Money From July 2015

Although his songwriting slips a little here ("PMS" was an idea that should have never been executed), Standing Room Only confirms Larry Garner's position as a tough blues guitarist and dynamic performer. Despite a few weak cuts, there's still a number of very strong songs, and Garner's flair for gritty, swampy performances makes the album quite enjoyable – it just falls a little short of the high quality of his previous masterworks.

By condensing the sonic explorations of Meddle to actual songs and adding a lush, immaculate production to their trippiest instrumental sections, Pink Floyd inadvertently designed their commercial breakthrough with Dark Side of the Moon. The primary revelation of Dark Side of the Moon is what a little focus does for the band…

For her 1984 follow-up, Cristina enlisted the production genius of Don Was, who brings to Cristina's vocals a musical backdrop every bit as bizarre and infectious as his own Ze Records project Was (Not Was). Forgoing the extended disco excursions of her debut, Cristina and Was instead created ten radio-ready pop songs, trying to outdo Madonna at her own game, perhaps. Along with originals penned by the singer herself in conjunction with Was, Doug Fieger (of The Kinks) and Robert Palmer (!), Cristina also performs distinctive covers of songs by Van Morrison, Prince and obscure country singer John Conlee.