Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1015 in the Series) is Chris Squire, Fish out of Water I can’t give you the date. I wish I could, but I remember it like yesterday coming home as a wasted teen, turning on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert and seeing  Bill Bruford with his Boston Bruins cutoff jersey, Chris Squire with his signature cape and Patrick Moraz standing in front of an orchestra performing the first two tracks on this gem of music.  I recognized it well, as I got it on vinyl as soon as I could. It would later remind me of Peter Gabriel’s first solo record, not sounding all that much like the famous and great band they...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#915 in the Series) is Terence Trent D’Arby, Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D’Arby. Terence Trent D’Arby arrived on the scene in 1987 and found immediate success.  This album, his debut, peaked at #4, TWICE! His second single “Wishing Well” reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.  He won a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. Then…. Not much. He would never see success like that again. That first album though is definitely worth looking back upon.  The first single was my favorite on that disc. That was the hard funk of “If You Let Me Stay.”  I don’t think anything on the album came close to that...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#872 in the Series) is Tears for Fears, Songs from the Big Chair I don’t know that you can name a definitive album of the 1980’s, but if you could, Tears for Fears Songs from the Big Chair would definitely be in the conversation. The follow up to their also classic The Hurting, it is a classic musically as well as a touchstone in social activism. It is an important aspect of the decade for which it rarely gets credit. Tears for Fears, along with R.E.M., The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen and a few others were instrumental in bringing 80’s college/alternative/indie rock into the mainstream. This was important because this new genre, and most specifically, Songs...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#801 in the Series) is 801, Listen Now Some times you have to pull one out that I bet many of you have not  listened to in years!  I’m guessing that’s true for 801. When was the last time you pulled this one off the shelf?  There even a good chance that you never even heard of this one. Then again, I’m betting many of you have as well since we do have a large number of audiophiles that frequent the site. 801 is a band put together by Phil Manzanera, Phil is best known as lead guitarist for the legendary band Roxy Music. Roxy would take time off now and then and like most bands,...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#718 in the Series) is Joe Cocker, Cocker. This is one of those albums that did not include a disappointing track. I hadn’t listened to a new Cocker release in years when a promo of this arrived in my mail one day. I guess it’s not as bluesy as most Cocker albums, in fact, some people might not be thrilled with the inclusion of a couple power-ballads, but I always loved the release.  The most well known song was Randy Newman’s ‘You Can Leave Your Hat On.’ Sure, it still provides for some great video memories for many, but it was hardly the best song. Give me JC’s reading of Marvin Gaye’s “Inner...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#630 in the Series) is self-titled debut from Bad Company   The year was 1974 and the musical landscape as far as the charts were concerned was a saccharine heavy peppering of Crosby Stills and Nash, The Eagles, and Carole King, full of laid back California Soul that was about as dangerous and edgy as Peter Frampton, and much like Cliff Richard was very close to exceeding its shelf life. It was during this time that hard rock & heavy metal was very much like that green, leafy, combustible substance, it was something I really wanted, but did not necessarily know how to go about getting it.  I could not find it...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#563 in the Series) is Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane, Rough Mix (MCA US, Polydor UK) Ronnie Lane was, along with Steve Marriott, one of the founding members of the seminal rock group The Small Faces.  Pete Townshend is the back-bone of what can easily be considered one of the top four rock bands of all time, The Who.  Together in 1977 while Pete was on a musical vacation between The Who By Number sand what probably should have been their swan song  Who Are You, and Ronnie was making yet another attempt to revitalize his solo career after four mostly critically acclaimed yet publicly ignored solo albums with his appropriately named...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#439 in the Series and #21 in the Whale Wednesday Series) is Eric Clapton, Slowhand  Slowhand was a major, major release for Mr. Clapton.  It was one of the few that featured some strong radio friendly top 40 hits.  Now there is a thing where something can be a top 40 hit and still be a good song.  So, so many times hear from people that think just because something is a huge hit that it’s no longer a quality piece of music.  Well let me tell you, those are usually the hardest songs to write. OK, so maybe this wasn’t the usual blues guitar heavy rock album that we had grown accustom...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#436 in the Series) is Tears For Fears, The Hurting.  Tears For Fears hit big in 1985 with Songs From The Big Chair. Why? Well, a few reasons. One reason was the single “Everybody Wants to Rule The World.” Another reason was this album, The Hurting. The Hurtingestablished a fine strong base for the band. When the time came to start promoting the next album the promotional departments were definitely not starting from point zero.  It’s so much easier to walk into a music director’s office and discuss a band that has some history.  This album hardly made a dent on top 40 hit top stations, but it did very well with the...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#374 in the Series) is the self-titled debut from Go West I really dug some of the synth-rock new wave bands of the 80s. I always thought that Go West was one of the better ones.  I must say, when I started doing some of the research for this write-up, I was a little surprised how well this stood up. Not all of them do. Have any you plopped on a Thompson Twins album lately?  You might be surprised that they don’t sound all that hot! Go West was made of two band members, drummer, vocalist and double phallic named Peter Cox, along with guitarist, vocalist Richard Drummie. This was their debut album....