Rickter Scale Show 142 - "Mixed Bag"

[Rick and Roll]

airing from 8-11 PM Sunday, August 12 and 1-4 PM Monday, August 13

Lots of variation this week. Some well-known artists and some not so known, and one unknown....

Peter Frampton - selections from "Fingerprints" (2006)

Boot It Up
Ida Y Vuelta
My Cup Of Tea
Cornerstones
Grab A Chicken
Blowin' Smoke

Afficianados of the guitar know that Frampton is more than the rock and roller. He plays the most tasteful leads. This record is all instrumental, and while the songs are mostly average, the playing is certainly not. There's a cool version of "Black Hole Sun" (not played here) and some other fun stuff. Thanks to Tee (Chris) for turning me on to this. I'll be seeing Frampton at a golf counrty club in VA on the 26th. My sister said "A long way from Frampton Comes Alive".....

Pete Townshend - selections from "All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes" (1982) and "Empty Glass" (1980)

The Sea Refuses No River
Somebody Saved Me
Slit Skirts
Rough Boys
Empty Glass
Gonna Get Ya

I finally picked these up recently. They are hit and miss, and these I think are the best cuts. "Sea" might be his best written song. "Slit Skirts" is maddening. A great song, but at the end he rips off a promising lead only to die the dreaded fade out death after several seconds. "Rough Boys" always makes me think of the silly MTV video he did, where he's stumbling around the pool hall bothering the patrons with the cigarette in the frets. No reason for having two guitar legends named Peter back to back...just coincidence (Pete is a name still a distant secong to "Steve" for most guitar legends).

Triumph - from "Just A Game" (1979)

Fanatasy Serenade
Hold On

A great song paired with it's two-minute acoustic intro piece. Long been a personal favorite, reminds me of fun times. Not too many guitar legends named Rik.

The It In You - selections from "different" (2003?)

Talk To Me
Die Strassen Von Sogra City
Summer Leaves
Vielleicht Morgen

This is the very jazzy ensemble led by Rudiger Puchalla, referred to me by the Bearded Project (thanks!). It's a hopping CD. "Talk To Me" is on the Bearded CD, and "Die Strassen" has a female vocal reminiscent of Bruford's early work. One of the last two songs (I forget which) has a section similar to "Low Spark" by Traffic.

Grand Funk Railroad - songs from "Good Singin' Good Playin' (1976)

Pass It Around
Out To Get You
Release Your Love
Goin' For the Pastor

A great band that also has a lot of personal attachment, good honest rock and roll. This lacks the power of their earlier work, but there's some good moments. Produced by Zappa, he plays the lead on "Out To Get You". I figured you'd want to hear more GFR on the Moon than "Closer To Home".

Max Webster - from "Universal Juveniles" (1980)

Battle Scar

A collaboration with their good friends Rush, it got a lot of airplay at the time but not many people seem to remember it anymore. A straight power song that's different for a Rush piece.

Styx - tracks from "Brave New World" (1999) and Cyclorama (2003)

Great Expectations
Heavy Water
These Are The Times
One With Everything

Here are two tracks with the last album with Dennis DeYoung and the first after their acrimonious split. I picked up each in the bargin bin. I've always considered them one of my favorite bands, but their output after "Paradise Theater" (1981) is disappointing. When they reformed to make "BNW" each of the main songwriters brought material mostly done. I listened to this not knowing anything about the record, and noticed that it didn't have a collaborative feel (that was a main factor in my fondness for the band - three diverse talents forming a singular voice). Lo and behold, I read up on it and found out that indeed there was considerable tension, and they removed DeYoung's vocals from the Tommy Shaw and James Young songs. It's true that DeYoung made some sappy stuff, but he was the progressive glue. The result is a record that sounds like three bands.

(BNW) "Great Expectations" is a fine jazzy DeYoung number with some lyrics that smack you with cynical realism. "Heavy Water" is the obligatory James Young political rocker. The Tommy Shaw stuff is tepid. He's the best and most prolific songwriter, but the stuff he did for this record is NOT Styx.

(C) "These Are the Times" combines Young and Shaw nicely, and "One" is a fantastic Shaw tune. So ends the Styx story for today.

Ad Infinitum - From their 1998 s/t CD

Ad Infinitum
Immortality
Waterline

One that's on the Moon! Todd Braverman from Cathedral wanted to make a super-progressive disc. He succeeded...Long tracks, trite lyrics about Norse gods and fairies, and to enhance the prog-street cred, Roger Dean artwork. Although it's everything that opponents of our beloved genre hurl at us, it's pretty fine music. These are the first three tracks to close out the show this week.

Next week is a feature on the great ELP......