The Echo of a Distant Time: July 2022

Thursday, July 21, 2022

On This Day, 1987: Appetite for Destruction is unleashed on an unsuspecting world

#OTD 1987: Want to feel old? This thing is turning 35 - As ubiquitous an album as there ever has been in my lifetime. I am not at all in the mood to listen to Guns N’ Roses these days - in more of a Bach and Mozart mood - but they were a juggernaut. Even now - with Slash and Duff having reunited with Axl Rose some years back - they are one of the bigger touring acts in the world, their back catalog continues to sell in big numbers, and their music is seemingly everywhere. While the ‘90s produced many huge rock acts - and not so much since then - there simply has not been a band that was quite as big as Guns N’ Roses were in the late ‘80s and into the early ‘90s. Purely in terms of popularity, U2 and Metallica about equaled them, and Pearl Jam came very close for a couple of years, but nobody was bigger (of course, I’m talking specifically about bands that were contemporaries of Guns N’ Roses, not including earlier acts that even now remain huge, i.e. the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, etc. But even on that count, GNR compares very favorably to anybody at all.) It could be argued that, for all intents and purposes, GNR were the last of the seriously decadent, over-the-top rock and roll bands before the genre was watered down and rap/hip-hop largely replaced it as the music of rebellious youth. And they played the part of decadent rock gods all too well; all of that crap is well-documented in countless forums, I’m not going to present any history of Guns N’ Roses here. The fact that all of the relevant players are still alive is just a wonder. So, no actual review - I’ve already spent enough time just coming up with this paragraph, and I’m busy - but you all know it and love it: it’s Appetite for Destruction, the most important rock and roll album of the 1980s.

GRADE: A+

Thursday, July 7, 2022

On This Date, 1977: YES releases 'Going for the One'

YES onstage in 1977. From Left to Right: Alan White, Steve Howe, Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman, and Chris Squire. Getty Images/BBC

YES: Going for the One - Released on this day in 1977. A timeless, flawless album that nonetheless sounded out of place for its time and in its environment. The United Kingdom was in a very dark mood in 1977, exemplified musically by the burgeoning Punk Rock movement, and also brilliantly reflected by Pink Floyd on their masterpiece of that year, ‘Animals.’ YES is still operating very much in the spirit of the Summer of Love here, so in the context of 1977 ‘Going for the One’ was viewed as an anachronism and out-of-touch. In spite of that, the album managed to sell fairly well (and in spite of a truly awful choice for cover art, featuring a naked man’s buttocks, that undoubtedly turned off Middle American male teenagers who otherwise were lapping this stuff up in the ‘70s. Remember, we’re talking about 1977, and even now we are not as enlightened in matters of sexuality as we pretend to believe. However, let’s also be clear that one does not have to be a raging homophobe to not want to look at another person’s bare ass, but I digress.) YES even managed to notch their highest-charting single ever in the UK, ‘Wonderous Stories’ (peaked at No. 7. By contrast, their biggest American single - the No. 1 ‘Owner of a Lonely Heart’ from 1983, only peaked at No. 28 in the UK.) Rick Wakeman’s return to the band after being away for close to three years no doubt helped sales, even in the midst of a pretty vicious backlash against Progressive Rock in the UK. The unfortunate choice of cover art, however, was made worse by the fact that the imagery had absolutely nothing to do with the contents of the album. With its depiction of a naked man standing in front of the Century Towers in Los Angeles, the cover suggests something futuristic, but pretty much all of ‘Going for the One’ is nostalgic and/or pastoral in nature. The Chris Squire standout ‘Parallels’ - arguably the most modern-sounding track - opens with a glorious Rick Wakeman organ line straight out of the Baroque Era. The emotional and sweeping Steve Howe showcase ‘Turn of the Century’ is not looking forward to the coming Millennium, but is rather wistful for the Victorian Age. The two tracks that make up side two - the UK radio hit ‘Wonderous Stories’ and the supremely majestic epic ‘Awaken’ - speak to matters that transcend time and space. Even the raucous opening title track - one of the hardest-rocking songs in the entire YES catalog - looks back a couple decades with its Rockabilly flourishes via Steve Howe’s steel guitar. ‘Going for the One’ is an album that is accessible enough for more mainstream and casual listeners, and still pleasing to the devoted fans who demand complexity and unconventionality. By my count, YES has exactly eight albums that are basically perfect from beginning-to-end - all of them recorded between 1971 and 1983, with only one record in that entire period not being up to par, 1978’s ‘Tormato.’ ‘Going for the One’ is a vibrant, life-affirming record, and the sound of the most masterful musicians of their age at the height of their magical powers. With the recent passing of drummer Alan White and the passing of Chris Squire in 2015, this record has only taken on more poignancy for me. As essential a record as there is.

GRADE: A+

Wednesday, July 6, 2022

On This Date, 1972: Emerson, Lake and Palmer release Trilogy

Hipgnosis

Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Trilogy - Released 50 years ago today, July 6, 1972. This album and its follow-up, Brain Salad Surgery, are the ultimate peak of the legendary (or infamously) aristocratic and bombastic ELP. Easily a tighter, more-focused affair than the album that preceded it, 1971’s Tarkus. How many times have I heard ‘From the Beginning’ over the years? Maybe 10,000 times or so, yet that spacey outro never fails to send a chill down my spine. The perfect song for around Midnight. Another classic rock radio staple to this day is the wonderful take on Copland, ‘Hoedown.’ How I love that technicolor moment about three minutes into the title track when the tempo picks up pace dramatically, like Dorothy entering the Land of Oz. The closing march, ‘Abaddon’s Bolero,’ is pure bliss. Frankly, after not having played Trilogy from beginning-to-end and in one sitting in many years, I was a bit surprised by how much I enjoyed revisiting this record. ELP is not my absolute favorite band from the era, but this is an absolutely essential masterwork of 1970s Progressive and Classic Rock, no questions asked. (That cover, on the other hand, is hideous. There was a strange trend of bands consisting of pale, skinny, ugly white guys posing shirtless for publicity photos and album covers at that time.)

GRADE: A

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

On This Date, 1972: Frank Zappa's Waka/Jawaka is released

Cal Schenkel

Frank Zappa: Waka/Jawaka - Released 50 years ago today - July 5, 1972. The 17:23 instrumental opener ‘Big Swifty’ is top-notch, ultra-quirky jazz fusion that explicitly pays tribute to Miles, and is guaranteed to greatly irritate anyone with more conventional tastes. Two shorter vocal tracks in the middle are at least as quirky, but do not really stand out relative to the overall multitude of satirical songs Zappa put forth in his time. Then, however, we come to the 11:17 instrumental closing title track, and another great ear worm for those of us who are demented enough to enjoy this sort of thing. For the two pieces bookending it, Waka/Jawaka is a must-have for all fans of Progressive Rock, Jazz Fusion, Free Jazz, and novelty songs.

GRADE: A-

Inaugural Post: Hey Hey Rise Up

Please continue to stream and download 'Hey Hey Rise Up.' All proceeds go to Ukrainian relief efforts. -