Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Moving Pictures

Well, if you know me at all, you knew this had to happen sooner or later: it's RUSH HOUR!!!!!! That's right, this week we get our first taste of Rush, Canada's most successful rock band of all time. And what better place to start than with their most successful album, Moving Pictures.



Release date: February 12, 1981
Singles: Limelight, Tom Sawyer, Vital Signs

Before I get into the music, I have to mention the cover. Obviously, the name of the album is Moving Pictures, and the cover art shows some guys moving pictures. Pretty simple, right? Oh, but that's not all. You look at the pictures themselves and discover that they are emotionally moving pictures. Now you're thinking, oh Rush, how clever you are. But wait, there's more. When you turn the album over, you discover that there is a camera crew making a motion or moving picture of the whole scene! Ohhh, Rush.

Now, the music. The first side is all classics. Tom Sawyer, Red Barchetta, YYZ (quick note about YYZ: that's the airport code for Toronto, and the rhythm at the beginning of the song is actually YYZ in morse code. Ohhh, Rush), and Limelight. The other side ain't bad either, even if it isn't in KQRS's regular rotation.

Rating: 11 thumbs up - This album is Rush at its pinnacle. Neil Peart, Geddy Lee, and Alex Lifeson didn't do anything much better before, and certainly not after. After this, they started going in a different direction. In fact, "The Camera Eye" on side 2 is the last song Rush has made that is over 10 minutes long. That says everything.

Now enjoy the official music video of "Vital Signs." Music videos back then weren't the big productions they are nowadays. The highlight for me is seeing Neil Peart in an Expos hat. So Canadian.



Pat is crazy.

Can Dialectics Break Bricks?

A clip from Vienet's 1973 kung-fu classic:

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Last Time Around

Up this week is the final album from Buffalo Springfield. The band was breaking up, but still contractually obligated to produce a third album. Here is the aptly named, Last Time Around.



Release Date: July 30, 1968
Singles: (none)

As mentioned above, the band was breaking up as this album was recorded. No song had every member of the band playing on it. Stephen Stills did most of the album, appearing in 9 of the 12 songs. Neil Young appeared in only 4 songs, and wasn't even there to take the photo for the albums cover (they added his photo later, and apparently couldn't find one of him looking to his right).

Considering the circumstances, I think this album is pretty good. Some of the songs understandably lack polish, but they aren't terrible.

Rating: 3 thumbs up - no songs really stand out, good or bad, so it makes for good background music. Probably only need to buy it if you're a Buffalo Springfield fan and want the complete trilogy.

To highlight the unfinished nature of this album, here's "Questions." If you think you sort of recognize it, that's because Stills later used it as the end to "Carry On," which opens the Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young album, Déjà Vu.



Pat is crazy.

Luxury Comedy

Fresh new laughs, comin' at ya like a beam, like a ray, like a buzzard, it's Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy:



Episode 1
Episode 3

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Fragile

This week we get our first taste of some prog rock: Fragile, by Yes



Release Date: November 26, 1971
Singles: Roundabout

Fragile opens up with one of Yes's biggest hits, Roundabout. Let me repeat that: one of their biggest hits is a song about roundabouts. Traffic circles. These things:



Anyway, the driving bass line really gets this album going. Like a lot of prog rock, this album has some lengthy tracks, and some short ones. There's changes in time signatures. "Five Per Cent for Nothing," which opens the second side of the album, sounds like a jumble of notes that barely qualifies as music. If you don't like prog rock, you probably won't like this. But give it a shot if you've never heard prog rock as this is a prog rock classic.

Rating: Five thumbs up - I like most of the tracks on this album, but I think the tracks don't really flow that well together.

Here's "We Have Heaven." And a game to go along with it: try to figure out what the hell is being said without looking it up.



Pat is crazy.

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Darkness on the Edge of Town

Hello again! This week, I will be looking and listening to Darkness on the Edge of Town by the Boss, Bruce Springsteen.



Release Date: June 2, 1978
Singles: Prove It All Night, Badlands

I have to admit, this is an album that I rarely listen to. One of the reasons I wanted to do this project of reviewing all my albums was to force myself to actually listen to all my albums, instead of just my favorite ones.

This album is raw Springsteen. The cover says it all. Working-class guy from Jersey. Things may seem good, but there's darkness on the edge of town (get it?). If this album were a baseball player, it would be Nick Punto. Gritty. White. Underrated. Announcers/music critics all love it. There's no hit single on this album, no star (I mean, can you tell me how "Prove It All Night" goes, because I can't and I just listened to the damn thing!).

This album is a true album, not just a collection of songs. It has a theme. I've always felt that Springsteen gets somewhat overlooked as one of the great American songwriters. But I say, if he's good enough for Joe Posnanski, he's good enough for me!

Rating: 7 thumbs up - Great listen, solid all the way through. Springsteen's passion really comes through. I think I'm going to have to put this one into the regular rotation.

And now, without further ado, that "hit" single, Prove It All Night. Enjoy!



Pat Is Crazy