Slow Updates

Sorry for the lack of updates over the past couple of days - I'm finally settled back in Knoxville (for another week, until I have to move again), but I'm not sure that I'll be able to do an in-depth review until sometime next week, maybe Monday or Tuesday. Until then, I plan on stopping by Lost and Found Records. I'll post if I buy anything.

Dixie Dregs - What If

No time for a full review tonight - I'll do that soon - but What If by the Dixie Dregs is a really great album. "Odyssey" is a killer song.

New Additions

Made a final Wuxtry run today and came away with some impulse buys:

Dixie Dregs - What If
Camel - Moonmadness

I've listened to a couple of songs off the Dregs album, and I'm very impressed. Reviews and pics coming soon.

LP Review: King Crimson - Starless and Bible Black

After gorging myself on Lizard and Larks' Tongues in Aspic recently, King Crimson's Starless and Bible Black is a teeny bit of a letdown. Sure, this album is still an essential for fans of the band, but it lacks a bit of the same energy and originality of the preceding albums.

There's still plenty to love: "The Great Deceiver" is as good an album opener as you'll find, and "The Night Watch" is an incredibly beautiful song and is in fact my favorite John Wetton vocal performance. (Call me crazy, but I'm not a big fan of his vocals in general. I don't know what it is, but there's something slightly off-putting about the tone of his voice...) Side 2 features two lengthy songs that, to be blunt, just aren't as good as the instrumentals/longer numbers on Lizard, Red or Larks'.

Overall, I'd say this is the weakest King Crimson album of the '70s. It's still a pleasure to hear, but it falls shy of the mark set by Larks' Tongues the previous year.

King Crimson personnel:
Bill Bruford - drums
David Cross - violin, viola, keys
Robert Fripp - guitars
John Wetton - bass, vocals

Track - Time (Composers)
Side 1
1. The Great Deceiver - 4:02 (Wetton, Fripp, Palmer-James)
2. Lament - 4:00 (Fripp, Wetton, Palmer-James)
3. We'll Let You Know - 3:46 (Cross, Fripp, Wetton, Bruford)
4. The Night Watch - 4:37 (Fripp, Wetton, Palmer-James)
5. Trio - 5:41 (Cross, Fripp, Wetton, Bruford)
6. The Mincer - 4:10 (Cross, Fripp, Wetton, Bruford, Palmer-James)

Side 2
1. Starless and Bible Black - 9:11 (Cross, Fripp, Wetton, Bruford)
2. Frature - 11:14 (Fripp)

Purchased at Schoolkids Records in Athens, GA
Condition: G

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LP Review: Yes - Relayer

Structurally, Relayer is very similar to Close to the Edge: Side 1 is comprised of a ~20-minute-long epic, while Side 2 features two other pretty long songs that reveal a different dimension of the band. Maybe since Close to the Edge is regarded by many as the quintessential progressive rock masterpiece, it isn't fair to compare the two, but I'm going to anyway because I just don't give a fuck.

Relayer's album art is roughly seventy quo-gillion times better than Close to the Edge's green-fade job. The full band pic on the inside cover is a nice touch as well, although the way everyone's positioned around that bench in the middle of a pleasant field somewhere sort of makes Yes seem like a bunch of pansies. There's a badass snake on the back, though, so I guess that counts for something.

"Gates of Delirium" is the mammoth track this time around, and to be perfectly clear, it probably isn't as good as "Close to the Edge." Then again, not many songs are, and by any reasonable measure it's still an astounding work of art. It does take its time getting going, but once it does, it really does not let up. Steve Howe is masterful throughout, contributing some incredible solos and rhythm parts, and new keyboardist Patrick Moraz is no slouch either. There is one section in the middle of the song, a very thunderous and chaotic part with what sounds like swords clashing (the lyrics are as indecipherable as ever, but I think the song is about a battle of some sort). During this section, the drums and bass get really quiet, which makes me sort of lose track of what's going on. As I become more comfortable with the track, I'm sure I'll get used to it, but this is not a point in Relayer's favor. Overall, as I said, this song just doesn't stick with you like "Close to the Edge" does.

Side 2 kicks off with "Sound Chaser," a blazing-fast virtuosic whirlwind in which Yes seem to be saying, "Yeah, Bruford and Wakeman are gone, but clearly we don't need them." There isn't an equivalent to this song on Close to the Edge, but it's more like "Siberian Khatru" than "And You and I," and for my money it's much better than "Siberian Khatru." It's certainly not catchy, but the instrumental sections are mesmerizing. "To Be Over" closes out Relayer with a somewhat forced attempt at something pretty. They're successful to an extent, but "And You and I" wins hands-down.

I suppose Close to the Edge is a better album, but I don't think I've reached my potential with Relayer quite yet. I've had the album for two days, and it generally takes a bit longer than two days to become comfortable with a 21-minute song. However, I've definitely heard enough to say that Relayer is an essential album for prog fans.

One interesting note: Yes released consecutively Close to the Edge, Tales from Topographic Oceans and Relayer. Tales spans 2 LPs and contains a whopping four songs. So that means, over three albums and four vinyls, Yes released just ten songs. All but "Siberian Khatru" clock in at nine minutes or longer, and that song is only three seconds shy. Six of the ten top eighteen (!!!) minutes.

So when critics of progressive rock point to Yes as the prime example of how overblown and demanding the genre can be, I suppose they have a point.

Yes personnel:
Jon Anderson - vocals
Chris Squire - bass and vocals
Steve Howe - guitars and vocals
Patrick Moraz - keyboards
Alan White - drums

Track - Time
Side 1
1. Gates of Delirium - 22:55

Side 2
1. Sound Chaser - 9:25
2. To Be Over - 9:08
All songs written and arranged by Yes

Purchased at Wuxtry Records in Athens, GA
Condition: F (some minor water damage)

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Inside:

Updates Forthcoming

I didn't post yesterday because Sunday is the Lord's day. Actually it is just because I'm a very lazy person and didn't get any of my math done and had to do it all yesterday, leaving little time for taking shitty pictures of records and uploading them to blogtown.

Today, though! Today I'm posting pics and reviews of both King Crimson's Starless and Bible Black and Yes's Relayer.

A quick preview: Starless is pretty good and Relayer is kickfuckingass.

LP Review: Yes - Close to the Edge

I bought Relayer today, but I'm going to need a little (lot) more time to digest that album. Here's a review of Close to the Edge instead. In response to criticisms concerning the lack of grandiloquence in recent reviews, I have somewhat altered my writing style for this review.

When I consider Yes's Close to the Edge, I cannot help but think of God on His throne in the year 1971, pondering all He had created to this point. He is pleased, but discontent; "The world of man is missing something!" He cries. "There is grace, there is beauty, there is majesty - but the humans have nothing that is the embodiment of all three!" He considers showing Himself to Man, but such overt actions displease Him. And then, in His infinite wisdom, God says: "Mankind needs a masterpiece. I shall inspire Man to create a great work, and it shall live forever atop the pinnacle of human creation!"

Soon thereafter, God spoke to Steve Howe and Jon Anderson, and thus the seeds of Close to the Edge were sown.

This album is perfection carved in vinyl, two sides of such staggering genius that it is a sheer wonder anyone accomplished anything at all after its release. The breadth of the human experience is captured here, masterfully intoned by Yes, those modern-day apostles of truth. So frighteningly wondrous was the creative energy that drummer Bill Bruford, so as not to be driven insane by constant visions of euphoria, left the band after recording this album.

Side 1 is occupied by the titular "Close to the Edge," a work of such noble perfection that one may believe it is the reason for the Mona Lisa's knowing smile. The initial swell of sound is accompanied by surreptitious synthesizer, played by the nimble fingers of Rick Wakeman, and from this grand crescendo is born a dizzying whirlwind of virtuosity, an avalanche of pure sonic domination, a joyful noise akin to the sound of stars - nay, galaxies - forming amidst the chaos of our universe's creation, shocking the listener's mind and utterly ruining all preconceived notions of what music is and should be.

Now held at rapt attention, the listener is introduced to the astral tonality of Jon Anderson's angelic voice, as he recites such profound and powerful lines: "A seasoned witch could call you from the depths of your disgrace / And rearrange your liver to the solid mental grace..." Do not fear, gentle reader, if these words confuse or worry you, for they convey a message that perhaps humankind is simply not read to understand! However, upon reading the poetry, one can certainly sense the genius contained just below the surface, elusive and mysterious. Chris Squire's powerful bass lines together with Bruford's savage drumming conjure images of Thor destroying his foes with booming thumps from his eternal hammer. This aural lovemaking is sometimes put aside for moments of absolute tranquility; one's soul feels suspended amidst the heavens by Rick Wakeman's gentle and delicate soundscapes. And we shall certainly not forget Steve Howe, whose blistering solos are streaks of lighting against this perfect summer night sky.

"Close to the Edge" is a cerebral truthsong, an abstract shadow of God, a mathematical passion play, a perfect reflection of the true nature of the universe - and it is accompanied on Side 2 by "And You and I," a warm and stunningly gorgeous song that is proof of the existence of love, and "Siberian Khatru," a rollocking affair capturing the happiness of friendship and the innocent goodness that lives within us all. Taken as a whole, these three masterpieces are at once life-altering and life-affirming.

As I paw around like a blind man, searching in vain for the proper words to sum up Close to the Edge, I am reminded of the story of Jesus Christ, a mortal with divine power and knowledge, who was willingly slaughtered so that humanity may be saved. So it was with Yes - with Bruford's departure, the band was never the same. They would never again approach such magnificence; perhaps mortals simply cannot handle such gifts of creation. But just as Jesus died to give mankind hope, so too did Yes record this album, the ultimate manifestation of glory, a musical experience that will touch and embolden your soul - if only you shall allow it!

Purchased at Wuxtry Records in Athens, GA
Condition: Ethereal

Yes purveyors of wonder:
Jon Anderson - vocals
Chris Squire - bass, vocals
Rick Wakeman - keys
Bill Bruford - drums
Steve Howe - guitars, vocals

Tracks - Times (Composers)
Side 1
1. Close to the Edge - 18:50 (Music: Yes, Lyrics: Anderson, Howe)

Side 2
1. And You and I - 10:09 (Music: Yes, Lyrics: Anderson)
2. Siberian Khatru - 8:57 (Music: Yes, Lyrics: Anderson)

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Inside:




(I really do love this album, but this review is mostly a joke. I would like to believe that I didn't need to say this.)