Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#260 in the Series) is Kansas, Masque I have been wanting to do a write-up on an old Kansas album for sometime.  The passing of Don Kirshner was a perfect reason to do it today. I was a little worried that Mr. Kirshner was only going to be remembered for his 1970’s television show Rock Concert. He was much more than that. He was the major inspiration behind the ‘Brill Building’ and ‘Tin Pan Alley.’ It was home for some of the great songwriters of the 60s and 70s. Included in that group was Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Neil Sadaka, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Jack Keller, etc. The Monkees hired him to...

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 (#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...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day is Thin Lizzy’s Fighting. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Everybods knows the Jailbreak album. This preceded it and yes, it was better. I became a huge fan if this album pretty much for one reason. ‘XRT played the crap out of it. This was in ‘XRT’s early days. They weren’t even a 24 rock station until about time. They used to call Thin Lizzy the ‘House Band.’ Back at that time. The best known song was the, some what of a title cut you could say. It was called “Fightin’ My Way Back.'”I’ll attach it to the end of this rant. Phil Lynott’s best work was on this album. A less commercial sounding than “The...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day is Led Zeppelin’s, Physical Graffiti. A double album, a great double album! I don’t know why, but of all the Zeppelin releases, this one just sounded different. I could never place why, it just had a completely different ‘vibe’ to me. ‘Kashmir’ probably received the most air play here. Possibly ‘Trampled Under Foot.’ My favorites were ‘In My Time of Dying, Night Flight’ and the set opening ‘Custard Pie.’ It’s also interesting that the song ‘Houses of the Holy’ appeared here, and not on the album Houses of the Holy. I sure miss buying albums in the long form vinyl format. How can you ever forget sliding this one in and out and...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#16 in the series) is The Band’s, “Northern Lights, Southern Cross.” No, It’s not as popular as some of The Band’s other releases such as ‘Music From Big Pink, Stage Fright” or the live masterpiece, “The Last Waltz,” but 1975’s “North Lights, Southern Cross” is still a great listen. Choice cuts include “Ophelia, Hobo Jungle”, and two of my favorites. “It’s Makes No Difference” and “Acadian Driftwood. Acadian Driftwood” tells the story of the the Canadian Acadian tribe and how they drifted down the Mississippi river and became, Cajuns. All songs were written by Robbie Robertson. It was the first album to be recorded in The Bands newly opened California studio called Shangri-La....