Squier, patron saint of melodic muscle rock, returns with another assortment of brash backbeats that, by his standards, is a little on the timid side. If the amplifiers are set lower than usual, though, the riffs are still pretty good. And what else do you need to know? Billy never deviates all that far from his (tom-tom) beaten path.
So many have trodden this trail, it's not surprising the result isn't a paragon of originality. "Lover," for instance, is reminiscent of Bad Company's "Ready for Love."
Squier devotees may be struck by the mellower cuts, such as "Conscience Point," and by Billy's tinkering with his usual guitar-bass-drums attack. In another experiment, he thins out his voice and adds organ to "Young at Heart." There are horns on the clipped boogie of "Hollywood," making it sound like late-period J. Geils Band. Tommy James-style pop even gets mixed in with the thumping "She Goes Down."
Don't get the wrong idea. The guy hasn't turned into a fancy pants, as typical Squier tracks like "Nerves on Ice" prove. Billy's wardrobe is still devoted mostly to blue jeans and white T-shirts. Blue suede shoes, optional. (Capitol)
Dave Holland Quartet
Bassist Dave Holland is a member of an endangered species in jazz: the freethinkers. He gave an early hint of his genius during the late '60s and early '70s when he worked as a sideman with Miles Davis on such seminal recordings as Bitches Brew. Coming into his own as a leader during the past decade, Holland has presided over a series of brilliant small group sessions for ECM—Jumpin' In, Seeds of Time, The Razor's Edge and Triplicate—that have all celebrated the possibilities of mixing open-ended improvisation with tight ensemble playing.
Like Ellington, Holland strives for a group sound that showcases the unique individual talents of his fellow musicians. Holland's own style, both as a bassist and leader, is understated. He takes few solos but constantly prods other members of the band with his elastic rhythmic lines and subtle, melodic cross talk. There is a buoyant quality to his playing that lends an airborne feeling to the entire session.
On alto saxophone Steve Coleman is brooding and quizzical, wrapping tight corkscrews of sound around the free-form melodies while drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith gleefully struts through a minefield of shifting rhythms. Guitarist Kevin Eubanks, recording with Holland for the first time, helps anchor the proceedings with his chordal harmonies while at the same time contributing to the collective feeling of openness in his solo time.
The music of Extensions ranges from the joyous to the elegiac and has a singing quality that may surprise listeners normally put off by the shock of the new. In an era when jazz has begun to take on an air of musty respectability, Holland's lyrical extrapolations of the tradition are as fresh and invigorating as the spring breezes we're all waiting for. (ECM)
Dolly Parton
If there were ever any doubts about Parton's ability as a duet singer, they were dispelled on the Rhinestone sound track, when she made Sylvester Stallone sound like the second coming of Porter Waggoner—well, the first-and-a-half coming, anyway.
This album lets her flaunt her collaborative abilities in high style, including as it does contributions by talents ranging from Parton's old buddy Emmylou Harris to relative newcomers Ricky Van Shelton, Vince Gill, Lorrie Morgan and Patty Loveless.
Parton sings the title song, a poetic sort of feminist anthem (could we now put "I Am Woman" to rest forever, please?), on her own; engages in a melodious debate with Morgan on "Best Woman Wins"; and does the thoughtful "Rockin' Years" with Shelton. She wrote or cowrote nine of the album's 11 tunes; many of them are notable additions to her admirable catalog, and the two outside contributions—Buck Owens's "Dreams Do Come True," especially—have something to say too.
Much like Barbra Streisand, Parton has conglomerated herself over the years. But unlike our Babs, she has never forgotten what her biggest strength is: music. (Columbia)
Victoria Wilson-James
Visually, Wilson-James seems to be trying for a sort of bleached Grace Jones look. Musically, she has a sweet but not too distinctive voice and a very good friend. That's Jazzie B., the leader of the British group Soul II Soul, who executive-produced this debut and whose imprimatur it carries. (Wilson-James is an Indianapolis native who moved to England in 1985 and gained notice as part of Soul II Soul.)
If you've heard the single "Through," you have a sense of this album's overall mood: loose-gaited R&B, punctuated with emphatically bowed strings. "Through" stands out because of Nathan East's punchy bass. Other picks include "2nd Nature," "Woman of Colours" and "Rest of Your Life," another kicking outing for East, best known as an Eric Clapton sideman.
The entire release, however, is too vaporous. Soul II Soul's tour of the States last summer began with a 20-minute fashion show (Jazzie B. fancies himself a designer as well as a musician), and that's what these tracks seem suited for. This is rhythmic, relaxed runway music, not dynamic enough to command full attention. (Epic)
Tad
There are too many pixies like Nelson and Rick Astley prancing around on MTV. We need a return to hefty men like Leslie West, Meat Loaf and Catfish Hodge, guys who could work up a sweat just walking onstage. Just in time, here comes Tad Doyle.
Doyle is a 6', 300-lb. ex-butcher from Idaho who moved to Seattle to front this quartet. For a self-labeled ' "grunge rock" band, Tad and his cohorts on this album, bassist Kurt Danielson, guitarist Gary Thorstensen and drummer Steve Wied (since replaced), roll smoothly on such tunes as "Jinx" and "3-D Witch Hunt," on which they resemble Hüsker Dü with the idle setting adjusted dangerously high.
Most of the time, though, Tad wallows unhappily in a maelstrom of guitar fire and feedback—check the wastrel's anthem "Delinquent" or "Trash Truck."
Our Mr. Doyle has the perfect, sludgy "I told you so" voice for this material. And all the boys earn their keep on din-filled dirges like "Wired God" and "Stumblin' Man," songs alienated enough to have been on the sound track of Village of the Damned.
Want to gnaw away at your resentments? Here's your album. Praise Tad and pass the butter. (Sub Pop)
- Contributors:
- David Hiltbrand,
- David Grogan,
- Ralph Novak.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
