{"id":7807,"date":"2015-05-13T05:30:17","date_gmt":"2015-05-13T09:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=7807"},"modified":"2015-05-13T05:30:17","modified_gmt":"2015-05-13T09:30:17","slug":"hundred-word-reviews-for-may-2015-part-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2015\/05\/13\/hundred-word-reviews-for-may-2015-part-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundred Word Reviews for May 2015, Part 8"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Today, it&#8217;s five more capsule reviews. It&#8217;s great stuff all, dating from the 1970s.<\/p>\n<p><center><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/stories_untold.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"280\" height=\"280\" vspace=\"20\" \/><\/center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"float: right; padding: 10px; width: 120px; height: 240px;\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;OneJS=1&amp;Operation=GetAdHtml&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;source=ss&amp;ref=ss_til&amp;ad_type=product_link&amp;tracking_id=musoscribe-20&amp;marketplace=amazon&amp;region=US&amp;placement=B00M7T9ICI&amp;asins=B00M7T9ICI&amp;linkId=HOP5EBM4GO3T7KCZ&amp;show_border=true&amp;link_opens_in_new_window=true\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Stories \u2013 <\/strong><em><strong>Stories Untold: The Very Best of Stories<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nThe, um, story of Stories in inextricably tied up with that of the <strong>Left Banke<\/strong> (\u201cWalk Away Renee\u201d). The music on this set from Real Gone Music draws not only for the band&#8217;s (rather slim) catalog, but from relevant solo work by <strong>Steve Martin<\/strong> (no, not that one) and <strong>Ian Lloyd<\/strong>. The only thing more remarkable than the quality of the music is that little of it charted. Sure, you remember \u201cBrother Louie,\u201d but do you recall \u201cMammy Blue\u201d? I was nine when it briefly hit charts (#50) and hadn&#8217;t heard it more than twice in the next forty-plus years.<\/p>\n<p><center><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/utopia_ballroom.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"280\" height=\"280\" vspace=\"20\" \/><\/center><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"float: right; padding: 10px; width: 120px; height: 240px;\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;OneJS=1&amp;Operation=GetAdHtml&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;source=ss&amp;ref=ss_til&amp;ad_type=product_link&amp;tracking_id=musoscribe-20&amp;marketplace=amazon&amp;region=US&amp;placement=B00JAD10PC&amp;asins=B00JAD10PC&amp;linkId=SGPCIILDNSU53Y32&amp;show_border=true&amp;link_opens_in_new_window=true\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Todd Rundgren and Utopia \u2013 <\/strong><em><strong>Live at the Electric Ballroom<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nThis radio broadcast recording of an October 23, 1978 show in Milwaukee documents the entire show. Even if one doesn&#8217;t count the nearly countless <a href=\"http:\/\/www.musoscribe.com\/collection\/todd_rundgren.shtml\">live bootleg recordings in circulation<\/a>, there are quite a few <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=811\">Rundgren<\/a>\/<a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?tag=todd-rundgren\"><strong>Utopia<\/strong><\/a> live sets available. But if this one circulated among hardcore collectors before now, it&#8217;s news to me. At this point in Utopia&#8217;s history, they had settled into their core quartet lineup. That said, the set list draws more from Rundgren&#8217;s superb solo catalog, with only a few Utopia tunes (mostly from <em>Oops! Wrong Planet<\/em>). Performancewise, it&#8217;s tight, though bassist <strong>Kasim Sulton<\/strong> drops an occasional clam.<\/p>\n<p><center><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/sweet_rehearsals.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"280\" height=\"280\" vspace=\"20\" \/><\/center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"float: right; padding: 10px; width: 120px; height: 240px;\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;OneJS=1&amp;Operation=GetAdHtml&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;source=ss&amp;ref=ss_til&amp;ad_type=product_link&amp;tracking_id=musoscribe-20&amp;marketplace=amazon&amp;region=US&amp;placement=B00J2HMD9S&amp;asins=B00J2HMD9S&amp;linkId=KXQW7K63E6NH2YAZ&amp;show_border=true&amp;link_opens_in_new_window=true\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Sweet \u2013 <\/strong><em><strong>Level Headed Tour Rehearsals 1977<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nBy this point in their career, Sweet had fought to extricate themselves from the strong grip of the ChinniChap musical empire; they had also sought to shed the bubblegum image that accompanied it. Their <em>Level Headed<\/em> album introduced a progressive-leaning sound that was equal parts <strong>Alan Parsons Project<\/strong> and hard rock; the result \u2013 exemplified in the hit \u201cLove is Like Oxygen\u201d \u2013 might be termed bubbleprog. This home tape of a rehearsal finds them with an ace keyboardist, and a sound that clearly presages the L.A.-based hair metal sound of the 80s and onward. Don&#8217;t hold that against them.<\/p>\n<p><center><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/gg_bicentennial.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"280\" height=\"280\" vspace=\"20\" \/><\/center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"float: right; padding: 10px; width: 120px; height: 240px;\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;OneJS=1&amp;Operation=GetAdHtml&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;source=ss&amp;ref=ss_til&amp;ad_type=product_link&amp;tracking_id=musoscribe-20&amp;marketplace=amazon&amp;region=US&amp;placement=B00O64D5SK&amp;asins=B00O64D5SK&amp;linkId=HI3MO4XSZ3JKFHOE&amp;show_border=true&amp;link_opens_in_new_window=true\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Gentle Giant \u2013 <em>Live at the Bicentennial 1776-1976<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nFew progressive-era bands engender the sort of divided opinion that <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?tag=gentle-giant\">Gentle Giant<\/a> can claim. One is either impressed by their technical and vocal skills, or completely put off by the decidedly European musical sensibilities of the UK group. This double CD set documents a July 3 show in Hempstead, NY. Sound quality is excellent, and the band is in fine form as they run through material from throughout their career. The set boasts no post-production fixing or fiddling. Sadly, the encore mentioned in the liner notes (a rare cover of <strong>Wilson Pickett<\/strong>&#8216;s \u201cIn the Midnight Hour\u201d) didn&#8217;t make it to tape.<\/p>\n<p><center><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/numero_cavern.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"280\" height=\"280\" vspace=\"20\" \/><\/center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"float: right; padding: 10px; width: 120px; height: 240px;\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;OneJS=1&amp;Operation=GetAdHtml&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;source=ss&amp;ref=ss_til&amp;ad_type=product_link&amp;tracking_id=musoscribe-20&amp;marketplace=amazon&amp;region=US&amp;placement=B00N4JDHS6&amp;asins=B00N4JDHS6&amp;linkId=MXYL6QA6DZDQSM5H&amp;show_border=true&amp;link_opens_in_new_window=true\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Various \u2013 <\/strong><em><strong>Local Customs: Cavern Sound<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nWhen the small Numero Group releases something, you can count on excellence. This set focuses on recordings made for the label in the period 1970-73. More varied stylistically than many Numero comps, this one features little-known bands who coughed up the relatively modest session fees. There&#8217;s soulful hard rock a la <strong>Rare Earth<\/strong>, but the real oddity is <strong>American Sound Limited<\/strong>&#8216;s \u201cAunt Marie.\u201d It shamelessly rips off the signature melody of <strong>Status Quo<\/strong>&#8216;s \u201cPictures of Matchstick Men,\u201d plus some of the lyrics and phrasing. And when they do it, they sound like a cross between <strong>Billy Joe Royal<\/strong> and <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=5686\"><strong>BS&amp;T<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>More to come.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/the_musoscribe\">Follow \u201cthe_musoscribe\u201d on <\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/the_musoscribe\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/icon_twitter_small.jpg\" alt=\"\" name=\"graphics3\" width=\"18\" height=\"18\" align=\"BOTTOM\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"1\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/the_musoscribe\"> Twitter<\/a> and get notified<br \/>\nwhen new features, reviews and essays are published.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today, it&#8217;s five more capsule reviews. It&#8217;s great stuff all, dating from the 1970s. Stories \u2013 Stories Untold: The Very Best of Stories The, um, story of Stories in inextricably [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,51,55,56,61,64,65,69],"tags":[893,1611,1796,2072,2104,2228,2299],"class_list":["post-7807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-glam","category-pop","category-powerpop","category-prog","category-rant","category-reissue","category-review","category-soul","tag-gentle-giant","tag-numero-group","tag-real-gone-music","tag-stories","tag-sweet","tag-todd-rundgren","tag-utopia","cat-34-id","cat-51-id","cat-55-id","cat-56-id","cat-61-id","cat-64-id","cat-65-id","cat-69-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7807\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}