Rock Samples
Excerpts of rock and roll reviews
WJONI MITCHELL, For theRoses (1972). Where the pretty swoops of her voice used to sound like a semiconscious parody of the demands placed on all female voices and all females, these sinuous, complex melodies have been composed to her vocal contours with palpable forethought. They reward stubborn attention with almost hypnotic appeal. A
Bob DYLAN, Planet Waves (1974). Blissful, sometimes, but sometimes it sounds like stray cat music scrawny, cocky, and yowling up the stairs. A-
JACKSON BROWNE, Late for theSky (1974). Browne reminds me of Nixon: no matter how hard I listen to his pronouncements—important sociologically if nothing else, right? my mind begins to wander. B-
PRINCE, Prince (1979). This boy is going to be a big star and deserves it. B+
THE SEX PISTOLS, NeverMind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols(1977). Get this straight: no matter what the chicmongers want to believe, to call this band dangerous is more than a suave existentialist compliment. They mean no good. It won't do to pass off Rotten's hatred and disgust as role-playing—the gusto of the performance is too convincing. Which is why this is such an impressive record. A
THE WHO,lt's Hard (1983). Tommy's operatic pretensions were so transparent that for years it seemed safe to guess that Townshend's musical ideas would never catch up with his lyrics. And in fact they didn't—both became more prolix at the same rate. B
COMMANDER CODY, Rock 'n Roll Again (1977). In which a mastermind whose own best songs were eccentric oldies and whose energy and charm were identical to his irresponsibility pens all the tunes for a slickly produced and woogieless boogie album. How the flaky have fallen. C
TAJ MAHAL, Taj'sBlues (1991). I used to regard Taj as a walking Afromusical encyclopedia, but the more I listened to this endlessly listenable anthology the less derivative he seemed. Nobody else has ever sung blues this way—cutting rural slack with urban hyp erconsciousness, ness, he's Jim Crow's bumpkin turning into Zip Coon's dandy without the negative vibe of either stereotype. Sly and cocky, but so full of fun you don't resent it, he sneaks beats from all over the diaspora. A
THE CAPTAIN AND TENNILLE, Love WillKeep Us Together(1915). One expected a lousy album, but not this lousy. D-
TINA TURNER, Simply theBest (1992). With its hyper stylized soul and dominatrix shtick, Tina's pop-queen phase is recommended to Madonna fans who fancy a more serious grade of schlock. A-
Ride , Going Blank Again(1992). Selling out to stunningly vulgar effect, high-texture also-rans process a grand panoply of rock and roll readymades through their art-school sensibilities and infernal machines. A-
L.L. COOL J, Bigger and Deffer(1987). Like the pop metalegotists he resembles every which way but white, J proves that there's something worse than a middleclass adolescent who's gotta be a bigshot this instant... C +
The critichimself
