The 1981 Listening Post - Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Imperial Bedroom

 Reviewed by Thom Gridley

Released: July 2 1982 Elvis Costello and The Attractions Imperial Bedroom Genre: New Wave, Post-Punk, Baroque Indie 80s Alt-Pop Allen’s Rating: 5 out of 5 Thom’s Rating: 5 out of 5 Thom’s Highlights: Beyond Belief .....And In Every Home Human Hands Pidgin English Allen’s Additional Highlights: Beyond Belief Tears Before Bedtime Shabby Doll The Long Honeymoon Man Out Of Time Almost Blue The Loved Ones Notable Tracks – All of Them!!! Imperial Bedroom is #6 of 11 Studio Albums by Elvis Costello & The Attractions with Producer Geoff Emerick at the helm. Emerick is the well-known sound and recording engineer of famed Beatles recordings, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band & Abbey Road. Where does one begin with an Elvis Costello Album? One distinction is to highlight, that 11 of his total 32 Studio albums were with the Attractions. leaving the balance of 21 albums as either independent, Imposters or in collaboration with Bacharach, Toussaint, Von Otter, T-Bone Burnett and many others (Too many to list). Fast Facts: The album reached #30 on Billboard, #6 on the UK Charts and #2 of Best Albums of the Year-1982, according to NME. Moreover, the songwriting and arrangements were recorded over a 12-week window, with remnants of scribe coming from 1981’s album Trust. Spotify Index: Interestingly, EC & The Attractions has about 1.5m monthly followers, while his solo profile has 1.8m followers. Not sure that means anything. Let’s unpack this. Regardless of which is your favorite Costello/Attractions album, Imperial Bedroom is a recording for the ages. His/their multi-dimensional musical and lyrical brush strokes are vast and brilliantly hued, whilst dabs of tiny strokes swirl with texture and refinement. Yes, I like art-painting references. Elvis Costello’s voice is in A++ form, on this album, from ballads to tangos, waltz’s, soul, Baroque-Alt Pop, and a whole host of “Cirque du Soleil” style musical explorations. Through and through, Elvis maintains that hall mark vocal style which I equate to blowing velvet through a straw and are especially revealed during the ballads of “Almost Blue” and “Kid About It”, akin to a Chet Baker recording (someone he admired-vocally). There’s no getting around that the “Sgt. Peppers -Emerick Effect”, is taking place throughout this recording. Lots of delightful experimentation and stretching of musical limits on this, and even if slightly a little disjointed at times, it all seems to coalesce, through piano, strings and/or horns, with orchestral overtures. I can’t imagine furnishing a song-by song breakdown of this album. It feels both obsessively orchestrated yet highly impulsive and the intentional indifference to a scripted album construct is what I enjoy about this album I think busting away from Nick Lowe, and partnering with Emerick, gave Elvis/Attractions, the ability to flex more creatively. It was a time to become multi-lingual, start new conversations that would again cascade into future albums for both the Attractions as well as with solo efforts. I was wondering when my first 5/5 review would come, and this would be it.

The 1980 Listening Post - Steam Roller - City Kids

 1980 Housekeeping

by Thom Gridley

Steam Roller (Parni Valjak)

City Kids

Genre: CroRock (Croatian Power Rock from Yugoslavia)

Allen’s Rating: 2.25out of 5
Thom’s Rating: 2.45 out of 5

Notable Tracks:

Can’t Get her Out of My Mind

700 Miles from Home

Oasis

When the Show is Done

Fast Facts: 

+ Steam Roller translates to Parni Valjak in Croatian

+ Parni Valjak has 125k Monthly followers on Spotify

+ 19 Studio Albums from 1976 to 2018

+ History refresher - Croatia/Slovenia declared 

   independence to break up Yugoslavia in 1991

+ I had a fire engine red Yugo – Sport Package

 (Will post in the comments)

Originally, I thought this was going to be a 1-off throw away Croatian Rock Album.

Boy was I wrong. It appears they only released 1 album under the name Steam Roller in the US, however, the previous and remaining albums kept the proper Croatian moniker Parni Valjak.

They were a dominant musical force in Croatia (19 albums in total) but not sure this export could pave new roads in North America or the UK.

This album, has a warm familiarness to it, but mostly in the form of knock-off or imitation vibes riffing on common US/UK rock band sounds. I can only imagine, at the time in Yugoslavia what access the youth culture had to the west,and whatever spilled over the border, I am certain was coveted, studied

and emulated. That’s sort of where this album starts and ends.

Topline sentiments reveal a vocalist/lead singer, who must have immersedhimself in a house of Rod Stuart. That raspy tone and inflection is pervasive throughout.Interestingly, two of the more favorable tracks are in ballad form that somewhat feel complimentary when compared compared to some of the heavy hitting rock songs of the times. Croatia had a strong showing in the last 2 World Cups, but unfortunatelythis dominant Zagreb ensemble couldn’t qualify outside Croatia. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9LeZojFKNM&list=PLdgFk-dTMiRiE_9SKGLLdXx6vrAJTVp8R

The 1980 Listening Post - Citizen - Sex and Society

 Reviewed by Thom Gridley

Released: 1980 Citizen Sex And Society Genre: Prog Rock Rating: 3.75 out of 5 Highlights: I like You Notable: Your So Cool Secret Rock ‘n’ Roller Thought I was Tough Feel So Good I’m a Citizen Spotify Index: 5 Monthly Visitors (Whump, whump, whuuuuuuump…) Cheese puffs. Yes, Cheese puffs. Remember inhaling a whole bag of cheese puffs? Those wonderful light and puffy, dusted in pretend cheddar dust flavor, and no matter how well intended you are to eat them methodically, you end up with cheesy dust thumbprints, all over your favorite velour V-neck pullover like it’s a crime scene? Guilty. Much to my surprise, I sort of enjoyed Citizens, cheesiness, and it teeters on something, that could’ve been more memorable or meaningful, but the cheese was stuck to my fingers, and it takes 4-7 minutes to lick the digits clean. So, let’s cut to the cheese (Dad joke) and summarize this little 1980 oddity. The thoughtfulness of arrangements and musicality is quite good on this recording. The lyrics have a heavy dose of a time stamp (I guess most 80’s music does). The lead vocal performances fall a bit short, however the chorus work and backing vocals are exceptional and carry the album combined with some very well mixed and creative and catchy arrangements. It seems, like this is album was a decently funded and well produced effort. It was the only album, I could find by this band, and not much written on them. Those that had discovered them through the interweb, had a similar response, of “Not as bad as I thought it was going to be” and “I would give this another listen”. In summary, “Sex & Society” vacillates, between Queen/Joe Cocker vibes + Cars/Night Ranger-ish, with heavy doses of late prog-rock 70’s/Early 80’s trappings, that is best played in the basement on your mix and match analog stereo system (Insert Techniques turn-table, Kenwood receiver, and KLH floor speakers).

The 1980 Listening Post - Carole King - Pearls Songs of Goffin and King

 Reviewed by Thom Gridley

Released: 1980 Carole King Pearls Songs Of Goffin And King Genre: Pop, Soft-Rock, Soul Rating: 3.85 out of 5 Highlights: One Fine Day Oh No Not My Baby Wasn’t Born to Follow Going Back Hi De Ho Fast Facts: + This is her #11 album of 22 between 1970 and 2012 + 22 different musicians are listed on this album + 10 songs, 33:22 Album Length + Tapestry was the all-time best-selling record of all time until Thriller + She released an album every year from 1970 to 1980 + Only 4 Grammy Wins and 9 Nominations (Hard to believe) Undoubtedly, Carole King is in the Pantheon of Women’s Singer/Songwriters for all time. This Buffet Style collection pulls from the archive of songs she wrote for other iconic artists like the Shirelles, Bobby Vee, Little Eva, Beatles, Drifters, and many others. Some forensics on this recording reveal that the marketing investment for this release was underwhelming and that its promotion was limited in scale. This album only reached #44 on the Billboard 100, and stayed on the charts for a short time. There is certainly some magic to this album, but there is barely a mention of it in web queries of CK’s top 5 or 10 albums of all time. When you get to the mountain top, like Tapestry, it can be a bit of a challenge to summit Everest twice. Some of the songs are worth stowing in your weekender bag, but I implore traveling light on this one. With that in mind, I suggest you throw a few of these in your duffle: “One Fine Day” - has this uplifting piano catchiness bundled with some fun but predictable drum fills. This was probably one of my favorites. “Oh No Not My Baby” - has that classic Carole King “You’ve Got A friend” vibe, but invokes a bit of Pop-bluesy sparkle. “Wasn’t Born to Follow” - has some exquisite banjo. I'm always surprised how much I enjoy the banjo with selected moments. “Going Back” - has an easy, atmospheric, soft-county pop-ish tone with Carole’s folky-drift tenor voice and some flowing harmonica. Sort of an open road, place it on the dash as you cross state-lines sort of sound. I’m ok keeping the album's promotional single “Dancin with Tears in My Eyes” and the infectious bubble -gum hit “Locomotion” back in the garage. All in all, this barely blipped in 1980, but Carole is a legend and deserves the respect that many women artist don’t often get when compared to their male counterparts.