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8/1/04, 1:00 PM: A Flock of Seagulls, The Best of A Flock of Seagulls

After that episode of "Bands Reunited," is there really a question in anyone's mind that Mike Score, frontman for the ongoing sham that is still called A Flock of Seagulls even though he's the sole person from the original line-up within its ranks, is an egotistical fool? That having been said, in their heyday, the Seagulls produced some of the best music of the '80s, and this best-of is consistently strong. If you had to have just one of their studio albums, the self-titled debut is the way to go, but it's this greatest-hits that's the perfect summary of the band's talent and abilities. But, for God's sake, avoid at all cost the recent collection of re-recordings, with cover art playing off the band's inclusion on the Grand Theft Auto soundtrack...but, then, the gut-churning whiff of desperation you can't help but catch off it should be enough to keep you far, far away, anyway.

8/1/04, 5:07 PM: Barenaked Ladies, Everything To Everyone

Okay, I'm big enough to admit when I'm wrong, so hear me now: I was wrong to judge Everything To Everyone by its first single, "Another Postcard." Not that I was wrong about "Another Postcard," mind you. I still think it's the dumbest first single the band's released from an album in their entire career...and I say this even though I know my nephew, Tyler, absolutely loves the song. Sorry, buddy, you're allowed...but, on first listen, the song struck me as so awful that I didn't end up buying the album until it was picked up by the BMG CD club. (Or was it Columbia House? Eh, whichever; they're pretty much interchangeable.) This is really a much stronger disc that you'd ever believe if all you'd heard was the first single. In fact, the lead track, "Celebrity," is arguably one of the best songs they've ever done. In fact, as a whole, it's easily as strong an album as anything they've done. But, God, that first single...! The only theory I have is that, by putting out such a goofy song as a single, it immediately got rid of all the hangers-on, leaving only the diehard fans. Problem is, the song was SO bad that it almost lost them one of those fans. So, anyway, point being, if you see this baby used, give it a chance and, I swear, you will not be sorry.

8/1/04, 6:02 PM: Alex Chilton, High Priest / Feudalist Tarts / No Sex

It took me the longest damned time to get into this album. I don't even remember why I bought it on cassette in the first place, but I can only presume that I must've read a review that assured me it was good. Or perhaps it was after I'd bought the Trouser Press Guide and took everything within its pages as The Gospel According to Ira Robbins. Whatever the case, I totally didn't know what to make of it when I first listened to it. In fact, for probably the first year or two I owned it, the only thing I really dug was the lounge-y cover of "Volare." But, then, I discovered that "Let Me Get Close To You" was a great addition to romantically-themed mix tapes. And that both "Take It Off" and "Dalai Lama" were good, silly fun. The next thing I knew, I loved the whole damned album. This CD reissue contains Chilton's Feudalist Tarts EP, as well as the "No Sex" single and its B-side, "Underclass." But it's High Priest that I pay the most attention to.

8/1/04, 11:23 PM: Def Leppard, Euphoria

Just yesterday, I was listening to Jason Falkner's cover of "Photograph" (from the Metal Rules tribute album), which led to a discussion about Def Leppard between my friend Shelly and I. She said that, during their heyday, she lumped Def Leppard into the crowd with groups like Cinderella and Poison, but it wasn't until years later that she came to respect them. Me, I've been a fan since being entranced by Pyromania. They're a band who've evolved over their years, sometimes to the point where they don't even sound like themselves anymore (step forward, Slang), but this album is where they began to play to their strengths once more. "Promises" is playing right now, and it's a great single, but "Paper Sun" is one of the best songs in their catalog, sounding like the missing link between the Pyromania and Hysteria albums. I'm not going to say that Euphoria as a whole compares to the aforementioned works, but Joe Elliott and the boys clearly still have lots of creative juices flowing. Shame they really only sell records to the converted these days...

8/8/04, 9:36 PM: The Mock Turtles, Turtle Soup

Enough of this A-B-C-D motif, eh? Let's break it up a bit...with the Mock Turtles. I don't even remember how I discovered this band. I know my friend and ex-roommate Donnie owns the CD, and he might well have had it before I did, but I can't swear to it. But, to my mind, they're a pretty obscure British band...so it shocked me into laughter when I heard that they were having a best-of released in the UK a few years ago. I mean, I'll be the first to admit that I'm a champion of obscure bands and, when they released ostensible greatest-hits sets, I'll defend them from the folks who say, "Greatest hits? I've never even HEARD of them!" But, really, I couldn't remember having read the first thing about the Mock Turtles, not even in the NME, so I was just stunned to see a best-of collection coming out. But I guess they were cult heroes. Who knew? I shouldn't be surprised, though. Turtle Soup came out in 1990, and, despite now having upwards of 5,000 CDs, I still pull it out at least once a year to give it a spin. It's a solid Britpop album through and through, even though I guess it wasn't technically being called Britpop at the time; that wouldn't really come until the Blur / Oasis wars a few years later. This would've been the tail end of the years when the Mighty Lemon Drops were still selling albums, and the Ocean Blue were stunning audiences by being American but sounding incredibly British. Man, I miss those days. Anyway, to close, if you ever find yourself in a position to buy either this album or the aforementioned best of (entitled Can You Dig It?), you should know that, although I'm sure the best-of is a fine collection, it's missing "Another Jesus Walks On Water," my personal favorite song; therefore, you still clearly need to buy Turtle Soup as well.

8/8/04, 10:20 PM: Squeeze, Domino

Since I'm currently wrangling to borrow a photo of Glenn Tilbrook circa 1999 for use on my site, it seems only appropriate to pop on Squeeze's final album, Domino, which Tilbrook was touring behind at the time of the photo. This album gets maligned almost every time I see it mentioned, but, really, I don't think it's all that bad. It's not necessarily up to the incredible heights set by much of the group's back catalog, of course...and, yes, Tilbrook and his co-conspirator, Chris Difford, were heading into the downward spiral of their songwriting partnership, which would end abruptly when Difford left the band in the lurch on the eve of what would be their last American tour. But, still, there are some groovy songs. Songs like "Play On" and "Bonkers" are slightly off-kilter sounding, which probably should've been a sign that they were on their last legs...but "What's Wrong With This Picture" is lovely, "Sleeping With A Friend" is a great lyric, and "Little King" is just plain good.