ALLMUSIC ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

By Neil Z. Yeung

On his sophomore effort, Faith in the Future, former One Direction member Louis Tomlinson finally seizes his moment, crafting a strong collection of earworms that honors his British musical influences and finds his vision and voice. Steeped in cautious optimism, Faith in the Future is confident without being cocky, its self-assurance born from years of life experiences and personal growth. That energy results in a collection of towering singalongs that are unabashed in their pure emotions, finding strength in resolve and setting sights on the future. While still taking cues from the Britpop era, Tomlinson spruces things up by incorporating contemporary production touches and catchy dance beats, striking an ideal balance between his rock and pop sides that wasn't as apparent on his 2020 debut Walls. This album's most stadium-sized moments tap into his inspirations from the '90s, channeling both the bombast ("The Greatest") and the balladry ("Chicago," "Saturdays") of Oasis and capturing the lighters-up, full-throated earnestness of Robbie Williams, with tracks like the tender acoustic "Common People," the soaring "Angels Fly," and "Bigger Than Me" seemingly ready for the Glastonbury stage. Carrying the set into the 2020s, Tomlinson delivers mainstream-leaning fare with the pulsing bass-groove of "Written All Over Your Face" and the synth-laden "She Is Beauty We Are World Class." Equally as catchy, the shimmering "Lucky Again" and the driving "All This Time" are just two of a handful of highlights that echo the pop-rock breeziness of fellow countrymen Blossoms. Faith in the Future also injects some edge, wrangling the urgency of 2000s emo-rock on "Face the Music" and "Silver Tongues" and bottling the pop-punk-revival ferocity of Yungblud on "Out of My System." Existential realizations, relationship drama, and self-reflection swirl throughout, but Tomlinson accepts the highs and lows of life with unassuming grace, employing these songs as personal reminders for both himself and listeners. While other 1D members might grab more of the public spotlight, Tomlinson proves his strength as a songwriter and voice for fans with more complex, deeper emotions.

[Reviewed 12.12.22. The ALLMUSIC Walls review.]

COIL were an English experimental music group formed in 1982 in London and dissolved in 2005. Initially envisioned as a solo project by musician John Balance (of the band Psychic TV), Coil evolved into a full-time project with the addition of his partner and Psychic TV bandmate Peter Christopherson (formerly of pioneering industrial music group Throbbing Gristle). Coil's work explored themes related to the occult, sexuality, alchemy, and drugs while influencing genres such as gothic rock, neofolk and dark ambient. AllMusic called the group "one of the most beloved, mythologized groups to emerge from the British post-industrial scene."

Vamos con otra de Joan Baez... En diciembre de 1968 publicó un álbum doble dedicado exclusivamente a las canciones de Dylan, "Any Day Now: Songs of Bob Dylan" (Vanguard), conteniendo varias que hasta ese momento su autor ni siquiera había publicado.

Creo que no existía en ese momento sobre la faz de la tierra una cantante más legitimada para cantar a Dylan que Baez. El disco es estupendo en general, y la valiente Joan hasta se atrevió - saliendo bien parada- con la larga "Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands", el tema que ocupó la cara cuarta del maravilloso e inolvidable "Blonde On Blonde" (Columbia 1966).

Thom Jurek en Allmusic: "Su empatía por el material, su aguda comprensión del mundo sonoro de Dylan y su propia voz gloriosa aportaron otra dimensión a estas 16 canciones y, en todo caso, ampliaron sus significados. No hay mejor intérprete de la música de Dylan, y aunque ciertamente se ofrecieron pruebas de ello en grabaciones anteriores (como 'Joan' de 1967), el veredicto se solidificó aquí… La conclusión es que 'Any Day Now', al igual que el siguiente álbum "David", encontró Báez en un pico intensamente inspirador y creativo."

Faith In The Future

On his sophomore effort, Faith in the Future, former One Direction member Louis Tomlinson finally seizes his moment, crafting a strong collection of earworms that honors his British musical influences and finds his vision and voice.

Steeped in cautious optimism, Faith in the Future is confident without being cocky, its self-assurance born from years of life experiences and personal growth. That energy results in a collection of towering singalongs that are unabashed in their pure emotions, finding strength in resolve and setting sights on the future. While still taking cues from the Britpop era, Tomlinson spruces things up by incorporating contemporary production touches and catchy dance beats, striking an ideal balance between his rock and pop sides that wasn't as apparent on his 2020 debut Walls.

This album's most stadium-sized moments tap into his inspirations from the '90s, channeling both the bombast ("The Greatest") and the balladry ("Chicago," "Saturdays") of Oasis and capturing the lighters-up, full-throated earnestness of Robbie Williams, with tracks like the tender acoustic "Common People," the soaring "Angels Fly," and "Bigger Than Me" seemingly ready for the Glastonbury stage.

Carrying the set into the 2020s, Tomlinson delivers mainstream-leaning fare with the pulsing bass-groove of "Written All Over Your Face" and the synth-laden "She Is Beauty We Are World Class." Equally as catchy, the shimmering "Lucky Again" and the driving "All This Time" are just two of a handful of highlights that echo the pop-rock breeziness of fellow countrymen Blossoms.

Faith in the Future also injects some edge, wrangling the urgency of 2000s emo-rock on "Face the Music" and "Silver Tongues" and bottling the pop-punk-revival ferocity of Yungblud on "Out of My System." Existential realizations, relationship drama, and self-reflection swirl throughout, but Tomlinson accepts the highs and lows of life with unassuming grace, employing these songs as personal reminders for both himself and listeners.

While other 1D members might grab more of the public spotlight, Tomlinson proves his strength as a songwriter and voice for fans with more complex, deeper emotions.

review by Neil Z. Yeung - AllMusic.com (2022)

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY FAITH IN THE FUTURE!

AllMusic Staff Pick: The Donnas  Spend the Night

Crank this up: it's time to party. On the quartet's major label debut, their no-frills, straightforward rock blasts keep the energy at a peak with crushing drums, beefy riffs, shredding solos, plenty of cowbell, and raucous singalongs. "Take It Off" was the huge radio/MTV hit, but "All Messed Up," "Dirty Denim," and the badass "Too Bad About Your Girl" provide plenty of inspiration for headbanging and pogoing until the sun comes up.

- Neil Z. Yeung

Excerpts from an AllMusic review by Gregory McIntosh.

“ A Todo Vapor is a really fascinating live document of Gal Costa from the early '70s where she proved to be as exciting and diverse on-stage as she was at that time in the studio. The first seven tracks (of 18) feature Costa alone, accompanied by only her own acoustic guitar and the performances are dramatic, intimate, precise, emotional, and stunningly clear. 

A Todo Vapor would've been a fine set with only these tracks, but the real treat comes in about halfway through the eight-minute epic, "Vapor Barato," when out of nowhere, her band joins in and turns the slow, intimate descending progression into a scorching lament …. the band is experimental and dynamic -- actually quite mad -- similar to her band on her two self-titled records from 1969. “

https://www.allmusic.com/album/-fa-tal-gal-a-todo-vapor-mw0000607041

(via Discoteca Básica Bizz #132: Gal Costa - Fa-Tal: Gal a Todo Vapor (1971))

Here is everything you need to know about the AllMusic Platform.

Friday. February 9, 2024 3pm ET: Feature LP: DJ Harrison - Shades of Yesterday (2024)

Devonne Andre Harris, more commonly known by his stage name DJ Harrison, is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and producer from Richmond, Virginia. The son of a radio deejay, Harris was born in Petersburg and grew up in Chesterfield County. Harris was interested in music at a young age. After playing with a kids drum set for years, his mother got him a professional drum set when he was…

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AZALEA BONDS RELEASES HER DEBUT SINGLE 'MONEY COME'

Available to stream on all streaming services such as iFruit Music and Dotify Streaming.

46: Bob Seger // Back in '72

Back in '72 Bob Seger 1973, Reprise

Like a lot of musically-inclined people my age (49), AllMusic.com was a critical part of my early ‘00s descent into abject nerdom and permanent homeliness. It was (and I suppose, still is) an unmatched repository of discographic information and professional reviews of the major pop and rock artists of the past half-century, and I spent hours each week on my shitty dial-up internet trawling through reviews of hundreds and eventually thousands of albums that I would try to imagine based on their writing.

The chief, to me, among AllMusic’s stacked bullpen of critics at the time was Stephen Thomas Erlewine. (Though I’ve become more of a Thom Jurek man in my old age.) Erlewine drew the job of reviewing a lot of the entry-level artists I was most taken with (R.E.M., Elvis Costello, the Kinks, Nick Lowe, the Replacements, and so on), and he had a way of writing what was essentially the Supreme Court majority opinion on a de rigueur classic in a voice that still sounded like a seasoned listener giving his own take. Like any good critic, the comparisons and offhand references in his reviews opened a lot of doors for me—and one of those doors led to early Bob Seger.

Growing up across the Canadian border from Detroit, I was raised on dad rock radio with a Motor City slant, which elevated local ham-and-eggers like Mitch Ryder to regular rotation and Michigan’s favourite son Robert Clark Seger to peerage with the Stones and Zeppelin. Starting with 1975’s essential double live ‘Live’ Bullet, Seger was a reliable national hitmaker for a good ten years, and he’s remembered fondly for it—but few critics have historically put Bob on a par with similar working-class hero Bruce Springsteen. That’s why it meant something to me that Erlewine, himself born in Bob’s hometown of Ann Arbor, treated the Seger catalogue with the same reverence he brought to the rest of the established canon.

I’d heard a few of Seger’s pre-Silver Bullet Band singles on Detroit radio, when a DJ like WCSX’s Ken Calvert would throw on a scratchy oldie like “Persecution Smith” or “Heavy Music,” but the album-by-album narrative that unwound through Erlewine’s reviews hooked me. An aspiring rocker since he started his first band in 1961, Seger tried out all sorts of gimmicks, from parodies (“The Ballad of the Yellow Beret”) to novelty songs (“Sock It To Me Santa!”) to a Bob Dylan impression (“Persecution Smith”). But Seger’s first taste of regional success was as a feral garage rocker with combos like The Last Heard and The Bob Seger System.

Like Otis Redding, an obvious vocal influence, Seger reaches his high notes by clenching his vocal cords and pushing hard, producing a plaintive quaver he’d eventually deploy toward the melting of hearts. But in his garage days, Bob was melting faces with a venomous arsenal of snarls and shrieks on stone classics like “Lucifer,” “Death Row,” and “2+2=?” that match the intensity (if not the scuzzy low-end) of anything by the Stooges or MC5. If Seger had put down his guitar and gotten a day job after failing to follow up his 1969 hit “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man” (his first top 20 national hit, and his last till 1976’s “Night Moves”) he’d be a staple of collector bait reissue labels. But Seger always believed, “You're nobody if you can't get on the radio,” and he kept grinding away, looking for a sound that would make him a star.

1969’s psych-inflected Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man LP wasn’t it. Neither was 1970’s balls-to-the-wall raver Mongrel. It definitely wasn’t 1971’s acoustic folk venture Brand New Morning. But, on 1973’s goofily-titled Back in ’72, he suddenly sounds like Radio Bob: thick, white man’s R&B that’s part Ike & Tina, part Van Morrison, part southern rock. A lot of it’s down to the musicians he’s working with. First there’s the Borneo Band (credited here as My Band), a combo as capable of working an R&B audience into a lather as anyone in 1973 (as a number of righteous live bootlegs can confirm). And secondly there’s the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, Alabama’s answer to session aces like the Wrecking Crew and the Funk Brothers. They’d played on a few hits in their time, and they represented the professionalism and success Seger aspired to. While Seger could only afford to work with them on three songs during the Back in ‘72 sessions, he’d go on using them as often as possible on his future albums (often to the chagrin of his touring musicians).

There are still some growing pains. Back in ’72 opens with its three weakest tracks: a passable cover of the Allman Brothers’ “Midnight Rider”; treacly original “I Wrote You a Song,” in which Bob sheepishly bleats most of the higher notes; and a cover of Free’s “The Stealer,” a song I am incapable of giving a shit about no matter who records it. From there though, things suddenly and dramatically improve.

“Rosalie,” written for Leamington, Ontario’s teenage tastemaker (and my grandma’s high school classmate) Rosalie Trombley, is an immortal pub rocker that would eventually find a second life through Thin Lizzy’s hit cover; diesel-powered travelogue “Back in ‘72” sets the template for (and easily outmuscles any of) his later heavy numbers; a read of Van Morrison’s “I’ve Been Workin’” turns into a true workout that makes clear why it would remain a setlist staple over the next few years. And then there’s “Turn the Page,” perhaps Seger’s signature song. The version here is more subdued than the better-known ‘Live’ Bullet rendition, and if as a vocalist Seger can’t quite inhabit the weary determination of the lyric in the way he soon would, it remains a worthy rendition on its own merits.

On Back in ’72 Seger and his band(s) finally sound like they’re capable of reaching an arena-sized audience. While it would take another four years before they’d actually do so outside the Midwest, the LP is an essential part of his journey. Few of Seger’s pre-1975 albums are easy to lay hands on these days—Bob seems to consider them juvenilia, the work of someone who wasn’t yet ready for the big time, and has refused to reissue any of them in recent years or allow them to reach streaming platforms. That’s a shame. After reading Erlewine’s rave reviews of his early catalogue, I was lucky to download them from blogs, and I’m still working on hunting down the best of them on wax. (While I prefer 1970’s Mongrel and 1974’s Seven, Back in ’72 is the only one of his formative records I actually own on LP—ironically, it’s among the rarest.) Despite Seger’s dismissal, this era of his career is a good part of what made him a major artist in his time and place, and deserves to be heard by a wider audience.

46/365

TRIGGA’S PARTY REACHES #2 TRENDING ON BLEETER!

On Saturday, Trigga hosted one of the most amazing parties that Los Santos has seen! Many of the guests who attended were famous celebrities, models, singers + more!

Three record labels attended with their artists and look at how amazing they all look!

photo credits: INGBPROMOTIONS

At the beginning of the night, pictured is TheKidRaloi and Ted Morgan performing a song for some entertainment. Celebrities such as Vangelico owner, Gin Vangelico and producer/rapper Mook were enjoying the show.

photo credits: GinJonesGTA

Tigga also posted on Bleeter earlier on in the night with a photo of him and BADAZZ, TheKidRaloi and Mook with the caption:

‘ All four of us would cure the world with some songs together fr ‘

SOUNDWAVE artists also attended Trigga’s party, with artists such as Billie Eisman. Everybody looks amazing!

photo credits: billieeismanGTA

cypMarco posted on Bleeter ‘We in the house!’ showing that the KingPinStatute artists had arrived.

photo credits: cypMarco

Throughout the party, the hashtag #TriggaParty was trending on Bleeter, reaching up to #2 on the trending list. 

According to Cultural News For San Andreas, there were music performances, rumours of sex hook-ups and a legendary band were invited to the party!! 

This party is one that everybody will remember.

Thursday 2/23/23 8pm ET: Feature LP: Wild Turkey - Turkey (1972)

BIography by AllMusic Bass-player Glenn Cornick (b. 23 April 1947, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England), then known as Glenn Barnard, began his musical career as a member of the mid-60s outfit, Joey And The Jailbreakers. He also worked with a number of similarly underachieving outfits, such as the Vikings, Formula One, the Hobos and the Executives. Eventually he graduated into Blackpool’s John…

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You cannot be Sirius

Sorry, SiriusXM, but I’m dumping you. There are many reasons why I’m dumping satellite radio: I’m a cheapskate. We have Sirius XM in two cars. Total was about $15 a month. (I’d call each year before my latest “promotional” price would expire to renegotiate the rate.) I don’t drive as much. Now that I can work from home most days of the week, we’re putting a lot fewer miles on our cars. Less…

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AllMusic Staff Pick:  John Cale  Paris 1919 

Shortly before he dove head-first into the jagged paranoia of 1974's Fear (whose mania would inform much of his next decade), John Cale recorded this lovely outlier in his catalog, a set of elegantly crafted pop songs that rank with the gentlest and most effective in his catalog. Featuring excellent accompaniment from Lowell George and Richie Hayward of Little Feat and jazz giant Wilton Felder, this is arty rock crafted with refined joy.

- Mark Deming