start it off, then Hornsby's piano kicks in and we are treated to some classic Hornsby bitter-sweet romance.  Every Little Kiss  is an upbeat radio friendly romantic number and  Mandolin Rain  is a copper-bottomed Hornsby classic, full of wonderful piano and a moving vocal delivery of lyrics packed with pathos. Hornsby's wistful-sounding voice can give a celebratory song a sadness.  The Long Race  is packed full of images of the ...

  There are some albums for which, however many years pass since their recording, always remain close to my heart. This is one of them.  Despite being in dire need of a remastering, having a bit of a bright, tinny, late eighties sound, it is simply a wonderful collection of melodic, piano-driven, emotive songs.   Bruce Hornsby ’s lyrics are perceptive, moving, worldly-wise, mournful and yet uplifting all at the same time. His ear for a catchy tune is superb and his piano-playing is unique and instantly recognisable. I read someone compare it at times to  Rachmaninov . I wouldn’t know but it certainly is integral to the perfect soundscape of this album.   The opener, the environmentally-conscious anthem of  Look Out Any Window  gets the album off to a vibrant start, Hornsby’s insistent piano driving on his accomplished rant against chemical pollution in search of profit. This is just a rock song, but its arrangements are unusually grandiose which lends ...

This was the third and final album accredited to Bruce Hornsby & The Range and it has always been one that has never quite done it for me, despite a few high points.  Hornsby's trademark piano licks are noticeably thinner on the ground, as are the killer melodies and it is a far more rock-powered album, which was a bit of a shame in comparison with its two predecessors. Hornsby was always a great lyricist, though, and his skill is still apparent on many of the songs here.  It is also long overdue a remastering, as its sound is still a bit tinny. A sonic makeover would improve the album considerably.  A  Night On The Town  is a solid, chunky opener, with a firm bass sound and an insistent, grinding melody. Hornsby's evocative voice is instantly recognisable.  Carry The Water  utilises that most eighties-nineties thing - the accursed programmed drum sound. When you have a drummer as competent as John Molo, why not just have "proper" drums?  What...

  Before becoming the theatrically ghoulish figure that everyone is familiar with, and several successful albums, Alice Cooper had two "pre-grisly fame" albums.  They were, firstly, t his one, which  was a n album that has virtually been completely forgotten.  It was an eminently forgettable, nigh on unlistenable attempt at a psychedelic rock album, featuring snippets of songs in places and a poor sound quality. It contains little or no particularly memorable at all.  Admittedly, there are probably just a few fleeting moments, here and there - the grinding   Living  and the psych guitar swirl of  Fields Of Regret  -     but nothing that gets me wanting to return to it anytime soon. What ever Alice Cooper was trying to be - both musically and stylistically - he definitely hadn't hit upon it yet.

  The second of Alice Cooper's early albums is by far the better of the two -  - having a much heavier, attractively riffy rock approach, a deeper, warmer bass sound and a bit more of Cooper's personality making itself known (but nothing approaching how he would develop over subsequent years). I can listen to this, at a push, and can hear small signs of what The Alice Cooper Band would become, but the debut album was pretty much dispensible.  The best tracks are  Mr. & Misdemeanor , the Beatles-esque  Shoe Salesman , the groovy, rhythmic  Below Your Means , the beautifully bassy  Laughing At Me  and the grungy  Refrigerator Heaven . After this, everything started to change, for the better, with the release of Love It To Death.

  Alice Cooper ’s first two albums were sort of late sixties psychedelic-acid rock trippy stuff that felt a bit unfulfilled, not quite sure of what direction to go in, despite a few hints on the second album.  This is their third offering and it is the one which saw the band start to develop their true rock identity. It is a mixture of short, sharp three minute impressive riff-driven rock numbers with two longer, slightly indulgent exercises and one somewhat bizarre cover.  A bit like  Doors  albums, in that "couple of long tracks-mostly short tracks" respect.  Caught In A Dream  is an excellent, riffy, rocking opener, sort of  Rolling Stones  meets  Mott The Hoople .  I’m Eighteeen  continues the quality rock with one of Cooper’s best early tracks. It is full of great guitar, bluesy in places and rock in others and Cooper’s vocal is starting to show that leery quality he traded on for so many subsequent years.  Long Way T...