Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#498 in the Series) is Todd Rundgren, (Re)Production Todd’s (Re)Production is going to get a ton of bad reviews. Why you say? Well, this album just doesn’t come across that well on first listen. Unfortunately, that’s all most reviewers will give to a new disc. Not here, no no no.  I try to give a new release at least three spins before I take out my crayon and loose leaf paper, ok my laptop actually. One thing that we’ve discussed before is how albums that take a little longer to get into are usually the ones that stay with you longer. I feel that way.  That’s the case here. (Re)Production is all covers,...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#497 in the Series) is Rory Gallagher, Irish Tour ’74. On top of the list there’s Jimi Hendrix. Look up anything on the genre of blues-rock bands, blues-rock music etc. and that’s who’s always at the top. Cast your eyes down a notch. Just a bit, not far, not far at all and you’ll land on Irish guitarist extraordinaire, Rory Gallagher.  If for some reason, you landed on Stevie Ray Vaughan’s name first, well then cast your eyes upward. Why, because in every way, Rory Gallagher’s name is listed above. It’s not even close. SRV should not be even mentioned in the same breath with this man. When I’m trying to decide on...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#496 in the Series) is Sea Level, Cats on the Coast. This 1978 was Sea Level’s second of what would be, five studio albums. They were part of the Capricorn Records family. So many of those great southern bands were from that 70s era.  They were from Macon, Georgia. Speaking of Macon, Georgia, Sea Level was kind of an Allman Brothers spin off, but not really. They were a little a little more ‘jazzy fusiony’ than the brothers. They would often play “Statesboro Blues” in their live shows. Three of the band members did play with the Allman Brothers at one time or another. Main founding member, Chuck Leavell was on keyboards....

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#495 in the Series) is the debut album from Procol Harum. This was Procol Harum’s debut album and it was released in 1967.  I’ll go and say it. I think it contains two of the best songs of the decade. One for sure, the other, maybe it’s more of a personal favorite. I don’t think there’s any doubt that I’m referring to “Whiter Shade of Pale.” This is an absolute 100% masterpiece of a song.  It was written by the band’s lead vocalist Gary Brooker and lyricist Keith Reid. (Or was it? More on that later) And Yes, I did say lyricist.  Keith Reid was considered a full-fledged band member even though; he...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#494 in the Series) is The Band, Music From Big Pink. No, The Band’s 1969 album titled The Band, was not their debut album. That distinction would be given to their 1968 release, Music From Big Pink. I know we have a ton of followers of The Band that visit our site. Yeah, I knew you knew, but many actually don’t. Quite a few people actually. Last week we looked at a great debut album from The Pretenders. We spoke about how that was one of the best debuts in music history.  This one is also in that team picture. When that Pretenders album hit the streets, they were a new act for...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#493 in the Series) is Glen Campbell, Ghost on the Canvas (Surfdog Records) And then it comes to this… Glen Campbell heads into the studio to record one final album before Alzheimer’s disease strips him of his mind and yes, sadly enough, his final days.  Always one of the most under-appreciated musicians, he gives us this final record and it’s simply masterful. Would I feel differently about these songs if his circumstances were different? To be honest? Probably yeah, but that’s all part of the deal here. His illness led to many of these writings. His illness led to many of these words.  You can’t separate one from the other. It’s all part...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#491 in the series) is Simon and Garfunkel, The Concert in Central Park. Electric guitars played through a stack of Marshall amps.  Double bass drum sets.  Ten piece horn section. Taurus bass pedals.  Are those powerful? You bet they are.  However, as long as I’ve been going to concerts, I’ve always noticed that nothing is as powerful, nothing can make your spine tingle as much as the power of the human voice.  Nothing can give you a chill like a perfect note by one of those great voices. It still does it for me every time. Art Garfunkel has one of those sets of pipes.  His reading of  “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” is...

Today’s Cool Album of the day (#490 in the Series) is Dion, Wonder Where I’m Bound When is an album not an album ? Well, in this case it’s when an artist’s old record company decides to gather up a bunch of previously unreleased tracks, recorded years before, and rush-release them to cash in on the artists current success! That’s exactly what happened to Dion in 1969 and, let’s be honest; it was probably no surprise to anyone, just the kind of stunt that record companies pull all the time really. This time around it proved to be a great move though, “Wonder Where I’m Bound”, the album of material they’d rejected before, turned out to be better than...

Today”s Cool Album of the Day (#489 in the Series) is Dave Stewart, The Blackbird Diaries Dave Stewart is a musical Swiss army knife.  Mostly known for being the bearded half of the Eurythmics and responsible for some of the biggest hits of the 80’s including “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” and “Would I Lie to You”, Stewart has come out from behind the mixing board for his first solo effort in ten years.  Toiling in relative post-breakup obscurity, while earning producer credit on Tom Petty’s Southern Accents, Frantic with Bryan Ferry in 2002, Destination Anywhere, for Jon Bon Jovi, the 2010 comeback album for Stevie Nicks, and the recent release by Joss Stone, he still had time...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#488 in the Series)is  the debut from The Pretenders. Not too long ago, we had a discussion on the Cool Album of the Day’s facebook site on the topic of how often a band’s debut album is their best.  It was pointed out that yeah, that was true, but more often than not, those acts were the ones that never did much afterword anyway. That was a great point the more I thought about it. Well, let me give you a band whose debut you album is arguably their best, yet still had a body of work that was phenomenal. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Quality to be exact. So know I’d...