Keith Richards Crosseyed Heart (Republic)
At the age of 71,
Keith Richards is not even entertain- ing the thought of retiring. On his first solo album since 1992, Keef growls out some Robert
Johnson style blues on “Crosseyed Heart” before proclaiming, “All right. That’s all I got.” What follows is one of Richards’ most powerful and eclectic records ever, from the very Stones-like “Heartstopper,” to the set closer “Lover’s Plea.” Backed by Ivan Neville, Steve Jordan and Waddy Wachtel, Richards plays that guitar just as hot as ever, and his unique vocals are out front in the mix and sounding great. One of the album’s many highlights is
Keith’s reggae cover of Gregory Isaac’s 1974 “Love Overdue,” backed with a brass section and smooth harmony vocals from Neville. “Amnesia” finds Keiths guitar out front and shing like a star. “Nothing On Me” vaguelly reminds me of the beat of “Beast of Burden,” but it is just great, es- pecially turned up to “eleven.” One true surprise is Keith’s coupletly straightfor- ward reading of the old Weavers folk song, “Goodnight Irene,” sounding quite a bit like one Mr. Dylan. And the country rock, Gram Parsonish “Robbed Blind” is just as good as “Dead Flowers” with some shades of Merle Haggard tossed in. There’s also a sweet duet with Keith and Norah Jones, “Illusion.” Another rocking track is “Trou- ble,” a song just as good as any recent Stones song. This bad boy rocks!
- Michael Buffalo Smith
The Rolling Stones Let It Bleed (Abkco)
The vinyl reissues
of The Stones catalog are just plain awe-
some. After 46 years, Let it Bleed returns,
issued on clear vinyl, sounding as good if not better than the
original. After years of listening to the
album on CD (too much high-end) or MP3 (too compressed) it was a thrill to set the stylus don on this platter and hear that warm analog sound coming from the speakers.
The album, originally issues back in
1969, has always been in my Top 5 Stones albums. No small wonder, the title track was a massive rock nd roll hit, as was the immortal “Gimmie Shelter” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” There’s really nothing left to say about this album that hasn’t been said before- it is al- ways in the Top of Rolling Stone Magazine and other’s “Best Albums of All Time.” There is no arguing the fact that this is
a true classic, from “Midnight Rambler” to “Monkey Man.” Add to that the obvious fact that this is truly one of the strangest album covers of all time, and you have every reason in the world to obtain a copy. Did I mention it is pressed on clear vinyl? Get your ya-ya’s out and rock and roll again with the masters.
-Michael Buffalo Smith
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86