Album Reviews
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ALBUM REVIEWS LOVE YOU LIVE - The Rolling Stones - Rolling Stones AJA - Steely Dan - ABC AB -1006 - Producer: Gary Katz - Records COC 2-9001 - Producer: The Glimmer Twins - List: List: 7.98 11.98 Yet another Steely Dan tour has collapsed but until we can The venerable Rolling Stones have somehow managed to see them in the flesh, this album is an excellent way to bide the survive against incredible odds the assault upon their position time. The ambitiousness of this work never takes away from its as the uncrowned kings of rock and roll. And if any album of overall smoothness, and the music pours out of the speakers theirs can be said to be the definitive one, this is surely it. The like a gently flowing audio stream. This is high -quality, finely selection of material, the live settings and the inclusion of two textured stuff and Messrs. Fagen and Becker have assembled previously unrecorded tunes makes this album not only a must around them a superb supporting cast in a graceful and artful for Stones fans, but an essential primer for anyone seeking to work that is par excellence. understand why the Stones and rock music are synonymous. RINGO THE 4TH - Ringo Starr - Atlantic SD 19108 - BABY ITS ME - Diana Ross - Motown M7 -890R1 - Producer: Arlf Mardin - List: 7.98 Producer: Richard Perry - List: 7.98 Watching each of the former Beatles develop in their own in- Perry's direction from the control panel gives Diana the full- dividual direction over the years has been as entertaining as it bodied instrumental support that helps her deliver those scin- has been enlightening. By far, the most unpredictable has been tillating vocal messages with such spine -chilling precision. It's a Ringo, and those that thought they had a bead on him had better lush full setting and one that Ms. Ross isfully capable of working look again. One thing is for certain: Ringo is having a great time in. Artists of her stature should be challenged and this material here as he lends his distinctive vocals and his pounding drum makes her stretch for us in a work of power and feeling. kit to a set that a number of his more instantly recognizable friends contributed substantially toward. ROUGH MIX - Pete Townshend & Ronnie Lane - MCA 2295, - Producer: Glyn Johns List: 6.98 THE STRANGER Billy Joel Columbia JC 34987 - is - - - The greatly anticipated solo album by the Who's Pete w' Producer: Phil Ramone - List: 7.98 Townshend has become a joint effort with Small Faces exile Billy opens with an up -tempo slap at social climbing that Ronnie Lane. Clearly, having a jolly good old time was part of r , fades into the sobering title tune which is particularly riveting the plan because these two are positively playful much of theme with a lyric sheet in your hands. The stranger to whom he refers time. But whether serious or not, the music is an AOR program- " 11. is a shadow of Everyman and we've all had to face that part of mers' answer to a gray day. Guest appearances by John Entwis- ourselves that we usually like to forget. Billy's thoughtful and tle, Charlie Watts and Eric Clapton don't hurt. fir= à wry comments on a variety of topics are a welcome addition to the somewhat over -commercial songs that vie for mass atten- SEND IT - Ashford & Simpson - Warner Bros. BS 3088 - tion these days. Piano man, do your stuff. Producer: Nicholas Ashford and Valerie Simpson - List: 6.98 "Letting Go" has never seemed such a viable concept as on MENAGERIE - Bill Withers - Columbia JC 34903 - the title track of this sparkling new offering by this dramatic duo. Producer: Bill Withers, Clarence McDonald, Keni Burke & Clif- The power of positive energy makes this album vibrate with the ford Coulter - List: 7.98 potential force of rational thinking and emotional sincerity. If When the film "Looking For Mr. Goodbar" begins to play in they weren't such good musicians, they would make a dynamic theatres across the country, the alert ear will identify the vocalist team of pop psychologists, stressing the importance of actively who sings "She Wants To Get Down" as Bill Withers, whose dealing with life's many challenges. work on vinyl is as irresistible as the discos that the film's central character haunts night after night. However, this is not a THE BEST OF TAVARES - Capitol ST -11701 - Producer: soundtrack album, but a solid collection of individually crafted various - List: 6.98 songs, each of which is treated with loving care as an entity in Taken from the years 1973 to the present, these Tavares itself. chart -toppers should bring back a bundle of memories. Disco helped spread the Tavares fame far and wide, and its hard to THE SHOW MUST GO ON - Four Tops - ABC AB -1014 - imagine who, except the infirmity -ridden, could resist the urge Producer: Lawrence Payton - List: 6.98 to tap a foot, snap a finger, or clap hands at the infectious The vocal superiority of the seasoned Four Tops is once rhythms contained inside this record jacket. Even anti -disco again the dominant factor in this new offering from the high- fanatics cannot escape the captivating magic of the Tavares powered quartet. The musical arrangements seem tailor-made spell. As they say, "Check It Out." to their singing style and the session men complement that collective vocal skill with a rich undercurrent of sound. Though many of the numbers are dance tunes, the departure from a 1118 - Producer: Joel Dorn - List: 6.98 standard disco beat on many tracks is a fresh and welcome For an artist such as Steve Goodman, who has maintained innovation. primarily a cult following in the past, it is ironic that his most ac- [:o I aENLE4JZNHE LIVE cessible album to date is titled "Say It In Private." The composer I GOLDEN EARRING LIVE - Golden Earring - MCA 2-8009 - of the classic "City Of New Orleans" has come up with some of Producer: John Krlek - List: 9.98 his best songs yet in "My Old Man," "Daley's Gone" (a tongue- Golden Earring is captured live in this two -record package of in-cheek chronicle of the life of Chicago's Mayor Daley), "You're ,2e41 ten selections performed in European concerts. Definitely The Girl I Love" and a cover of the Mary Wells' hit "Two Lovers." aimed at those who like their music in full doses, no tune here is The latter two should gain Goodman Top 40, AOR and MOR less than five minutes in length and all are well -tailored musical airplay. constructions whose passages are fueled with rising action and satisfying crescendo conclusions. Excellent for headphones, COME GO WITH US - Pockets - Columbia PC34879 - wee -hour radio and freeway tie-ups. Producer: Verdine White - List: 6.98 This band projects an aura of excitement that seems to DELUSIONS - First Choice - Gold Mind/Salsoul GZS-7501 promise them a rich future. From the opening cut to the final - Producer: Baker -Harris -Young Productions - List: 6.98 track, these eight gentlemen blend their diverse musical The unstoppable success of the hit single "Doctor Love" has backgrounds into a high-powered collective that is adept at a focused popular attention on this tempting trio once again. This variety of styles from jazz to standard R&B. Their liberal use of collection naturally has a hefty helping of rhythmic dance num- horns and multi -part vocal harmonies give their music a pep bers with a couple of smoky sway numbers to appease the and vitality that should assure them crossover airplay. romantics, and a fine version of Stevie Wonder's "Love Having You Around," in a pleasing package of music with the CARDIAC ARREST - Cameo - Chocolate City/Casablanca Philadelphia sound and a universal beat. CCLP-2003 - Producer: Larry Blackmon - List: 6.98 As a self-appointed spokesman of funk, Larry Blackmon NOT FAR FROM FREE - Don Harrison - Mercury SRM-1- heads up a tight little octet with a playful attitude and a 1185 - Producer: Ken Scott - List: 6.98 sophisticated delivery of primarily disco -oriented material. This time out, the spotlight that Harrison rightly deserves Naturally, R&B airwaves and disco floors were the first ones to does not have to be shared since Harrison has left behind his feel the throb of Cameo but the vibrations have not been con- former associates to record this striking album on his own, with tained there, as Cameo has spread across the land and steadily able support from producer Ken Scott and session men that worked up the pop chart. Their effective treatment of both up - leave him plenty of room. Don's voice, a sensitive and emotive tempo and slower songs should keep them there awhile. instrument, is finally given the artistic range and musical backdrop it has longed for. Even his compositions seem to A DIAMOND IS A HARD ROCK - Legs Diamond - Mercury burst with lyrical pride and new hopefulness. SRM-1-1191 - Producer: Eddie Leonetti - List: 6.98 This high -decibel heavy-metal band takes its moniker from INTOXICATION - Rory Block - Chrysalis CHR-1157 - the "glamorous gangster with class" who earned underworld Producer: Roger Watson & Rory Block - List: 7.98 notoriety earlier this century. Whatever attributes the original Rory Block's debut LP for Chrysalis is a R&B-flavored collec- mobster may have had, some of his characteristics passed on tion of sizzling and spirited tracks. Rory was born white but she to this aggressive, tough no-nonsense band. Their stance has oozes forth such a soulful delivery as to forever lay to rest color been softened somewhat this time out, implying only a greater boundaries that help categorize music but sometimes serve to sense of variety and musical ability and not an indication of their stifle across-the-board acceptance.