Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#356 in the Series) is the self-titled debut from Led Zeppelin. I remember back around 1977 or so. I had a friend named John Popenleur. I hope I’m spelling that correctly. One day he was going on and on about his new turntable and how much he liked it. ‘You have to hear this thing, you have to hear this thing,” he kept saying.  OK, I finally agreed to check it out.  To this day, I remember what he put on to show off its sound.  He tossed the first Led Zeppelin album onto the turntable. He fired it up, loudly!!! I can still hear how cool “Good Times, Bad Times” sounded. It...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#351 in the Series) is Living Colour, Vivid Yesterday I mentioned that I felt that Lyle Lovett was a musician that had quite the unique sound.  Well, let’s continue on that “unique” trend with Living Colour. Yeah, I guess an all-African-American metal band would fit the bill. I know we don’t like to pigeonhole bands. I know it’s also somewhat clichéd to point out musicians by their race.  But I also feel it’s impossible to mention Living Colour and not mention how rare it was and 22 years later, to see an all-African-American metal band, at least one as good as Living Colour. Living Colour rose from the underground music scene in New...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#343 in the Series) is Ministy, Twitch Ministry was quite the big deal in Chicagoland in the early 80s. They released a number singles and EPs while still a club band.  Some of them got them some nice air-play.  It was big news when they signed with Arista and and in 1983 when they pumped out their debut album, With Sympathy?  Supposedly, band leader Alain Jourgensen was never happy with that album.  Maybe he was trying to tell us something with that title?  Me, I loved With Sympathy. I don’t think they ever released a better album. After its release, Jourgensen had an ugly break up with Arista. He turned Ministry into a...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#322 in the Series) is The Jimi Hendrix, Are You Experienced? I started making my notes and was thinking, “what can I say about an album that everyone pretty much knows already.” Well, there’s not much really. You know what jumped out at my first? What I noticed was the length of these tracks.  Over the years we think about these long, guitar solo heavy Hendrix pieces. It’s funny to look at all these track lengths in the two minute and low three minute times. This was Jimi’s debut album. QUICKLY!!! How many official studio albums did he release? Again, it’s hard to believe, but there were only three Hendrix albums.  Are You...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#304 in the Series and #22 in the Live, Saturday Night Series) is UFO, Strangers in the Night. UFO, Strangers in the Night has long been considered one of the best live hard rock albums.  I’d love to know how much money I spent on live albums from 1975 to 1979!  I know I had Lynyrd Skynyd, REO, Frampton, Genesis, The Outlaws, Rush, Nils Lofgren, Thin Lizzy etc. All from that short period. It was really a fun era. The best thing about this live album is that UFO chose the exact proper time to release it. They absolutely nailed it. It was after the  “Lights Out” and “Obsession” albums  and before the...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#214 in the Series) is The Who, Who By Numbers. OK, I know. I actually did write this one up when this site was just the facebook page. In fact, it was one of the first ones I did. I also know that I recently did Pete Townshend’s White City: A Novel. There is a reason why I’m coming back to The Who so quickly. There is a reason why I’m doing this album in particular. That reason is today’s date, December 5th. Because on December 5th, 1975. (That’s 35 years ago, I did the math already for you.) I saw my first real concert.  Real, meaning that I’m not counting little things,...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#199 in the Series, and #7 in the Live, Saturday Night Series) is Ted Nugent, Double Live Gonzo. Ted Nugent lit up radio the mid to late seventies.  He released three huge albums after leaving the Amboy Dukes. They were the self-titled, Ted Nugent (1975), Free For All (1976) and Cat Scratch Fever (1977). Or as my dear friend ‘Hoss’ used to call it, Rat’s Ass Fever.  He always had an interesting way of renaming things you could say! Building on the success of those three albums, Uncle Ted released his classic live album, Double Live Gonzo. Released in 1978, Double Live Gonzo was another hit. It featured most of the best songs...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#175 in the Series) is Judas Priest, Sad Wings of Destiny. Back to some metal.  I’m sure some might be saying ‘ug’ while others are saying, ‘It’s about time,’ but as you know, We try to spray to all fields here. Sad Wings of Destiny is EARLY Priest, real early.  This was released in a period when they weren’t even sure if they were going to make it.  This was their second album. One of the things that I always liked about this album was the fact that it did have a touch of prog-rock in it. I think that was something missing from some popular metal bands later.  To each, his own....

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#129 in the Series) is UFO, Force It. I haven’t featured a good old fashioned, rock and roll album for some time.  So here it is for you, UFO,  Force It. A good ‘play it loud, listen to the scorching guitar, rock and roll classic album. UFO was an 80s metal band that featured some of the best players of that era.  Michael Schenker on guitar.  Phil Moog, Vocals, Andy Parker, Drums. Pete Way, Bass.  Chuck Churchill was a guest musician that added, and for the first time, keyboards on a UFO album. Force It was the beginning of a three album run that, while quite popular, also marked the beginning of the end...