Ben Harper [1999] Burn To Shine

[01] Alone
[02] The Woman In You
[03] Less
[04] Two Hands Of A Prayer
[05] Please Bleed
[06] Suzie Blue
[07] Steal My Kisses
[08] Burn To Shine
[09] Show Me A Little Shame
[10] Forgiven
[11] Beloved One
[12] In The Lord's Arms



amg: Burn to Shine presents proof positive that you can always distill the essence of rock & roll down to a solitary man alone with his guitar and conscience. It sounds inventive yet firmly rooted in the blues-rock singer/songwriter/guitarist tradition of Taj Mahal and of Neil Young and Cat Stevens at their most confessional. Harper's guitar with falsetto vocal in "The Woman in You" even suggests a Curtis Mayfield tune in the hands of Prince. "Steal My Kisses" is one of those uncluttered, radio-friendly rock shuffles that simply makes you bob your head and feel better. Even Harper's detours — like the wobbling New Orleans shuffle with the Real Time Jazz Band, "Suzie Blue," and charred Black Sabbath metal in "Less" — prove worth exploring. Other cameos include guitarists David Lindley and former Bob Marley sideman Tyrone Downey. Burn to Shine is a minor masterpiece that may prove to be not so minor.
(amg 8/10)

Bush [1999] The Science Of Things

[01] Warm Machine
[02] Jesus Online
[03] The Chemicals Between Us
[04] English Fire
[05] Spacetravel
[06] 40 Miles From The Sun
[07] Prizefighter
[08] The Disease Of The Dancing Cats
[09] Altered States
[10] Dead Meat
[11] Letting The Cables Sleep
[12] Mindchanger



amg: For their third album, The Science of Things, Bush returned to Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, the Madness producers who helmed Sixteen Stone, but along the way, they fell out with the duo. Rossdale claimed the two were only credited on the album for legal reasons, and that the real work was done by the band with engineer Tom Elmhirst, which is probably true, since it's slicker than Razorblade Suitcase but doesn't glisten like Stone. Science is carefully crafted and sequenced, flowing nicely from hard rockers to power ballads, but little of it catches hold. It plays better than the disjointed Razorblade Suitcase due to studiocraft, since the measured, detailed production fleshes out songs held together by a bare minimum of hooks and melodies. Without hooks, Bush's earnestness is unavoidable. Rossdale's emotive, gut-wrenching vocals and the band's hard, heavy delivery are all this record has to offer and the mystery is why the music has such little impact, either as emotional catharsis (which it was intended to be, if the tenor of the performances and Rossdale's interviews are to be believed) or as catchy commercial hard rock (which is what the best moments of their first two records were). In an effort to develop their own voice and to be taken seriously, Bush have left behind their natural strengths — a knack for melodic hooks and riffs. They're undoubtedly sincere and have delivered a professional record, but once The Science of Things is finished it fades away, since it has neither the emotional nor musical substance to make a lasting impact.
(amg 6/10)

Blackmore's Night [1998] Shadow Of The Moon

[01] Shadow Of The Moon
[02] The Clock Ticks On
[03] Be Mine Tonight
[04] Play Minstrel Play
[05] Ocean Gypsy
[06] Minstrel Hall
[07] Magical World
[08] Writing On The Wall
[09] Renaissance Faire
[10] Memmingen
[11] No Second Chance
[12] Mond Tanz
[13] Spirit Of The Sea
[14] Greensleeves
[15] Wish You Were Here



amg: Shadow of the Moon is the first album by Ritchie Blackmore's beloved Blackmore's Night project. The former Deep Purple and Rainbow guitarist and his fiancée, vocalist Candice Night, created a Renaissance-inspired work with elements of folk, new age, and occasional bits of electric guitar. Blackmore even plays bass, mandolin, drum (yes, singular), and tambourine. Night's voice isn't powerful, but it's bright and sweet, making it perfect for this style of music. Other musicians include co-producer Pat Regan on keyboards and the Minstrel Hall Consort; Gerald Flashman on recorder, trumpet, and French horn; Tom Brown on cello; and Lady Green on violin and viola. Most songs are original compositions but some are based on traditional melodies. "Shadow of the Moon" is a marvelous opener; it's catchy, haunting, and propulsive. Blackmore shreds on acoustic guitar and lets the electric guitar slip into the background for faint power chords. Regal, majestic horns lend an elegance to "The Clock Ticks On," which addresses the passage of time and a yearning to live in the past. "Play Minstrel Play" features Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, one of Blackmore's favorite musicians. The song moves along pleasantly until about halfway through when it explodes into a frantic, handclaps-led pace with Anderson's wild flute solo. The warmth of "Ocean Gypsy" makes it the song most easily classified as new age here; Blackmore plays a gentle but swift acoustic guitar melody under Night's softly yearning vocals. "Writing on the Wall" is quite fast and has a danceable beat, and there's even a blowout jam at the end. Blackmore's electric guitar work is the most prominent on "No Second Chance" and "Wish You Were Here." The instrumental "Possum's Last Dance" is a U.S.-only bonus track.
(amg 6/10)

Black Box Recorder [1998] England Made Me

[01] Girl Singing In The Wreckage
[02] England Made Me
[03] New Baby Boom
[04] It's Only The End Of The World
[05] Ideal Home
[06] Child Psychology
[07] I. C. One Female
[08] Up Town Topranking
[09] Swinging
[10] Kidnapping An Heiress
[11] Hated Sunday
[12] Wonderful Life
[13] Seasons In The Sun
[14] Factory Radio
[15] Lord Lucan Is Missing



amg: With the gentle acoustic-electric guitar mix, metronomic drum beats, and Sarah Nixey's lovely breathy vocals, England Made Me does not seem on the surface to be a sardonic comment on anything, but rather an exquisite, even upbeat, bit of pop. The more one digs, however, the more one unburies. Black Box Recorder are harshly critical of life in England, the bland, dull mundaneness of daily living as well as the stale political world, and their debut album touches on issues ranging from teenage sex and single mothers to repressive family life and wife swapping. Such topics are seemingly impossible to weave into listenable pop music, but the songs that multi-instrumentalists Luke Haines and John Moore write are cleanly stylized in a way that conceals the raw-nerved lives their characters exist in but are also reflective of the internalization of such relentless barrenness. External appearances often belie the reality, the gnawing discomfort in the gut. Whereas you would expect a song called "Girl Singing in the Wreckage" to be malevolent, it is instead sweetly affecting, but also world-weary and reflective, making it sound less cynical than innocently aware of the inconsistency in which it exists. Black Box Recorder seemingly approach their subjects without judgment; the band, though, does not shy away from cynicism. Many of the songs on England Made Me are, at least lyrically, severe, naked reminders of a bloodless existence. The title song is a funereal lament, and songs such as "It's Only the End of the World" and "Hated Sunday" are sad-sack gloomy tunes that are capable of inspiring open weeping in two ways — with their base bleakness and with the beautifully brittle music. Even when Black Box Recorder do inject a bit of pop cheerfulness into the music, it is seemingly done ironically. Each song sounds sparse because it is infused with a spatial quality that suggests beneath it all there is only emptiness, and nothing good comes from emptiness. In "Child Psychology," Nixey repeats the couplet "Life is unfair/Kill yourself or get over it" like a mantra. One gets the feeling that the way Black Box Recorder get over it is through their music, which can make England Made Me a suffocating listen if experienced in more than short spurts.
(amg 7/10)

Brian May [1998] Another World

[01] Space
[02] Business
[03] China Belle
[04] Why Don't We Try Again
[05] On My Way Up
[06] Cyborg
[07] The Guv'nor
[08] Wilderness
[09] Slow Down
[10] One Rainy Wish
[11] All The Way From Memphis
[12] Another World



amg: "Business," the second song on Brian May's third solo album, finds the guitarist recording the type of ferocious hard rock that he became known for with Queen in the early '70s. With a great pop hook and churning heavy guitars, it's arguably the best thing he's done as a solo artist. The rest of the album doesn't quite live up to its opening, but it shows May has grown more confident in his singing and in playing balls-to-the-wall hard rock than on 1992's Back to the Light. Songs like "China Belle" and "The Guv'nor" contain enough '70s-styled bombastic rock to satisfy May's many fans, while "On My Way Up," with its catchy groove and gospel-like backup singers, is irresistible in its optimism. Unfortunately, May does get lost at times. His ballads tend to come off as bland compared to the ones he wrote while in Queen, while the over-the-top metal exercise, "Cyborg," with its processed vocals, doesn't work at all. May is much better sticking to what he knows best, catchy but eccentric hard rock. The album draws near a close with three covers, and while two of them, including Jimi Hendrix's "One Rainy Wish," do come off as clunky, May's spirited live version of Mott the Hoople's "All the Way From Memphis" is absolutely riveting.
(amg 5/10)

BB King [1997] Deuces Wild

[01] If You Love Me
[02] The Thrill Is Gone
[03] Rock Me Baby
[04] Please Send Me Someone To Love
[05] Baby I Love You
[06] Ain't Nobody Home
[07] There Must Be A Better World Somewhere
[08] Confessin' The Blues
[09] Paying The Cost To Be The Boss
[10] Dangerous Mood
[11] Keep It Coming
[12] Cryin' Won't Help You
[13] Night Life

With [01] Van Morrison [02] Tracy Chapman [03] Eric Clapton [04] Mick Hucknall [05] Bonnie Raitt [06] D'Angelo [07] Dr. John [08] Marty Stuart [09] Rolling Stones [10] Joe Cocker [11] Heavy D [12] David Gilmour and Paul Carrack [13] Willie Nelson



amg: This is B.B.'s celebrity duet album, and a straight-ahead blues album this is not. But longtime fans who are aware of King's genre-stretching capabilities will find much to savor here. Kicking off with B.B. playing some beautiful fills and solo work behind Van Morrison on "If You Love Me," the superstars start lining up to jam with the King, with Tracy Chapman ("The Thrill Is Gone"), Eric Clapton (a funkified "Rock Me Baby"), the Rolling Stones ("Paying the Cost to Be the Boss," with a fine harp solo from Mick Jagger), Willie Nelson (his "Nightlife," long a standard in B.B.'s set list), Bonnie Raitt ("Baby I Love You"), and Marty Stuart ("Confessin' the Blues") all turning in fine efforts. The only clinker aboard here is an ill-advised attempt to make a rap record with Heavy D, the execrable "Keep It Coming."
(amg 5/10)

Boston [1997] Greatest Hits

[01] Tell Me
[02] Higher Power
[03] More Than A Feeling
[04] Peace Of Mind
[05] Don't Look Back
[06] Cool The Engines
[07] Livin' For You
[08] Feelin' Satisfied
[09] Party
[10] Foreplay - Long Time
[11] Amanda
[12] Rock & Roll Band
[13] Smokin'
[14] A Man I'll Never Be
[15] The Star Spangled Banner - 4th Of July Reprise
[16] Higher Power (Kalodner Edit)



amg: Since Tom Scholz is such a slow worker, there were only four Boston albums between the group's 1976 debut and this Greatest Hits collection in 1997. That may mean that there isn't much music to compile, as the reliance on their biggest-selling album, Boston, suggests, but that doesn't matter for most casual fans, since Greatest Hits gathers all of their best songs, from "More Than a Feeling" to "Amanda," on one compact disc. For the collector, the record isn't quite as appealing, even if it contains three new songs as bait. These three songs simply don't deliver the melodic punch or guitar crunch that distinguishes the group's best work. It's nice to hear original vocalist Brad Delp on "Higher Power," but "Tell Me" is slight, and an instrumental version of "The Star Spangled Banner" is nearly an insult. So, for the devoted, Greatest Hits is a mixed bag, but for less dedicated listeners, it may be all the Boston they need.
(8/10)

Blues Traveler [1997] Straight On Till Morning

[01] Carolina Blues
[02] Felicia
[03] Justify The Thrill
[04] Canadian Rose
[05] Business As Usual
[06] Yours
[07] Psycho Joe
[08] Great Big World
[09] Battle Of Someone
[10] Most Precarious
[11] The Gunfighter
[12] Last Night I Dreamed
[13] Make My Way



amg: The commercial success of Four was a mixed blessing for Blues Traveler. It did give them a wider audience, but it also put them in the delicate position of pleasing their new, hook-happy fans while retaining their hardcore, jam-oriented cult following. They skillfully manage to do just that on Straight on Till Morning, the bluesy, ambitious follow-up to Four. On the whole, Straight on Till Morning is a tougher album than any of its predecessors, boasting a gritty sound and several full-on jams. But the key to the album is its length and its sprawling collection of songs, which find Blues Traveler trying anything from country-rock to jangling pop/rock. They manage to be simultaneously succinct and eclectic, and they occasionally throw in a good pop hook or two. Blues Traveler are still too loose to be a true pop/rock band, and John Popper would still benefit from a sense of meter, but Straight on Till Morning is the first studio record that captures the essence of the band.
(amg 7/10)

Ben Harper [1997] The Will To Live

[01] Faded
[02] Homeless Child
[03] Number Three
[04] Roses From My Friends
[05] Jah Work
[06] I Want To Be Ready
[07] The Will To Live
[08] Ashes
[09] Widow Of A Living Man
[10] Glory & Consequence
[11] Mama's Trippin'
[12] I Shall Not Walk Alone



amg: On his third album, Will to Live, Ben Harper strengthens his populist folk with a grittier groove, which even borders on funk, that makes his music more immediate. Harper still has a tendency to preach, yet his melodies are catchier than before, and he has a better sense of rhythm, helping his bluesy songs catch hold.
(amg 7/10)

Belle And Sebastian [1996] If You're Feeling Sinister

[01] The Stars Of Track And Field
[02] Seeing Other People
[03] Me And The Major
[04] Like Dylan In The Movies
[05] The Fox In The Snow
[06] Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying
[07] If You're Feeling Sinister
[08] Mayfly
[09] The Boy Done Wrong Again
[10] Judy And The Dream Of Horses



amg: Belle & Sebastian's second record, If You're Feeling Sinister, is, for all intents and purposes, really their first, since their debut in 1996 was not heard outside of privileged inner circles. And If You're Feeling Sinister really did have quite a bit of an impact upon its release in 1996, largely because during the first half of the '90s the whimsy and preciousness that had been an integral part of alternative music was suppressed by grunge. Whimsy and preciousness are an integral part of If You're Feeling Sinister, along with clever wit and gentle, intricate arrangements — a wonderful blend of the Smiths and Simon & Garfunkel, to be reductive. Even if it's firmly within the college, bed-sit tradition, and is unabashedly retrogressive, that gives Sinister a special, timeless character that's enhanced by Stuart Murdoch's wonderful, lively songwriting. Blessed with an impish sense of humor, a sly turn of phrase, and an alluringly fey voice, he gives this record a real sense of backbone, in that its humor is far more biting than the music appears and the music is far more substantial that it initially seems. Sinister plays like a great forgotten album, couched in '80s indie, '90s attitude, and '60s folk-pop. It's beautifully out of time, and even if other Belle & Sebastian albums sound like it, this is where they achieved a sense of grace.
(amg 10/10)

Bush [1996] Razorblade Suitcase

[01] Personal Holloway
[02] Greedy Fly
[03] Swallowed
[04] Insect Kin
[05] Cold Contagious
[06] A Tendency To Start Fires
[07] Mouth
[08] Straight No Chaser
[09] History
[10] Synapse
[11] Communicator
[12] Bonedriven
[13] Distant Voices



amg: Bush were criticized from most quarters of the music press for sounding too much like Nirvana on their debut album, Sixteen Stone, so in order to shed all of the comparisons, well, they hired producer Steve Albini (Nirvana, Pixies, PJ Harvey) and proceeded to record their own version of Nirvana's dark, difficult In Utero. Actually, Razorblade Suitcase, Bush's second album, cribs heavily from two of Albini's best productions, In Utero and Pixies' Surfer Rosa — they even hired Vaughan Oliver, the designer behind Surfer Rosa, to do the artwork. Of course, relying so much on their idols only brings out Bush's weakness. Granted, Albini has helped make the band sound tougher, simply by stripping away the layers of effects and concentrating on a hard, driving rhythm and stop-start dynamics. The problem is that Gavin Rossdale has not come up with any hooks, which means that while Razorblade Suitcase is more pleasing and visceral on the surface, it offers no hooks to make it memorable, unlike the hit singles from Sixteen Stone.
(amg 5/10)

Bryan Adams [1995] Live! Live! Live!

[01] She's Only Happy When She's Dancin'
[02] It's Only Love
[03] Cuts Like A Knife
[04] Kids Wanna Rock
[05] Hearts On Fire
[06] Take Me Back
[07] The Best Was Yet To Come
[08] Heaven
[09] Heat Of The Night
[10] Run To You
[11] One Night Love Affair
[12] Long Gone
[13] Summer Of '69
[14] Somebody
[15] Walking After Midnight
[16] I Fought The Law
[17] Into The Fire



amg: Bryan Adams's Live! Live! Live! is a straightforward live album, featuring his greatest hits replicated in concert. Adams' support band is professional and he is in fine voice, but the record doesn't offer any new interpretations of the hits, nor does it have much energy. Consequently, it isn't necessary for anyone but the most dedicated fans.
(amg 4/10)

Ben Harper [1995] Fight For Your Mind

[01] Oppression
[02] Ground On Down
[03] Another Lonely Boy
[04] Please Me Like You Want To
[05] Glod to Me
[06] Burn One Down
[07] Excuse Me Mr.
[08] People Lead
[09] Fight For Your Mind
[10] Give A Man A Home
[11] By My Side
[12] Power Of The Gospel
[13] God Fearing Man
[14] One Road To Freedom



amg: Fight for Your Mind fully embraces Ben Harper's influences (Dylan, Marley, Havens, and Hendrix) into a complete sound while simultaneously broadening his thematic and musical palette. Oliver Charles' tactile drumming and Leon Mobley's percussion work give a sparkle to Harper's music that was absent on his debut. Songs like "Gold to Me" and "Excuse Me Mr." show Harper growing as a poet, approaching ideas via more subtle avenues. The single "Ground on Down" and epic jam "God Fearing Man" capture some of the explosive energy of his live performances. The latter makes allusions to "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," and that's exactly what Harper does — allows his trademark Weissenborn guitar to scream out to his audience. The only misstep on this album is his sophomoric weed anthem "Burn One Down," but one might argue that a little tarnish adds character.
(amg 8/10)

Big Audio Dynamite [1995] Planet BAD - Greatest Hits

[01] The Bottom Line
[02] E=MC2
[03] Medicine Show
[04] C'mon Every Beatbox
[05] V. Thirteen
[06] Sightsee M.C.!
[07] Just Play Music!
[08] Other 99
[09] Contact
[10] Free
[11] Rush
[12] The Globe
[13] Looking For A Song
[14] Harrow Road
[15] I Turned Out A Punk



amg: Culling together tracks chosen from a decade's (and seven albums') worth of material, Planet BAD serves as a focused, well-chosen compilation of Mick Jones' post-Clash outfit. Although neither as critically or commercially successful as the Clash, Big Audio Dynamite's blend of rock and dance music, with a generous dose of samples, was a fixture on college radio in the mid- to late '80s with tracks like "E=MC2," "The Bottom Line," and "C'mon Every Beatbox" (all included here). The band even managed to make a foray onto the U.S. Top 40 charts in 1992 with the infectious "Rush." With his place already secure in rock annals, Jones' work with BAD was much more lighthearted, but it cannily anticipated the influence electronics and technology would have on music. Despite the dated feel of some of Planet BAD, it's also undeniable that the band was a more interesting venture than it was sometimes given credit.
(amg 9/10)

Billy Squier [1995] 16 Strokes - Best Of

[01] The Stroke
[02] In The Dark
[03] My Kinda Lover
[04] Emotions In Motion
[05] Everybody Wants You
[06] She's A Runner
[07] Rock Me Tonight
[08] All Night Long
[09] Eye On You
[10] Love Is The Hero
[12] Don't Let Me Go
[13] She Goes Down
[14] Tied Up
[15] Facts Of Life
[16] (L. O. V. E.) Four Letter Word



amg: All of Billy Squier's best material is dished out on 16 Strokes, from the simplistic contagiousness of "The Stroke" to the Van Halen-like fervency of "Tied Up." His rock & roll flamboyancy, a mix of hard but not heavy guitar riffs wrapped around spirited just-for-fun three-minute outpourings, was best established through his singles and not the entirety of his albums. Squier's wild, sexually inundated feistiness is best represented here on a compilation, where the sleekness of "Everybody Wants You" is found in the same place as the naughty "She Goes Down." Both "In the Dark" and "My Kinda Lover" from 1981's Don't Say No pop up here, as does his smoothest of songs, "Emotions in Motion" from the album of the same name. His later songs from the early '90s don't include the catchy grandeur or congenial rock hollowness of his first three albums, but their appearance on 16 Strokes is the best place to hear them. Efforts like the bombastic "Don't Say You Love Me" or the transparent sincerity of "Facts of Life" still harbor Squier's greasy vocal approach, but work better here as the conclusion to a singles anthology than as the end of an album's worth of this song type. The keyboard-drenched "Rock Me Tonite" is another highlight here, as is the breakneck pace of "All Night Long," the two best outcrops from 1984's Signs of Life album. This collection may not be as indulgent as his two-disc best-of, but it's more than enough for anyone who's interested.
(amg 8/10)