Oct 303 min read

Sharp Notes: Short Cuts

Happy Halloween!🎃 👻

Metallica - Jump in the Fire (Music For Nations – 12 KUT-105, 1983 🇬🇧)

I love when Metallica make use of their muscular core of talents: that of a rip-roarin’, rock and thrash band who play as though they have no idea where their next meal is coming from. This is the sound of a band that sleeps on stranger’s floors and depends upon the kindness of strangers to help them achieve their dreams; a band that thought a tattered leather jacket, a sleeveless Motörhead shirt and some old Nike’s would get them through a tour across frozen European tundra. But the energy and enthusiasm on this early Mustaine/Hetfield/Ulrich collab helped to get them through. It’s also a perfect album cover to kick off Halloween week, a fabulously terrifying work of art by Les Edwards and taken from “The Devils of D-Day” by Graham Masterton (a horror paperback from 1978).

Paul McCartney - Give My Regards to Broad Street (MPL/Columbia – SC 39613, 1984 🇺🇸)

I’m glad that Give My Regards to Broadstreet is getting a little love on its 40th anniversary. Of course, as much as I love Macca and appreciate his eccentricities and forays into who knows what, the film is a dud. However, the soundtrack is a fun and interesting look at Paul revisiting some of his greatest musical moments, and infusing in them a little extra creativity and nostalgic revisitation. When I was a kid, I became frustrated with the pace of the big hit from the album,”No More Lonely Nights”. As an adult, however, I revel in the slow burn tempo of one of Paul’s greatest ballads (is it, tho?).

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Live At Fillmore East, 1969 (Rhino/Atlantic – ATL-839629, 2024 🇺🇸)

It’s out today, but I snuck a sneak peek (listen) of the album last night in NYC which is fitting as the record features the group in the Big Apple only a few weeks after Woodstock while they woodshopped the tracks that would make up their first album. A mix of acoustic and electric sets the AAA lacquer cut release sounded great on Wrensilva’s M1 console unit. If you’re a fan of the band, you’ll be treated to what I thought was a standout version of “Our House” featuring Graham running through the then unreleased number accompanied only by his organ playing. Spookily beautiful. Perfect for October in New York City.

Blind Pilot – In the Shadow of the Holy Mountain (ATO Records – ATO0680, 2024 🇺🇸)

Israel Nebeker was my podcast guest last week. We talked about his long writer’s drought and how he overcame it. The band’s new record, their first one since 2016, is a fun and thoughtful listen. Hear us talk about that and more on the program.

Tropea - Tropea (Marlin – MARLIN 2200, 1975 🇺🇸)

What do you get assembling a top-notch gang of session players to play some funky, jazzy, disco rock? You get excellent chops with tunes to get one out on the dance floor. That may have to do with the fact that there are two drummers on almost every track (which was the style at the time) and maybe it has more to do with the fact that those drummers are Steve Gadd and Rick Marotta. Will Lee rounds out the rhythm section. I’d continue with the names, but you get the point. If those were the chums John Tropea had in his Rolodex circa 1975, then I’d love to scroll through his list of contacts in his iPhone in 2024. A highly underrated gem from the mid-70s.

The Damned - White Rabbit (Chiswick Records – 0037.074, 1980 🇩🇪)

The Damned never fail to surpass my expectation of what they’re capable of, I consistently walk away asking myself, do I not know that they one of my favorite bands? Why grapple? Stop overthinking! This is 3 tracks for the price of 2. Is it an EP? Nah, but each song on this disc is worth the price of admission. Especially the moody, “Seagulls”. @hanszimmer (going by Hanz) even plays synth.