#579: "Ennnnh...."

Ghod help us all, here starts the dumping ground 4 all the Strange Music out there that's Merely Average. & there's a lot of it.
Some of these albums hava few Great Trax, some of 'em even have Great Sides -- just not enuf 2 add-up 2 a Great Album overall. I'll try 2 note the best trax along the way. Lemme know what you think.
These R listed in sorta-descending order, but it's a tough call. Away we go....

= Moody Blues: IN SEARCH OF THE LOST CHORD (1968) -- Their most dated. Psychedelic/Indian/Far Eastern-influenced. Still some great trax: "Ride My See-Saw," "Legend of a Mind," "Voices in the Sky," "The Actor," "Departure." But LOTSA filler. & "Om" is their worst song ever.
= Gryphon: MIDNIGHT MUSHRUMPS (1974) -- 3 great trax, 1 is the dramatic side-long title piece. "Ploughboy's Dream" & "Ethelion" R 2nd-side standouts.
= Kansas: (1st) (1974) -- "Journey from Mariabronn" is THE great lost Kansas song, a classic moment. "Apercu" & "Can I Tell You?" R OK. But "Death of Mother Nature Suite" is UGLY.
= Roxy Music: FLESH + BLOOD (1981) -- Smooth, + the great "Over You," "Oh Yeah (On the Radio)," "Same Old Scene." But the '60s remakes R awful.
= Caravan: (1st) (1968) -- "Place of My Own" is freaking great, with marvelous keybs from Dave Sinclair. "Where But for Caravan Would I?" is their 1st epic.
= Kate Bush: LIONHEART (1979) -- Her rushed 2nd album. Very pleasant in spots. "Wow," "Hammer Horror," "Don't Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake."
= Steely Dan: AJA (1978) -- TOO SMOOTH! "Josie"'s the best, but "Deacon Blues," "Black Cow" & the title song all work....
= Beach Boys: WILD HONEY (1968) -- White R&B in limbo. "Mama Says," "I'd Love Just Once to See You," "Let the Wind Blow," "Country Air," "Darlin'." + lotsa filler....
= Beach Boys: SMILEY SMILE (1967) -- Very odd. "Good Vibrations," "Heroes and Villains," "Gettin' Hungry," "With Me Tonight," "Vegetables."
= Camel: MIRAGE (1974) -- Jam-band goes Prog. "Lady Fantasy" suite's great, "Freefall," "Earthrise" & "Supertwister" Rn't bad -- I just like their later stuff better.
= Beach Boys: HOLLAND (1973) -- Sludgy, but a few good trax: "The Trader," "California Saga (closing section)" almost sounds like old times, + "Sail On Sailor."
= Camel: MOONMADNESS (1976) -- "Spirit of the Water" is great. The rest has lotsa MOOD....
= Caravan: IF I COULD DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN I'D DO IT ALL OVER YOU (1971) -- Production's thin, but "And I Wish I Were Stoned" & "With an Ear to the Ground You Can Make It" stand out. "For Richard" debuts here, but the later live version makes this look like a blueprint.
= Gentle Giant: GIANT STEPS best-of (1977?): 2nd-string best-of with 1 big bonus, "The Power and the Glory" single apparently unavailable anywhere else. "Peel the Paint" does just that.
= Alan Parsons Project: EVE (1979) -- "I'd Rather Be a Man" has a gorgeous tune, but the lyrics SUCK. & the disc's men-vs.-women subject matter is pretty grotesque. "Winding Me Up"'s pretty good & "Secret Garden" is pretty. But you gotta ignore The Concept.
= Gong: YOU (1974) -- 2 trax clinch their spacey/jazzy/otherworldly rep 4 me: "Master Builder" & "A Sprinkling of Clouds." & the 2 long jams on Side 2 R OK....
= Alan Parsons Project: TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD (1980) -- Mostly pretty dull, tho smooth as usual. "The Gold Bug"'s the best thing here, & "Time" was a pleasant single....
= Renaissance: PROLOGUE (1972) -- "Rajah Khan" is the brilliant psychedelic standout. The rest is average-pleasant.
= Renaissance: A SONG FOR ALL SEASONS (1978) -- "Northern Lights" was a great catchy single & the 1st 2 trax R OK. The rest is pretty stuffy -- as usual.
= The Nice: ARS LONGA VITA BREVIS (1968?) -- Worth it all 4 "America," possibly Keith Emerson's best moment.
= Pink Floyd: THE FINAL CUT (1983) -- Dark & morbid, but the title track works & "Not Now John" is funny. Summa the same orchestral power of THE WALL is still here. But it's depressing....
= Sky: SKY3 (1981) -- Kinda dull & predictable, stuck in an endless 4/4, but "Meheeco" & "Connecting Rooms" liven it up.
= Kraftwerk: AUTOBAHN (1975) -- The title track makes a hypnotic full-side. "Kometmelodie 2" isn't bad....
= National Health: (1st) (1978) -- Hatfield and the North with longer songs. "Tenemos Roads" is pretty great.
= National Health: OF QUEUES AND CURES (1979) -- "Binoculars" & "Phlaketon" R hilarious. The rest is the same long, involved, meandering music -- short on memorable melodies.
= Strawbs: JUST A COLLECTION OF ANTIQUES AND CURIOS (live) (1970) -- High marks 2 Strawbs leader/songwriter Dave Cousins 4 writing a whole new batch of songs 4 this live gig. But the only 1 that works is the angry "Where is This Dream of Your Youth?" It's freaking great -- but it's mainly a showcase 4 Rick Wakeman....
= Hatfield and the North: (1st) (1974) -- 17 pieces over 2 sides, brief moments of hilarity & brilliance. Richard Sinclair's singing & lyrics R funny. Robert Wyatt & the Northettes brighten it up.
= Emerson, Lake and Palmer: TRILOGY (1972) -- "From the Beginning," of course. But Aaron Copland's "Hoedown" should rock harder. The rest is kinda forgettable. "Abaddon's Bolero" almost makes it....
= Waterboys: ROOM TO ROAM (1991) -- "A Life of Sundays" finally reaches the epic guitar-&-folk-orchestra music Mike Scott was reaching 4. There R a couple other pleasant spots.
= Kansas: SONG FOR AMERICA (1973) -- Title track's brilliant. The rest is pretty dark....
= Kansas: MASQUE (1974) -- Speaking of dark....
= Wigwam: LUCKY GOLDEN STRIPES AND STARPOSE (1975) -- Very low-key, a few decent songs. "Never Turn You In," catchy "Tramdriver," silly "International Disaster," "Wardance." Nothing as good as "Bless Your Lucky Stars" off NUCLEAR NIGHTCLUB....
= Nilsson: SON OF SCHMILSSON (1972) -- Some of this is funny & some of it's just really odd, tho memorable. Hadn't heard it in 35 years when I picked-up a copy awhile back, & I remembered almost every song. Harry sings great. "Remember (Christmas)" is gorgeous.
= Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention: WEASELS RIPPED MY FLESH (1970) -- 3 good songs & a whole LOT of noise. "Directly From My Heart to You," "Oh No," "The Orange County Lumber Truck."
= Pat Metheny Group: OFFRAMP (1982) -- "Eighteen" isn't bad. The rest's a little Too Light. "The Bat" messes up a decent tune with stupid sound effects.
= Renaissance: ASHES ARE BURNING (1973) -- "At the Harbour" is haunting. Mosta the others sound way better & way livelier in concert. These studio versions R a little stiff....
= Sky: SKY4/FORTHCOMING (1982) -- Even MORE stuck in 4/4. A couple pleasant trax, "Dies Irae" is best. The rest just floats away....
= Van Morrison: ASTRAL WEEKS (1968) -- Jazzy mood music.
= Al Stewart: TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN -- Early best-of from Al's 1st 3 albums + a single. Some promising moments, but depressing overall -- & mosta the long story songs R pretty brutal. "Electric Los Angeles Sunset," "You Should Have Listened to Al," "Samuel, Oh How You've Changed," "The Elf."
= Al Stewart: THE EARLY YEARS (1978) -- Less of the same, with mosta the same standouts & mosta the long story-songs dropped, thank Ghod. + a coupla trax from Al's 4th album, ORANGE.
= Spooky Tooth: SPOOKY TWO (1969) -- "Feelin' Bad" is great, & "Hangman Hang My Shell on a Tree" is OK -- but "Evil Woman" is HILARIOUSLY BAD, so over-the-top it had 2 B a joke. You gotta hear it 2 believe it. Was Led Zeppelin listening...?
= Mark Isham: VAPOR DRAWINGS (1988?) -- 1 decent track, "On the Threshold of Liberty." Lighter-than-air New Age from the leader of (my heroes) Group 87.
= Mike Oldfield: HERGEST RIDGE (1974) -- Both sides build & build & BUILD 2 a great guitar solo ... that never happens. Not bad, just background music.
= Neil Diamond: JONATHON LIVINGSTON SEAGULL soundtrack (1973) -- Did I actually BUY this? Yes, back when I thot Neil Could Do No Wrong. "Skybird"'s not bad, "Flight of the Gull"'s OK, "Be"'s a little overdone. The rest is meandering, slushy soundtrack muzak. Jeez, I even went & saw the movie....

More, better stuff soon....