CAN’T GO BACK Tanita Tikaram (Eagle Records/ Ear) 3.5/5
This is Tikaram’s 7th studio album overall, and her first in 8 years. Displaying her new found love for Americana it is a soulful gathering of tunes, bolstered by the inclusion of a bonus disc of acoustic performances of pervious tunes.

Tanita was inspired here by the union of country and soul by Motown and Chess, and by singers like Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Dusty Springfield, Don Williams, Paul Simon and Marie Knight. Something about this music spoke to, and is speaking through, this German born, UK-raised daughter of Fijian/ Malaysian parents. It’s a very warm album, Tikaram’s sensual voice seemingly free of guile and emotional trickery- it pulls you in.

The first single was Dust My Shoes, what she calls a freedom song. “I’ve always wanted to write a song (like that)” she says. “The word ‘freedom’ becomes more important to me- in every choice, every political and moral decision. The attempt to live in a free way, I find very moving.” She says that the song Can’t Go Back really captures the spirit of the album. “The desire to live in the moment and the temptation to revise the past.” It’s a place all of us have visited from time to time, whether we admit it or not.

Can’t Go Back is warm company- pleasant to the ears on the surface, and it gets you thinking should you decide to swim a little deeper.

TOP TRACKS: Dust On My Shoes, Rock N Roll, One Kiss

BLUE RODEO: 1987-1993 Blue Rodeo (Warner) 7/5
Here I was, thinking I should get around to buying Blue Rodeo’s Greatest Hits, when this gigantic 8 disc box set plops in my lap. 1987-1993 includes remixes and re-masters of the band’s classic first 5 albums, plus demos that reveal the development and strength of the songs. Talk about an amazing journey!

This box set plays out like this; DISC ONE- Outskirts (re-mastered) DISC TWO- Outskirts (remixed) DISC THREE- Diamond Mine (re-mastered), DISC FOUR- Casino (re-mastered) DISC FIVE- Casino (demos) DISC SIX- Lost Together (re-mastered) DISC SEVEN- Five Days In July (re-mastered) DISC EIGHT- Odds N Ends (previously unreleased material and various demos) At least one of these discs represents the Blue Rodeo you know and love, possibly five of them- the remixed Outskirts, Casino demos and the Odds N Ends discs notwithstanding. Listening to a box set all at once is unnatural as albums blur together- it’s easy to get lost. While keeping in mind the massive undertaking that a box set can be, it seems the most efficient way of examining 1987-1993 is to take it a disc at a time, which took the better part of a week.

DISCS 1 &2: OUTSKIRTS RE-MASTERED/ REMIXED
Their debut, after trying their luck as The Hi Fi’s then Fly To France, and an unsuccessful move to New York. Produced by Terry Brown (Rush, Cutting Crew), all the band wanted him to do was capture the band accurately. Outskirts is a dark album, reflecting the time they spent in New York. The album gave up 4 singles, all of the vids in heavy rotation at Much Music. The band sounded somewhat like R.E.M. at the time, especially with a hit like Rose Colored Glasses, but it was the Jim Cuddy ballad Try (one of my all time favorite songs) that really attracted attention. The decision to remix the album for the box set came from Greg Keelor, stemming from a dispute with Brown over the song Heart Like Mine. After telling Brown he loved the original mix the producer replied with “I know you love it, that’s why I erased it. I wouldn’t put that on a record with my name on it.” “My whole life I’ve thought ‘God I’d love to remix that record, and just put it out simply the way we sounded then” says Keelor. While partial to the original mix because that’s the version I know, I see his point. TOP TRACKS: Rose Colored Glasses, Try

DISC 3: DIAMOND MINE (RE-MASTERED)
Inspired The Cowboy Junkies’ success at producing themselves on The Trinity Sessions, Blue Rodeo decided to produce this one themselves. The result was a relaxed recording atmosphere, the exact opposite of what the Outskirts sessions had been. “A lot of that record happened spontaneously” says Jim Cuddy. “We’d be trying out something and Malcolm (engineer/ co-producer) would stop us and say ‘OK that was good,’ and we didn’t realize he’d had the tape rolling. I think we go so much depth of feeling out of that record because of that.” No doubt that’s why this album is a favorite amongst the Blue Rodeo fans (mostly musicians) that I know. The band ended with a record nearly an hour long, almost unheard of in the days of vinyl. TOP TRACKS: How Long, Diamond Mine

DISCS 4 & 5: Casino (RE-MASTERED/ DEMOS)
With a new drummer in the band (punk drummer Mark French, who replaced Cleave Anderson) the band took up a serious demoing regimen when it came time to lay down Casino, with 13 of those tracks being heard for the first time in this box set. “We had a rehearsal space in Toronto, an old candy factory where I lived” remembers Greg Keelor. “The band was in good shape, we’d written a lot on the road, so we just set up and started recording.” The band was also signed to Atlantic in the U.S. at the time, so an outside producer was called for and they chose LA-based Pete Anderson, mainly because of his association with Dwight Yoakam and Michelle Shocked. Cuddy says “There were a lot of records being made in LA that we really liked at the time. We’d just made a very indulgent record and wanted something more streamlined (and) that’s what Pete promised.” The demos are an intriguing listen to an album under construction, and the highlight is surely the demo of After The Rain, which would re-surface with a horn section on 2001’s Greatest Hits. Casino was released in the fall of 1990 and has chalked up sales of over 200,000 in Canada. TOP TRACKS: ‘Til I Am Myself Again, Nice Try

DISC 6: Lost Together (RE-MASTERED)
Though I was aware of Blue Rodeo through hearing their hits on the radio, Lost Together is the first album of theirs I bought, and next to Try, the title song here remains one of my favorite Blue Rodeo tunes. The band had played some 240 show to support Casino and, as Keelor remembers, “We did a show outside of Detroit where we played on one side of a canal and the audience was on the other side. It was one of those civic events that had nothing to do with rock & roll. These boats would be going through the canal as we played, and at one point they were so big that we couldn’t see the audience at all” he says. “I was so depressed after that show, I wrote most of Lost Together that night.” Nearly all of its 13 tracks clock in at over 4 minutes and this is more similar to Diamond Mine that Casino, the record it followed. I said near the beginning that at least one of these discs represents the Blue Rodeo you know and love- Lost Together is that record for me. TOP TRACKS: Lost Together, Last to Know

DISC 7: 5 Days In July (RE-MASTERED)
After touring without a keyboard player for Lost Together (Bob Wiseman had decided to move on), Blue Rodeo hired James Gray. After a relaxing Australian tour that involved as much downtime as scheduled shows, they decided on a different approach to the next record. “We’d gone through this really dark period, but suddenly there in Australia it felt like eternal summer” recalls Keelor. Once back in Canada they decided to bring Doug McClement’s mobile studio out to Greg’s country home northeast of Toronto to record and EP of acoustic songs. Intended as a gathering of old friends, people like Colin Linden, Andrew Cash and Sarah McLachlan were dropping by. By the end of the first week, it was obvious a full album was more likely. The sessions were magic- it seemed that everything they tried worked. The result was Blue rodeo’s most successful record to date. Released in October of 1993, by the following summer it had sold 600,000 copies in Canada alone. TOP TRACKS: Head Over Heels, Hasn’t Hit Me Yet, Dark Angel

DISC 8: Odds & Ends (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED MATERIAL AND VARIOUS DEMOS
For longtime fans that are already intimately familiar with Blue Rodeo’s music, this disc (along with the Casino demos) will prove the most fascinating, and so far it’s my favorite disc in the package. No early versions of the monster hits mind you, but some lesser known album cuts and stuff we just haven’t heard before, making it feel like a long lost, really cool album that was found in behind the more important tapes in ‘the vault’. What does it sound like, overall? Blue Rodeo, of course- some of it overly country, like No Miracle No Dazzle which is drenched in some of the saddest pedal steel I’ve ever heard. Some great songs here that, for whatever reason, just didn’t fit whichever album they were working on at the time. Lots of Jim Cuddy ballads, something he does astonishingly well, but some interesting tracks from Greg Keelor too, including a personal favorite, The Ballad Of The Dime Store Greaser And The Blonde Mona Lisa, which I think should be released as a single. TOP TRACKS: (already mentioned)

The 44 page booklet features a compelling essay by Jason Schneider including rare photos and the band talking about the early days (that’s where the quotes I used come from) to take you right inside the music, a journey I’m always willing to make.

Not everybody has the cash or inclination to deal with a box set. Each of the 5 original albums in this set will also be released individually. Outskirts will also include the remixed version, and Casino will also include the disc of demos included in there, so there are other options. Having spent most of the last week listening to Blue Rodeo: 1987-1993 I’m pooped- so much great music to re-absorb in so little time. Perhaps like you, I’m guilty of having taken them for granted- but not anymore. Blue Rodeo is more than the sum of their hits, their music the soundtrack for much of our lives. As a music fan, I consider this box to be one of the crown jewels of my CD collection.

SONGS FOR THE END OF THE WORLD Rick Springfield (Universal) 3/5
Soap opera hunk turned rock star has just come up with perhaps the hardest rocking album of his career. It’s not metal but by God, he really leans into it here.

Obviously the title is a poke at the Mayans, Springfield doesn’t take them too seriously. “You can’t write about that stuff too seriously” he says of his tongue-in-cheek attitude. “It’s about the world in flames, but from a personalized viewpoint.” A dark album with a sense of humor- you gotta like that.

Rick has always had a good ear for hooks, as evidenced by early hits like Don’t Talk To Strangers and Jessie’s Girl, and that goes for his new stuff too. A song like I Hate Myself might come across like a dumb 3 chord rocker, but be damned if I wasn’t still humming the song when the album was done playing.

“The darker side of my nature creeps in and out, but so does a degree of optimism.” He notes. “In the end, I believe that solace and healing can be found in the presence of someone who understands, loves and accepts you for who you are, even while these looming threats remain.

A definite thumbs up for a surprisingly solid outing from the former TV star.

TOP TRACKS: A Sign Of Life, I Hate Myself, My Last Heartbeat

SUNKEN CONDOS Donald Fagen (Warner/ Reprise) 4/5
I’ve always been a sucker for Steely Dan, and for Donald Fagen’s solo albums in particular. Coming on the heels of Morph The Cat, a scant 7 years ago, Sunken Condos is slinky, uptown grooves and a great soundtrack for getting mentally lost.

Fagen’s first three solos albums- The Nightfly, Kamikiriad, Morph The Cat- are a trilogy of sorts, so Condos represents the beginning of a new chapter. There’s a little more funk present here, albeit subtly, as opposed to previous solo sets. 8 of the new tracks on the album are Fagen originals, the 9th being a cover of Isaac Hayes’ Out Of The Ghetto. It’s one of the stand outs here, perhaps even more fun than the others, if only because you don’t usually associate ‘ghetto’ with Fagen or his day job, Steely Dan.

If you’re not very familiar with his other solo discs, this might just sound like the same cocktail jazz vibe to you. His laid back approach and (one must assume) almost manic attention to sonic detail certainly make Sunken Condos feel familiar, but it’s more than just a continuation of the same journey- perhaps a detour through the part of town where all the really cool nightclubs are, where you stand with your back to the wall and keep an eye on the door.

Sonically and texturally Sunken Condos is like a fine wine as opposed to the cheap beer that is rock & roll. I love cheap beer most of the time but once in while need a taste of the good stuff- like this.

TOP TRACKS: Weather In My Head, Slinky Thing, Out of The Ghetto

THE GREAT PRETENDER Freddie Mercury (Eagle Vision) 3/5
A DVD documentary on the late Queen singer, arguably (and in my mind) the greatest front man of all time. A very watchable show, 1 hour and 7 minutes, with some great interview clips, but not nearly as comprehensive as I hoped for.

The Great Pretender touches on nearly all phases of Mercury’s life, from his birth in Zanzibar up to his death in 1991 from Aids. But it concentrates mostly on the solo projects he worked on outside of Queen- the Mr. Bad Guy album, which was a dismal flop, his album of covers The Great Pretender, and his surprising and hugely popular collaboration with Spanish opera star Montserrat Caballe, Barcelona.

The Great Pretender uses extensive archival footage of interviews with Freddie, revealing him to be shy and self deprecating, quite the opposite of his flamboyant on stage persona. There are concert clips, video shoots and personal material, much of it previously unseen, along with new interviews with friend, colleagues and former band mates. The bonus material is not to be missed either- extended interviews with Freddie and Montserrat, and The Making of Barcelona 2012.

Even as a lifelong Queen fan- I remember the day I bought my first Queen record as if it were yesterday- I was dismissive of Mercury’s solo albums at the time, viewing them rather unfavorably against the long shadow cast by his work with Queen- but after watching this doc, my next trip to HMV will involve tracking down his solo albums so I can give them another spin. So, mission accomplished, documentary.

BLUES FOR JIMI Gary Moore (Eagle Records) 4/5
Despite what the title says, this ain’t all blues. The late Irish guitar hero, a rock and blues legend in his own right, takes on the sacred canon of Jimi Hendrix. Perfect? No- passionate, rip-your-head-off playing? Abso-freakin’-lutely!

Recorded October 25th, 2007 during a release party for the DVD The Jimi Hendrix Experience- Live At Monterey, the band’s break-out gig, The Gary Moore Band was introduced by former NME journalist Keith Altham, the last person to interview Jimi. What follows is a blistering set of a dozen Hendrix classics- from the opening salvo of Purple Haze to the closing jam on Voodoo Child (Slight Return).

Moore’s love affair with Hendrix’s music was a nearly lifelong affair, from the time saw him live as a 15 year old teenager in Belfast, November 1967. You don’t have to listen all that close to hear Jimi’s influence on his playing, from the manic solos and the controlled use of feedback to the phrasing on his own material. Here on the new album, it’s obvious from the opening notes that Jimi’s music is in the right hands.

Much like Hendrix Moore wasn’t a bad singer but not a great one, so where Blues turns into a real love-fest is when Gary steps away from the mic lets it rip on any one of the many extended solos. Particularly on things like the sped up version of Fire, I get the impression that Jimi would have approved.

This highlight of the evening is when ex-Hendrix band mates Mitch Mitchell and Billy Cox join Gary on stage to perform Red House, Stone Free and Hey Joe. If Gary Moore was truly channeling the spirit of Hendrix that night, it would have been during those songs. I particularly enjoyed Cox’s vocals on Red House as he trades verses with Moore..

From one great guitarist to another, from Gary to Jimi, this is one hell of a tribute.

TOP TRACKS: Red House, Voodoo Child, Purple Haze

AT HOME NEXT DOOR Al Basile (Sweetop) 4.5/5
This is the 9th solo album for the former Roomful Of Blues trumpet player to be produced by Duke Robillard. As a creative and multi-talented artist, Basile sure knows his blues.

Al Basile has led three lives; as a singer/ writer/ cornetist in blues and jazz circles, as a poet/ playwright/ fiction writer, and as a teacher/ coach at an independent school in Rhode Island. Before reading the bio, as I listened to At Home I kept thinking “Why does this sound like Duke Robillard?” but as he’s done with every one of Basile’s albums, Duke produces and well as plays on this one. The result is what you might call the blues with jazz sophistication- relaxed, in the pocket and expertly played.

This double disc set (27 songs in all) is a treasure trove of 60’s Memphis style blues, uptown and yet down and dirty at the same time. Disc one is selected re-masters from the back catalogue, disc two is the new stuff. Al’s talents as a writer really shine here, with each song being a story unto itself. Aside from Robillard on guitar, another guest to note is tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton to help flesh out these danceable tales of woe. I love Robillard’s production too- simple, uncluttered, feels very live and expressive, with each instrument in the right place. When I close my eyes to listen (which I do a lot) I can almost watch the band playing each cut.

How does a supremely talented yet relatively unknown guy get to make a double CD? I suppose it doesn’t hurt that Al Basile is also the founder and owner of Sweetop Records- but that’s irrelevant to our discussion. At Home Next Door grooves until the cows come home, and that’s all that really matters.

TOP TRACKS: DISC ONE: Too Slow, Daddy Got A Problem
DISC TWO: She Was Sayin’ Giddyup, Stony Ground

GLAD ALL OVER The Wallflowers (Columbia) 3/5
This is the group’s 6th album overall, and their first since 2005’s Rebel, Sweetheart. Once I got past the Dave Clark Five association with the record’s title, Glad All Over proved to be an intriguing companion.

Jakob Dylan certainly seems to have inherited his father’s way with words. I hope he doesn’t get thrown under the microscope that way Bob does, but I like his vision- “It’s not the glass or wires at our feet/ that gets us dancing this way/ it’s the backbeat of these hearts that don’t feel the world/ that is slipping away”. You’re right, it sounds like something Gord Downie might’ve come up with too.

Produced by Jay Joyce, Glad All Over has that organic folk/rock feel that has endeared The Wallflowers to their fans since the first album. A good yardstick for me in listening to a new record is whether the songs encourage images in my mind, a sure sign that a song is touching something deeper, and I felt that several times on this disc. As a result I can’t get Constellation Blues out of my mind, and Misfits & Lovers (quoted above) keeps playing over and over.

There’s a Stones kind of looseness to Glad All Over that makes it impossible not to like, and the depth of lyrical vision across these 11 tracks feels like one side of a good conversation.

TOP TRACKS: Constellation Blues, Misfits & Lovers, The Devil’s Waltz

JUST LIKE HONEY Lisa Biales (Big Song Music) 4+/5
Been skipping over this for a month or two now, always going with something else when pulling something from the pile to review, and that makes me an idiot. Just Like Honey is one of the most entertaining albums of any genre I’ve listened to all year.

This disc is a mix of Americana, blues, folk and old timey music, and Biales is one helluva singer, reminding me at times of a young Linda Ronstadt. There’s some great blues here- she opens up with Memphis Minnie’s Call The Fire Wagon, and her duet with album producer EG Kight on Blues Stay Away From Me is a real show stopper. “EG’s vision for this project was to put together original songs with some of my early musical influences” Lisa says. The whole record flows seamlessly, as if Biales had written all the songs herself.

What really sells Just Like Honey is that wonderful voice of hers, whether getting intimate on a ballad or saucy and playful on a raunchy blues, you never get the feeling that Lisa is faking it. Covering Memphis Minnie, Etta James and Bonnie Raitt on the same album is a pretty ballsy move but she does it well, and has fun doing it. Production by EG Kight and Paul Hornsby is simple and uncluttered, giving each song the space it needs to breathe- and of course I’m always a sucker for some Hammond B3 and Fender Rhodes too.

Just Like Honey is well crafted and fun to listen to, with some deep spots as well- again, one of the year’s best.

TOP TRACKS: Blues Stay Away From Me, Call The Fire Wagon, When You Were Mine

RE-MACHINED: A TRIBUTE TO DEEP PURPLE’S MACHINE HEAD Various Artists (Eagle Records) 5/5
Tribute albums are more often than not well intentioned but weak affairs. Color me delightfully surprised, then, to find this nod to one of rock’s most influential albums to be a muscular effort that honors the original with muscular performances.

What a guest list here; Carlos Santana, Chickenfoot, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Steve Vai, Glenn Hughes & Chad Smith, Black Label Society The Flaming Lips, Jimmy Barnes & Joe Bonamassa and The Kings Of Chaos featuring Joe Elliot, Steve Stevens, Matt Sorum & Duff McKagan… just that makes you want to listen, doesn’t it? Glenn Hughes is, of course, a member of Purple’s Mark III lineup, and it can be argued that Chickenfoot guitarist Joe Satriani is a former member too, having been called to fill in when Ritchie Blackmore abruptly quit in the middle of the Battle Rages On tour.

What we have with Re-Machined is a strong batch of songs given their due in the hands of deeply talented musicians that also happen to be Purple fans. I listened to this 3 or 4 times yesterday, as soon as I got it home from Wal-Mart, and not once was I tempted to hit the ‘skip’ button to pass over a track- that’s rare. Even The Flaming Lips’ quirky techno re-make of Smoke On The Water was fun to listen to. This is one tribute album that absolutely, positively NAILED it.

TOP TRACKS: Highway Star (Chickenfoot), Lazy (Jimmy Barnes, Joe Bonamassa, Brad Whitford & Anton Fig), When A Blind Man Cries (Metallica)