The Three Suns - Twilight Time (1966)

I found a Three Suns record, Fever & Smoke, a while back that was full of great sounding space age lounge music. It prompted me to try to find more. This was not really what I was looking for though. The album Twilight Time is a throw back to their first hit, & is full of way more organ & accordion sounds than a man can handle. 

Triumph - Just A Game (1979)

Whenever someone thinks of Canadian hair rock, Rush comes to mind, but what about Triumph? Triumph was the lesser known hard rock trio from the great north. To be honest, I'm not a fan of these guys. I just love their artwork. It's one of those bands where you see the album cover in a store & start imagining crazy solos & devil hands. For me, this album dosen't hold up to the epic gatefold design.  I really wanted to hear rockin' metal, but instead you get softer ballads & some spanish freakin' guitar. WTF!?! Anyway, I know a girl who occasionally busts out an old Triumph t-shirt. It automatically switches something on in my brains & turns me into a teenage boy getting sweaty thinking about the bands logo hanging off a pair of tits.

Eric Burdon & The Animals - The Twain Shall Meet (1968)

I'm a huge fan of early Animals records, but what about the later ones? In the mid-to-late sixties they up & moved to California, included Eric Burdon in their name & started making psychedelic rock records. I'm not completly sold on the idea, but it's still got Burdon's signature vocals & you can still hear bits of their earlier blues sound amongst the 7-minute experimental rock breakdowns. This album would probably be great while on a trip. Sky Pilot is a wierd anti-Vietnam War song. My favorites are the bassline heavy Monterey & Closer To The Truth.

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The Animals - Animalization (1966)

Animalization is The Animals fourth US full length release. The UK version, Animalisms had a slightly different track list & shouldn't be confused with Animalism, their fifth release. It's like they were trying to make it hard to keep track of everything. The album is a great collection of blues-inspired Animals songs, from the classic organ riffs in their hit, Don't Bring Me Down, to the chanting in Cheating. She'll Return It is sort of hidden on side one & isn't mentioned on the sleeve. The real winners are the B-side covers. From the classic See See Rider, to Chuck Berry's. Sweet Little Sixteen. Who can overlook Burdon's hollerin' version of Screamin' Jay Hawkins hit, I Put A Spell On You. Really good stuff.

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Roger Miller - Man Of Distinction (1969)

Roger Miller is known for his hit song "King Of The Road" but he's more of a king of the country novelty song. He's at his best when mixing the Nashville sound with his tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. This album, Man Of Distinction, is a partial re-release of his 1965 Smash Records album "The 3rd Time Around", but the album art is reworked from his release "Words & Music". Released on Wing/Mercury it's missing the songs Water Dog & Swing Low Swingin' Chariot. You're left with a weird mix of songs. It's full of somber tracks like The Last Word In Lonesome Is Me & One Dyin' & A Buryin'. Kansas City Star & This Town return to his familiar light-hearted style. The hightlights of the album are Swiss Maid, a simple love song, & the foot tapping It Happened Just That Way.

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Toto - IV (1982)

One of my favorite dives in Chicago always has a DJ spinning great records that surprise the hell out of you & keep you on your feet. They only have one rule: No playing Toto. Sounds straight forward, but there is so much depth to that one rule. It's a middle finger to over-produced pop crap that, thanks to an anti-culture movement that says that things that are embarrassing uncool are suddenly cool again, has made a resurgence. That being said, I'd be a fool to say that you can't like a song just because, & after a few beers I want to sing along to their anthemic one-hit wonder, Africa. There is a 45 out there somewhere that is cut in the shape of the African continent. Buy that one cause nothing else on this LP is worth it.

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Gene Ammons - Bad Bossa Nova (1962)

I'm not really a big jazz guy, but I got into Bossa Nova a few years ago thanks to Stan Getz's The Girl From Ipenema  & Joe Harnel's Fly Me To The Moon. Figured I couldn't go wrong with Gene Ammons foray into the genre. This was the last album the Chicago-born saxophonist released before getting jailed for possession of heroin. Come on, drug-influenced jazz has gotta be good, right? Sadly, the title, Bad Bossa Nova, is exactly what you get. I wouldn't even consider it Bossa Nova. It's more Latin-infused jazz. It does have a lackluster version of the Haitian classic, Yellow Bird & my favorite tune on the album, Moito Mato Grosso.  The text on the back says it's based on a Brazilian tale of an elephant stomping on ants to create the Amazon river. It reminds me more of the Pink Panther theme though.

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The Kinks - Are The Village Green Preservation Society (1968)

When someone asks me if I'm more of a Beatles or Rolling Stones kind of person, I usually reply with "The Kinks". They are a land mark band after all, & this album, is one of my favorites. So what would a Beatles fan say when asked to critically review Revolver? It wouldn't happen. That means this is less of a review & more of an attempt to get you to listen to it. The album starts with a tongue-twister of a title track, & gets things off to a perfect start. If you were ever a fan of Green Day, their song Warning ripped off The Kink's Picture Book. There is an earlier European version out there with a slightly different track listing, but the US/UK one has a bigger & better collection of songs, specifically Last Of The Steam-Powered Trains & Big Sky. Seriously, that's only a few songs from side A. I'll let you discover side B on your own.

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Stampeders - Against The Grain (1971)

The Stampeders are a bunch of Canadian cowboys that play their own version of 70's rock with a touch of country western. They were originally called The Rebounds & after a few line up changes came out with the tune Sweet City Woman that hit the charts in Canada & The U.S. It's the perfect track to jump in a truck, roll the window down, & go drive through the country side. Against The Grain is the Canadian version of the album. The U.S. version was renamed after the title track. Sadly, there is a lot of crap on their full release, but a few gems to make it worth a listen. Gator Road is a funky swamp-rock b-side while Man From PEI sounds like it could have been a big hit if The Who did it.

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Outsiders - Time Won't Let Me (1966)

The Outsiders were a group of rock 'n' rollers from Cleveland, Ohio. Their first full release comes with their big hit, Time Won't Let Me. It's a Motown infused garage rock tune with horns & bass a'plenty. They wrote four other tracks on this LP that are more on the 50's pop driven side of things. What Makes You So Bad, You Weren't Brought Up That Way might be the best of them, with the use of an harmonica. The rest of the album is filled with covers of popular bands like Herman's Hermits, Buddy Holly & Jay & The Americans. The best being their version of Rockin' Robin & My Girl, originally by The Temptations, but nothing will really blow you away.

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Count Five - Psychotic Reaction (1966)

Here's some classic garage rock from the sixties. Count Five was a cape-wearing band from San Jose, California. Their song Psychotic Reaction is recognized as a cornerstone garage rock & a precursor to the glam & punk movements. It's been covered by the likes of Television to The Cramps & ended up on the Pebbles compilation. So how's the rest of the album? Well they start things out by hitting you with 'a' Double Decker Bus. It's a driving beat with fuzzy guitar & harmonica with a killer drum break in the middle. There's a cover of The Who's My Generation, which falls short of Roger Daltrey's stuttering. Among some of the softer stuff there's the more Beatles-ish sounding She's Fine & the psychedelic solos in Peace Of Mind. Out In The Street hits fast more like The Animals. There's a lot to like on this record.

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Neil Diamond - Shilo (1970)

Neil Diamond is another pretty common thrift store find & I've skimmed past plenty of his records. I finally broke down (I blame a girl) & bought one when I found out his early stuff was on Bang records, a label full of 60's pop rock. His pre-Sweet-Caroline era was actually pretty rockin' comparatively. This release is a compilation full of his first hits with a connect-the-dots album cover none the less. There are some mellow tunes on here like the title track about a childhood imaginary friend, Red Red Wine & Girl You'll Be A Woman Soon. The more up beat stuff such as You Got To Me & Thank The Lord For The Night Time really shine though. It also has originals of some staple hits covered by just about everyone. I'm A Believer was made famous by The Monkees. Solitary Man is genius song writing. Don't knock the Neil.

On a side note, I've seen plenty of used records where someone went through & connected the dots. I also saw this one, where a more artistic owner painted their own creepy picture of Neil.

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