The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 65, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 13, 1977 Page: 14 of 16
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records
GCB0CD
Kansas
Point Of Know Return
The intriguing cover and jacket
design is enough temptation to buy
this latest release from the group that
first saw real success with its last
record, Leftovertures. All that can be
said is that they've done it again,
balancing their lush arrangements
with straightforward rock and
acoustic music. Drawing upon many
different musical moods, the material
can take sudden pleasantly
unexpected directions and still not
wander away from the basic flow of the
tune. Bobby Steinhardt's vocals are as
expressive as ever, and the contrast
between his vocals, Steve Walsh's
keyboards, and the two electric guitars
makes for a vibrant mix.
Echoing the navigatory theme of the
jacket design, the title track might be
considered the "Carry On Wayward
Son" of the album, with its
immediately appealing scalar organ
work during the refrain. Rather than
try to sound like a sea song, it lets the
lyrics convey the setting, because the
music could fit a wide variety of topics.
Always a band to consider lofty topics
in its lyrics, in "Paradox" the narrator
claims in upbeat fashion that there
must be more to life than meets the eye.
Though the rhyme pattern in the
"Portrait (He Knew)" refrain is fairly
obvious, the unexpected guitar and
keyboard work make it more than just
another moderately heavy number.
The fact that Kerry Livgren and Steve
Walsh write almost all of the material
could provoke some to claim that
variations in tone cannot hide their
too-distinct style. However, just when
you might think that a cut falls under a
particular category, the tone changes
suddenly without sounding discon-
nected or out of place. To say that most
of the cuts on the album are typical
Kansas stuff is to ignore the personal
considerations that distinguish each
song.
"Lightning's Hand" sees one of the
other band members taking lead
vocals while the guitars churn out a
chugging rhythm to emphasize the
electric rumble of thunder and the
glare of the flash. In a salute to Big
Brother, "Sparks of The Tempest"
moves along without much ^flourish
until the middle when an electric riff
takes off in true rock fashion and has
you turning the volume up for the rest
of it.
At the other extreme is the softly
acoustic selection "Dust In The Wind,"
a look at man's minute part in the
master plan. With back-up vocals near
the end and a gentle violin
arrangement from Bobby Steinhardt,
it could easily be taken for a ballad
written any time from the late sixties
on. Though simple, it is truly lovely.
From a different perspective,
"Nobody's Home" ambivalently
chronicles a stranger's arrival on a
world which is dead, whether deserted
or just without hope is not made clear.
Despite the crashing cymbals and
drum rolls at the beginning, a light
piano tune forms the basis of the song.
Of the two long cuts on the album,
"Closet Chronicles" and "Hopelessly
Human," the first has more impact.
The latter, however, does feature a
pealing of bells that closes the album
on a great tonal scale.
A pleasure to listen to, Point Of
Know Return sees a continuation of
high quality music from a band that
set a tough standard to match with the
release of its last album.
Rate: 1
—jim fowler
Charlie Daniels Band
Midnight Wind
Exactly what their style is I can't
say, but the new album by the Charlie
Daniels Band has finally convinced
me that the group is one of very
accomplished musicians. Even though
the song titles are trite and the L.P. is
dedicated to Duane Allman and Berry
Oakley (that makes 493 for Duane and
391 for Berry), the boys can play, and
that they do on Midnight Wind.
Blasting immediately into their
country-jazz boogie, the band is tight
and fast on "Midnight Wind."
However, the tune is really not all that
good in other respects. "Sugar Hill
Satuday Night" is very similar. The
striking feature about these two songs
that is an indication of all the cuts on
the album is the incredible interplay
between the smoking guitars of
Charlie Daniels and Tom Crain. Back
and forth at an incredible pace, the two
give and take with as much flexibility
as any dual leads since Duane and
Dickey.
"Heaven Can Be Anywhere" is a
superbly arranged tune that features
Taz DiGregorio's roaming piano and a
smooth, smooth string arrangement.
The rest of the group maintains its
speed and volume without overshad-
owing the strings or the piano, and
that is quite an achievement. Where in
the hell did a Southern picker like
Charlie Daniels develop a Spanish
touch on the electric guitar? This is the
thing that most intrigues me about the
group. "Maria Teresa" displays
Daniels' knack for creating excellent
Latin-based electric tunes. I suspect
that this will be the hit song of the
album, and for once I agree. The last
tune on side one, "Indian Man," would
have been better off if it had not been
done.
Leading off side two, "Grapes of
Wrath" epitomizes the strengths and
weaknesses of the band. Lyrically it
falls victim to the bass juvenility that
the Daniels Band often uses to write a
popular song. However, Taz
DiGregorio establishes himself as a
fine piano player, and he is adding a
ton of variability to the group.
Charlie Daniels plays as only he can
on "Redneck Fiddlin Man."
Undoubtedly the finest rock fiddler
around, Daniels teams with Crain and
DiGregorio to produce an outstanding,
instrumentally dominated cut. The
same can be said for "Ode To Sweet
Smoky." Tom Crain exhibits quite a bit
of electric guitar talent on this number.
Daniels is good on guitar, but Crain
may be as good. "Good Ole Boy"
doesn't impress, but "Black Bayou" is
pure Southern Boogie and puts a solid
period on a solid album.
—chip bledsoe
Rate: 2+
Steely Dan
Aja
To be more precise, these days Steely
Dan is Donald Fagen and Walter
Becker assisted by a set of regular
studio musicians. These two do all the
writing and have retained the name
Steely Dan because they have always
been the productive nucleus of this
rather aloof rock entity. Aloof is a good
description, for they very seldom go on
tour and do not give the press
information about themselves.
In the past Steely Dan's style has
placed it in an 'other' category, a step
above most rock, with its musical roots
more sophisticated and rounded than
your average hit-the-drums, strum-the-
guitar group. This was fine, though,
because the final product sounded
good; sometimes jazzy, sometimes
West Coast, sometimes just Steely
Dan-ish.
If only such a variety in tone
characterized Aja. Basically, the
subdued, jazzy-smooth sound on every
cut gets downright boring by the
second side. Slick is a good way to
describe; it's too slick. While taken
individually the cuts are not so dull,
seven of them in a row is too much to
subject the old ears to. There is almost
nothing to tap the foot to, no guitar
solos to speak of, no catchy refrains,
just a sterile string of smooth music.
Not intending to dump completely on
Aja, perhaps more attention to
individual cuts is in order. "Black
Cow" borders on funk due mainly to
the bass line, but slow-tempoed funk at
that. The token horns surface near the
end, and as funk goes it's a fairly
competent number.
The chorus on "Aja" reminds me of
the chorus from "Rikki Don't Lose
That Number," but more relaxed, and
the long instrumental break in the
middle adequately conveys the mood of
the lyrics. For an eight minute song it
concentrates mainly on the jazzy flow
of its subdued sound. *
Even with instrumental breaks
"Deacon Blues" suffers from a weak
vocal line by Donald Fagen and a
serious case of sameness that Steely
Dan either does not notice or does not
care about. Even the lyrics this time
around lack the imaginative spark of
the past.
An underlying three chord electric
piano rhythm forms the basis of "Peg,"
whose refrain sounds suspiciously like
recent Doobie Brothers refrains. If you
look at the credits you will see the
second ex-Steely Dan member to join
the Doobies, Michael McDonald (Jeff
"Skunk" Baxter preceded him), on
back-up vocals. To be fair, "Peg" would
sound good in another context, but the
rest of the album buries it in a pile of
smoothness.
As for the last three cuts, the slick,
unexciting sound monster gobbles
them up, so they really don't stand a
chance. "Josie" starts out well enough,
but darned if it doesn't slip into the
subdued, almost bored theme of the
album.
Muzak coming from Steely Dan is
disappointing. I rate it rather
begrudgingly.
—jim fowler
Rate: 2-
the rice thresher, october 13, 1977—page 14
New Riders of the Purple Sage
Marin County Line
Before listening to their new album, I
considered the New Riders of the
Purple Sage a cut above most prairie
cactus rock groups. Talent-wise, they
probably still are, but unless they
broaden their arrangements, they are
in danger of becoming merely another
strum & hum California appendage.
"Till I Met You" leads off the album
in a rather non-descript fashion. It is
one of the five songs written by
Stephen Love on the L.P. Lyrically
average, the background synthesizer
could have been used more effectively
to make the tune more musically
potent. "Llywelyn" I liked, probably
because it wasn't another love song.
The New Riders always do a good job
with historical ballads, and
"Llywelyn" is no exception.
"Knights and Queens"—mediocre
rhythm, weak picking, fair steel guitar,
lyrically platonic. The Eagles could
really relate to "Green Eyes A
Flashing"—don't be surprised to see it
on their next album. Another song
relating to that awful predicament of
being an upper-middle class female
travelling with rock bands in southern
California—the song is pure B.S.,
musically lacking. Undistinguishable,
"Oh, What a Night" mercifully ends
side one.
Side two saves the album. Fast paced
with good interplay between guitars,
"A Good Woman Likes To Drink With
The Boys" zips along with nice
instrumental precision. "Jasper" is
also instrumentally strong, especially
the work of Buddy Cage on pedal steel.
Patrick Shanahan tries his hand at
writing on "Echoes," and his love tune
is poor. However, very nice acoustic
work by John Dawson highlights a
good instrumental number.
Interesting is the best way to
describe "Twenty Good Men." John
Dawson's song again breaks up the
love song monotony, but is the
unfortunate victim of poor mixing. The
electric guitar is potentially strong, but
the pedal steel and acoustic guitar are
overly loud. Best chance at popular hit:
"Little Miss Bad," a disgustingly be-
bop jingle.
Little Miss Bad, Little Miss Bad
Meet Mr. No-Good, Meet Mr. No-Good
-Crap Crap Crap
"Take a Red" features the Tower of
Power horn section. While not really
standing out, this attempt at a new
direction is welcome. Possibly the
addition of a piano could pull the New
Riders out of the doldrums. As it stands
now, they are a good group stuck in a
rut.
Rate: 2-
—chip bledsoe
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Parker, Philip. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 65, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 13, 1977, newspaper, October 13, 1977; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245347/m1/14/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.