Colossal Reviews

Only Unbiased Product Reviews

Colossal Reviews > soft rock > Page 6

One Man Dog by James Taylor (Vinyl record album review)

By Leave a Comment

Record basics

  • Album name: One Man Dog
  • Artist name: James Taylor
  • Year: 1972
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Warner Records Inc.
  • Distinguishing characteristics: “SIDE 1 – CUT 2 SKIPS” written in blue ink on back of album
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it on Amazon: $145.55

One Man Dog by James Taylor

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never heard this record before, but it will be the fourth by James Taylor that I review. The previous three were:

What I expected

One curious thing about One Man Dog is that I’m not sure if it’s meant to be interpreted more as “one-man dog” (ie, a dog that is only for one man) or as “one man-dog” (ie, a single creature that is part man, part dog). The album art features one man (James Taylor) and one dog, in a boat, but unfortunately that does not do much to clear the matter up.

What it was actually like

These songs were all really short, and there were 18 of them.

One Man Parade was all over the place, and it sounded like every few seconds there was some other instrument that was jumping in, but the instrument that I disliked the most was the bongo drums, which made an appearance on several other songs.

Fool for You and Woh, Don’t You Know both hinted at funk, which I thought was a pretty interesting sound on a soft rock record.

Chili Dog had a bit of a country vibe, but was still basically soft rock (also, I love chili dogs), while Dance was closer to country, with nice fiddle and steel guitar.

Instrumental I sounded very Renaissance.

One Morning in May was a totally serviceable version of a traditional song, but I like this bluegrass version a lot better.

The only song on the record that I strongly disliked was Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight. In fact, I was neutral on it until its horrible saxophone solo. Fanfare was the record’s most musically expansive song, with brass and choral accompaniment, and it also had saxophone, but its saxophone made sense and worked well.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

History: America’s Greatest Hits by America (Vinyl record album review)

By Leave a Comment

Record basics

  • Album name: History: America’s Greatest Hits
  • Group name: America
  • Year: 1975
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Warner Bros. Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Sticker: PROMOTIONAL COPY / NOT FOR SALE
    • Scratched into side one of LP: IS BS-2894 41182-A-1B HTM
    • Scratched into side two of LP: IS BS-2894 41183-B-1B HTM
  • Buy it on Amazon: $32.99

History: America's Greatest Hits by America

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I am pretty sure that I have heard of the band America, and I would not be surprised to recognize some of their songs, but I don’t know anything about them.

What I expected

Maybe soft rock with funk?

What it was actually like

I absolutely recognized A Horse With No Name, and it’s even a song that I like, but somehow I always thought it was a Neil Young song! Oops!

Another that I recognized was Sister Golden Hair, which was a pretty good song with a nice attempt at doo wop style vocals towards the end. It also had a little guitar phrase that kept reminding me of Bigmouth Strikes Again – how weird is that?

I Need You sounded like over-produced 70s crap.

Sandman started with kind of a Moody Blues sound, then transitioned to what I would describe as acoustic hard rock, which was pretty cool, and I definitely liked the guitar work.

Ventura Highway was an ok song with a vocal style to A Horse With No Name, and Tin Man also made me think of Neil Young.

Don’t Cross the River was a great country song with banjo and fiddle, but its vocal harmonies were too produced and careful.

Only in Your Heart sounded a little bit like a late Beatles era Faul McCartney composition that John Lennon would have eviscerated.

Muskrat Love was the weirdest song on the record, and if I understood it correctly, was a folk rock song about muskrats in love – unless I missed something? I had hoped that it would be a cover of the Merle Travis song Muskrat, but no such luck.

Lonely People was a soft rock song with some harmonica and piano, and apparently may have been a response to Eleanor Rigby, but if I were America, I would not invite that comparison.

Daisy Jane was totally useless and the worst on the record, and Woman Tonight was kind of a rock song with a funk and disco chorus.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

Tug of War by Paul McCartney (Vinyl record album review)

By 5 Comments

Record basics

  • Album name: Tug of War
  • Artist name: Paul McCartney
  • Year: 1982
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Columbia Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Scratched into side 1 of LP: PUSHING + PULLING SG AL 37462-1BA G G10
    • Scratched into side 2 of LP: PUSHING + PULLING SG BL 37462-1AE G
  • Buy it on Amazon: $37.99

Tug of War by Paul McCartney

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never heard this record, but I’ve reviewed a bunch of post-Beatles Faul McCartney records, and have not been impressed.

What I expected

Faul’s granny shit, perhaps updated to a 1980s new wave sound.

What it was actually like

There were not any good songs on this record, but the most interesting was The Pound Is Sinking. It was a tiny bit Oompa Loompa, and also a tiny bit rocksteady. I was not sure how to classify it, but I think I would listen to it again.

Another slightly Oompa Loompa song was Ballroom Dancing, which had a good tempo, but I hated the horns – and was that a clarinet? Get It was the most Oompa Loompa song, and the one that fit most acoustically into what Lennon would have described as Faul’s Granny shit.

And on the subject of Lennon, Here Today was a sad song about his death. It was not good musically – I especially did not like the violins – but it was the closest to what I would have expected McCartney to have written towards the end of the Beatles era.

What’s That You’re Doing? and Ebony and Ivory, both of which McCartney recorded with Stevie Wonder, were the two worst songs on the record. The former had a kind of techno-funk sound that anticipated hip hop (though hip hop already had existed by the early 1980s for a while), and the latter was incredibly stupid and would have been better as just elevator music with no lyrics. I was not sure if I had ever heard it before or if I’d just heard of it, but it was so forgettable that if I were to hear it again in an hour, I probably wouldn’t recognize it.

Some of these songs, by the way, sounded like they had autotuned vocals, even though I did not think that was a thing until the late 1990s, and Wanderlust was an example.

The title track Tug of War was completely devoid of anything interesting, but also not particularly bad, either, had a very produced sound, and went from acoustic folk rock to a much harder rock sound in the middle. I guess it sounded kind of McCartneyesque.

Be What You See also changed sounds in the middle, opening like an Enya song, then turning into some kind of rock-disco crap.

Take It Away was much more new wave and terribly reggae-influenced. Somebody Who Cares was soft rock, with flute.

Grade

2/5: bad, but I was able to listen to the whole thing

Native Sons by Loggins and Messina (Vinyl record album review)

By Leave a Comment

Record basics

  • Album name: Native Sons
  • Group name: Loggins and Messina
  • Year: 1976
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Columbia Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Stamped on back of album: DEMONSTRATION / Not For Sale
    • Scratched into side 1 of LP: PAL – 33578 – 1D Az
    • Scratched into side 2 of LP: PBL – 33578 – 1D Az
  • Buy it on Amazon: $5.80

Native Sons by Loggins and Messina

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never heard of this record, but I’ve built up a pretty solid familiarity with Loggins and Messina, having reviewed four of their other records:

What I expected

Country, soft rock.

What it was actually like

This was a weird one.

The first track, Sweet Marie was a funk song with a very jazzy sound, and I thought that maybe the whole record would be the same way, since it was from 1976. There was nothing funk about the rest of it, however, and the only other time I thought of 1976 was at the beginning of It’s Alright, which started with flute and a mashup of someone reading the preamble to the Constitution and the end of the Declaration of Independence. That song had some pretty distressing lyrics, and a violin solo.

Pretty Princess and Wasting Our Time were both pretty bad soft rock songs, the former with a terrible saxophone solo. No saxophone solo, however, could possibly have been as bad as the one on Native Son, the worst song – so bad that they actually named the record after it – largely filler crap and literally Kenny G. level of awful.

My Lady, My Love had country style vocals and some kind of classical or Spanish guitar and violin, which was somewhat interesting.

Peacemaker had some more flute and more violin, with a good lively tempo, and what sounded like xylophone, or some kind of bells.

Boogie Man was actually a boogie woogie song! It was the best on the record.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

Light Shine by Jesse Colin Young (Vinyl record album review)

By Leave a Comment

Record basics

  • Album name: Light Shine
  • Artist name: Jesse Colin Young
  • Year: 1974
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Warner Bros. Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it on Amazon: $2.99

Light Shine by Jesse Colin Young

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I have never heard of this.

What I expected

Folk rock.

What it was actually like

This was not a good record. Most of it was soft rock, and there was a lot of flute and saxophone.

Certain parts of the title track Light Shine sounded like they could be a Kenny G. cover.

Barbardos was goofily done in a sort of calypso style.

Motorcycle Blues definitely needed to lose the saxophone, but if it had, then it could have been a decent blues song.

The Cuckoo was kind of an attempt at soul, but by the mid 1970s, the soul sound was already pretty bad and not worth emulating.

Grade

2/5