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Abraxas by Santana (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

Abraxas by Santana (Vinyl record album review)

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never been a big Santana fan, presumably because had a song called Smooth that was not very good, and that was played around a million times in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I may have listened to this record once.

What I expected

Guitar riffs and psychedelic rock.

What it was actually like

It was jazzier in parts than I expected, and more of a hard rock record, though I’m not sure it’s entirely fair to distinguish “hard rock” from “psychedelic rock,” as it was plenty psychedelic too. Lots of parts were very enchanting, and I enjoyed listening to all of it, particularly Black Magic Woman, though Incident at Neshabur did get a bit boring at times.

Grade

4/5: would listen again

Fresh Cream by Cream (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

Fresh Cream by Cream (Vinyl record album review)

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve been a Cream fan since high school and have listened to this record a lot.

What I expected

Cream’s debut record: rock and blues.

What it was actually like

While I think most people would agree that Disraeli Gears is Cream’s best record and one of the greatest records of all time, Fresh Cream, their debut record, is also outstanding. I Feel Free and I’m So Glad are the hits, and I think Toad is also well known (and my favorite on the record, despite being instrumental only).

It can be easy to forget the extent to which, when this was recorded in 1966, electric blues and blues rock were not really well defined concepts and had not known commercial success. Listening to this record, especially the most bluesy songs on it like Sleepy Time Time and Rollin’ And Tumblin’, it’s really fascinating to compare with, for example, what the Beatles were recording at the same time, and how much Fresh Cream made history.

Grade

5/5: love it

Never A Dull Moment by Rod Stewart (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Never A Dull Moment
  • Artist name: Rod Stewart
  • Year: 1972
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Mercury
  • Collection: Brenner / Gessner
  • Distinguishing characteristics: “G” written on top left of album, indicating that my father owned this record
  • Buy it:

Never A Dull Moment by Rod Stewart

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never been a fan of Rod Stewart, even though in high school I had a (female) physics teacher who looked just like him.

What I expected

Rod Stewart’s scratchy, unappealing voice.

What it was actually like

“Never A Dull Moment” is a bizarrely bold title for this record, as I counted more than a few dull moments on it. That said, for anyone who’s able to get past Rod Stewart’s abysmal singing voice, the music on this might be very appealing, with lots of great rock and blues-rock songs.

None of the songs stood out as particularly worse than the others, but I thought the most interesting was his cover of Sam Cooke’s Twistin’ The Night Away, a song that highlights Sam Cooke’s famously smooth and beautiful singing voice that is 180 degrees opposite from Rod Stewart’s. Cooke’s version is really all about his vocals, while Stewart’s version is a rock song and nearly stands on its own without vocals. If Cooke had lived, I wonder what his impression of it would have been.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

Smackwater Jack by Quincy Jones (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Smackwater Jack
  • Artist name: Quincy Jones
  • Year: 1971
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: A&M Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Hole punched through top left of album
    • “PROMOTION COPY / NOT FOR SALE” printed on both sides of record
  • Buy it:

Smackwater Jack by Quincy Jones

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve heard of Quincy Jones, but don’t know anything about him. The only song on this record that I know is the Marvin Gaye song What’s Going On?.

What I expected

Maybe soul?

What it was actually like

I really enjoyed some parts of this, but it was very uneven.

The best parts were the jazz songs with the most funk, R&B and rock elements: Smackwater Jack and Cast Your Fate to the Wind on side one, and Hikky-Burr (which, according to Wikipedia, was the theme song from The Bill Cosby Show and “is one of orthopedic surgeon David Mendelson’s favorite songs”) and Guitar Blues Odyssey: From Roots to Fruits on side two.

I’ve never been a fan of What’s Going On?, but Quincy Jones’ version was really lively, jazzy and much more entertaining than the vocal-dominant version I recall.

Ironside, on the other hand, was the non-melodic type of jazz that I tend to find annoying, and Brown Ballad was so boring that it never should have been recorded.

Grade

4/5: would listen again

Pearl by Janis Joplin (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Pearl
  • Artist name: Janis Joplin
  • Year: 1971
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Columbia Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics: “DEMONSTRATION / Not For Sale” stamped on back
  • Buy it:

Pearl by Janis Joplin

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never been enough of a fan of Janis Joplin to listen to her music, but I definitely know her voice. Me and Bobby McGee and Mercedes Benz are the only songs I know on this record.

What I expected

Blues and blues rock with unforgettable vocals.

What it was actually like

As I remembered and expected, Janis Joplin’s songs are mostly vehicles to showcase her voice and vocal style, which is cool if you want to be impressed by someone’s ability to belt it out, but there’s a reason that I don’t listen to this sort of music very often.

Me and Bobby McGee was actually a much better song than I remembered. I have no idea why, but somehow it came to occupy the same space in my memory as Three Dog Night’s Joy to the World, a song so bad that it makes me want to stop listening to music altogether. Anyway, I would listen to it more frequently, but not the rest of this record.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me