Neil Young: After the Gold Rush


I’m Canadian, love music, know Neil Young, but strangely have never listened to an entire Neil Young album. While watching music documentary Sound City for the fifth or sixth time, Young was featured and mentioned recording some of After the Gold Rush at the studio and I had my pick for March 2017. It’s time to dive in and get a complete taste of one of Canada’s most famous musical exports.
This is the third studio album by Young and he’s backed by Crazy Horse. The album was originally written as a soundtrack for a movie script by the same name that never got produced. Initial reception was weak but it’s gone on to become one of Young’s most famous albums. Lets see what’s inside?! Listen to why I selected this album and listen with us at The Sonic Collective.
Listen to our review of this album here.
Links
Wikipedia: Neil Young: After the Gold Rush 
Buy the album on iTunes
Buy the album on Amazon
Other Considerations 
The Message: Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five
The Color and the Shape: Foo Fighters
Tibetan Meditation: Phil Thornton

The Clash: The Clash


 
Listen above to hear why I decided to pick The Clash’s debut album. I am really excited to give this influential album the dedicated listening time it deserves. Though not the inventors of punk The Clash took the FU attitude of the music and escalated it and pushed it into a new era of U.K. punk. Enjoy listening and be sure to come back at the beginning of next month to hear our reviews.
Darren Scott
Resources
The Clash (Album) Wikipedia
The Clash Official Site
A Brief History of Punk

Listen to our review of this pick here!

 
 

The Who: Live at Leeds


 
Ladies and Gentleman, this month’s pick is Live at Leeds, by the Who.
Recorded in 1970, it’s the band’s first live album, featuring the entire original lineup of Roger Daltrey, Pete Townsend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon. Arguably one of the best live bands in the world, I know I really love them, I’m comfortable Live at Leeds will hold its own against the already amazing live albums we’ve already covered.
For the review we’ll be using the 2001 deluxe edition, which is the first one that included the entire concert set list. They tweaked the order a bit to put the whole Tommy rock opera together, but on a first listen it doesn’t cause any major problems and it’s well worth it to get the entire concert.
Listen to our review of this album here
Links
Album link on iTunes
Album link on Amazon
Album Wikipedia page
Other Albums Considered This Month
Boogie Down Productions – Live Hardcore Worldwide
U2 – Under a Blood Red Sky

Nirvana: From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah


 
The album we’re going to be reviewing this month is both live, and a compilation of sorts – a clear violation of the mandate The Sonic Collective set for ourselves when we formed our noble group a couple of years ago. I guess I am just feeling rebellious, and so too were the millions of people who fell in love with Nirvana’s infectious brand of alternative music.  Our pick for the month: From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah.
About Nirvana:
When Nirvana arrived on the Seattle grunge scene in the late 1980s, the airwaves were filled with hair metal and new wave music. This formulaic, radio-friendly music didn’t appeal to a new generation of disenfranchised or just plain bored youth, who started leaning more towards the underground for their music. Nirvana was just one of many unknown indy-bands who were playing small gigs at the time. But the world would forever change after they signed on with a major label (DGC Records) and released their breakout album, Nevermind. It achieved an unexpected and unprecedented amount of success, suddenly vaulting the entire Seattle grunge scene onto the world’s radar. The direct result was the rise of alternative rock to become the new mainstream, and hold steadfast for the better part of a decade.
The band met a tragic end after frontman Kurt Cobain’s untimely death in 1994, but the legacy Nirvana left behind cannot be understated. Hailed as “The voice of a generation” by numerous publications, Nirvana’s breakthrough helped popularize Generation-X, slacker culture, and alternative music, forever changing the musical landscape.
About our pick:
In 1996, the surviving members of Nirvana released From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, a compilation of recordings taken from shows they played across the globe between the years 1989 to 1994.   It received positive critical reception, and is often considered the angsty and energetic antithesis to their most popular live album, MTV Unplugged in New York. The album’s title refers to the Wishkah River in Aberdeen, Washington, where Cobain spent time in his youth.
I’ve long been a fan of Nirvana, and I’m excited to delve into this album. Many of the songs will be familiar to me, but I’m eager to hear the difference a live recording makes. Cobain himself was very critical of how polished and cleaned up their studio albums sounded, so being able to hear the songs as he intended them to be heard is gonna be a real trip.
Enjoy From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah!
Listen to our review of this album here.

Frank Sinatra: Sinatra at the Sands


sinatraatthesands
Confession – I like Frank Sinatra. While selecting a live album I was really torn. I listened to some really great live albums (see them at the bottom) and was leaning towards a rock album. I then got to looking at Rolling Stone’s list of best live albums of all time and saw this one, Sinatra at the Sands. The songs themselves weren’t the big draw, rather that he was backed by Count Basie’s orchestra and legendary Quincy Jones conducted the concert. Wow – talk about a ton of huge music names on one album.
Then I got to listening and Frank’s personality really comes through – what a live album should be. This sticks out as a wonderful time capsule of an artist and time period.
sinatra-drinkingPlease listen to my audio above revealing my selection of this great album and why I picked it. Enjoy!
Links
Album Link on iTunes
Album Link on Amazon
Album Wikipedia page
Other Albums Considered this Month

Listen to our review of this album here.

Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison

As we have just completed a  rotation through our group again, we have now decided to do a round of live albums. We are also expanding our musical reviews by moving to audio reviews. This is a much better format and I am sure all our friends are just dying to hear our sweet voices. Ha ha.
johnny-cash-eating-cake-in-a-bush-highAt any rate, as I get to choose first I am very excited to choose the incomparable Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison. To be specific I am choosing Side 1 of the Legacy Edition of the album. I get into many amazing details about this album. Listen below and learn why I picked this cool album. If that’s not cool enough, what about this photo…. amiright…?
Spotify Album Link
iTunes Album Link
At Folsom Prison Wikipedia Page

Tears for Fears: Songs from the Big Chair

If you’ve tuned in to a couple reviews, you’ll see I rate many albums by how inclined I am to add it to my morning shower karaoke. I’ve also managed to hide it for over a year, but I’m also deeply addicted to 80s music, particularly from either the UK or Australia. I can fight it no longer. I’m Broken. I have to Shout the name of this band that has me Head Over Heels. Ladies and gentlmen, I give you Songs from the Big Chair by Tears for Fears.
tears-for-fears-songs-from-the-big-chairWhen first looking it up, I didn’t expect the album to have only 8 tracks, and for half of them to be singles. It made me all the more curious how the entire thing would come together. Will the new songs weave my favourite singles in to a greater story previously unknown? What emotional journey might await?
Numerous music magazines list this as not only one of the top albums of the 80s, but on their “must listen to before you die” lists, so I’m very hopeful. It’s the second studio album by the band, and normally I’d be a little leery of a sophomore slump, but considering the #1 chart rankings for both the album and singles across multiple countries, I think we’ll be ok.
So feather that hair and get ready to belt out some old favourites while hopefully meeting some new ones! My only regret is that the song with the greatest <https://youtu.be/u1ZvPSpLxCg?t=2m15s> is off a different album. (That’s right Michael Jackson, I said it.)
Links:
Songs from the Big Chair on Wikipedia
Album link on iTunes
Official Tears for Fears website
More awesome 80s dancing

George Thorogood & the Destroyers – Bad to the Bone

I think I’ve mentioned my “musical Renaissance”  previously on this site – when my older step-brother tossed aside my Def Leppard and Poison albums and loaned me his own collection, introducing me to a world of music I didn’t even know existed. It was the aural equivalent of dropping acid, and I burned through dozens and dozens of albums over the next few months, my little pop music teenage idiot mind expanding with every listen.

In this pic: the real deal.
Pictured: the real deal.

One of those albums was Bad to the Bone, by George Thorogood & the Destroyers. I remember liking what I heard, but had no inkling of who they were, where they came from, or what any of it meant. I also remember staring at the album while I listened, the one with George himself grinning right out at you, and thinking to myself, “This motherfucker is the real deal.”
It’s been years – probably 20, at least – since I gave this one a listen, so I wanted to see if it still held up. While many of the songs on the album are covers of other artists – some well known, some totally obscure – Thorogood and his band give them a wholly unique sound.
Note: The original album, released in 1982, had 10 tracks on it, but that version is hard to find online. The one that’s easy to find is the 25th anniversary release, which includes an additional 7 tracks. So, for our purposes, write your reviews based on the original tracks only, which end at “Wanted Man.”
Links:
Bad to the Bone on Wikipedia
Album link on iTunes
Bad to the Bone on AllMusic
Official website

I Mother Earth – Dig

I, Mother Earth - Dig

I Mother EarthDig is the debut album by the multi-platinum Canadian alt-rock outfit known as I Mother Earth. According to Wikipedia, the album is “noted for its metallic sound, balanced with psychedelic-style lyrics and instrumentals, and further backed by Latin percussion.” Dunno about you, but that sounds like a shitmix I can certainly get behind.
I’ve never actually listened to Dig, so I don’t really know what to expect, but I’ll tell you this much; their sophomore album Scenery and Fish was listed high among my favourite albums as a kid, and more than any other album in that (pretty short) list, I still never get tired of it. But the truth is, I really don’t think I can consider myself a true I Mother Earth fan until I give Dig a serious listen.
So, friends… am I setting Dig up to fall short of the expectations cast by IME’s sophomoric release? Will Dig blow my mind? How many more times am I gonna say Dig? I guess you’ll have to tune in to our review at the end of the month to find out!
Alain Dupuis
Links
Album Link on iTunes
Album Link on Amazon
I Mother Earth’s website
I Mother Earth on Twitter
I Mother Earth Wikipedia
Dig Wikipedia page
Other Albums Considered this Month
Alanis Morisette – Jagged Little Pill
Our Lady Peace – Naveed
Snow – 12 Inches of Snow

Sam Roberts: We Were All Born In a Flame

Sam-RobertsReleased in 2003, We Were All Born In a Flame is the debut full-length studio album by Montreal singer/songwriter Sam Roberts. Some of the album’s songs were re-recorded for the album, having been previously released on an EP or as singles. Roberts played most instruments on the collection, with the exception of drums, making this truly a solo effort.
I moved to Thailand in 1999 and as a result missed much of Roberts’ musical rise and popularity. During one summer visit back to Canada I heard album singles Brother Down and Where Have All The Good People Gone?, which I enjoyed but that’s where my Sam Roberts journey ended. Fast forward more than a decade and We Were All Born In a Flame randomly popped-up on a musical service, suggested as an album I might like. I gave it a listen, did again, and again, and here we are with it as my pick for June 2016.
Perhaps it was inevitable that I’d find this album sooner or later as one of the lyrics in Where Have All The Good People Gone? is “Bangkok to Babylon”. Well here I am in Bangkok, picking a Canadian artist, and delighted to have discovered more music from my homeland. I hope you enjoy this pick and discovering what is now Sam Roberts Band, focusing on the entire collective rather than the man himself.
Scott Coates
Links
Album Link on iTunes
Album Link on Amazon
Sam Roberts Band website
Sam Roberts Band on Twitter
Sam Roberts Wikipedia page
We Were All Born In a Flame Wikipedia page
Other Albums Considered this Month
Iggy Pop – The Idiot
Iggy Pop – Lust for Life
Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream
Jay Z – The Black Album
Brian Eno – Apollo: Atmospheres & Sountracks