Harder Than Easy

"Beautiful Music" used to be a genre in the realm of popular music. It's also been called "easy listening" and then morphed into "adult contemporary". But today's adult contemporary is really just soft rock (albeit today's soft rock is harder than a lot of Top 40 was in the late 70s and early 80s). There used to be stations that played "beautiful music" exclusively: Stanley Black, Ray Conniff, Percy Faith, Frank Chacksfield, etc. Most of the playlist would be recent contemporary hits covered by choral groups, pianists, and orchestras. During that time, London Records sold a lot of their patented Phase 4 Stereo LP records and reel-to-reel tapes. The series was renowned for it's technical brilliance, using state of the art recording, mixing and mastering techniques. Ronnie Aldrich was among London's best selling artists and Tony D'Amato produced many albums using Aldrich's twin pianos backed by The London Festival Orchestra. These albums were not only known for their technical brilliance (which is still quite impressive even in the 21st century) but also for their glossy, gatefold covers featuring colorful artwork and graphics and maybe a sexy model or two. The two LPs featured on this CD were originally released in 1973 and 1972, respectively.

By 1981, Frank Zappa’s Halloween shows in New York were already legendary – a rock and roll bacchanalia of jaw-dropping musicianship, costume-clad revelry, spontaneous theatrical hijinks and of course a heavy dose of Zappa’s signature virtuosic guitar workouts. Eagerly anticipated every year, fans never knew exactly what was in store but knew it would be of epic proportions and one-of-a-kind experience that only Zappa and his skilled group of musicians could provide. When Zappa returned to The Palladium in NYC in 1981 for a five-show four-night run from October 29 to November 1, the nearly-annual tradition was even more anticipated than usual as the 1980 concerts were cut short due to Zappa falling ill. Curiously there was no fall tour the previous year and thus no Halloween shows.

Disregard the self-styled epic title track, a seven-and-half-minute indulgence that may be a bid for artistic credibility yet leads nowhere and doesn't have much to do with what follows. Nightwatch is, by and large, a more focused affair than his first. Granted, his first holds a mood better, a slice of great late '70s soft rock, but this has more pep and hooks, from the sprightly "Easy Drive" to a cover of Billy Joe Royal's "Down in the Boondocks" or, especially, the warm Stevie Nicks duet "Whenever I Call You Friend," which brought Loggins his first solo hit. These signal that this rocks a bit harder than its predecessor, which is true - while "Down 'N Dirty" may not be filthy, even with its harmonica, it does hit harder than anything on its predecessor (which, admittedly, is on a relative scale)…

If a story of a music as expansive as Jamaica's can be told over four CDs, then TOUGHER THAN TOUGH is as close as you'll ever likely get. Bookended by the unrefined charm of the Folkes Brothers' 1960 "Oh Carolina" and Shaggy's 1993 dancehall adaptation of the same tune, this collection attempts to chart the music's diversity and development through ska, rock-steady, reggae, and dub, to dancehall and ragga.

Best known for co-founding soft rock hitmakers Bread, singer/songwriter James Griffin also won an Academy Award for co-authoring 1970's smash "For All We Know".

Frank Zappa - Halloween 81 (2020) {6CD Set, Zappa Records ZR 20034}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 2.82 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 0.98 Gb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 103 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1981, 2020 Zappa Records / UMe | ZR 20034
Rock / Experimental Rock / Avant-Garde / Art Rock / Jazz Rock

By 1981, Frank Zappa’s Halloween shows in New York were already legendary – a rock and roll bacchanalia of jaw-dropping musicianship, costume-clad revelry, spontaneous theatrical hijinks and of course a heavy dose of Zappa’s signature virtuosic guitar workouts. Eagerly anticipated every year, fans never knew exactly what was in store but knew it would be of epic proportions and one-of-a-kind experience that only Zappa and his skilled group of musicians could provide. When Zappa returned to The Palladium in NYC in 1981 for a five-show four-night run from October 29 to November 1, the nearly-annual tradition was even more anticipated than usual as the 1980 concerts were cut short due to Zappa falling ill. Curiously there was no fall tour the previous year and thus no Halloween shows.