A rocker, a gospel singer and a classical musician walk into a bar...

Wow, three months between posts, sorry about that. In order to make this project manageable I'll try and cover 2 to 3 albums per post, starting now.


First up, AC/DC's Back in Black, the first album with Brian Johnson at lead vocals. Instead of getting sidetracked by debating the merits of one singer (the late Bon Scott) or another (Johnson) let's just focus on the merits of this album on it's own, with the caveat that while I don't agree with their chosen subjects their talent is undeniable. Those merits are many: they come across as a well-oiled rock 'n' roll machine that really enjoys what they do,the production is well crafted and the musicianship is top of the line. From the first pealing bell (which I will forever confuse with Metallica's For Whom the Bell Tolls) to the final chord this is great classic rock. This is certainly not noise pollution.

Next, The Abyssinian Baptist Choir's Shakin' The Rafters. I'm honestly not sure what this album is doing in a collection of must listen to music. There is no doubt they also enjoy what they're doing as well, however, as an auditory experience they leave a lot to be desired. The vocals come through just fine but the instrumentation sounds like they placed the piano and what not on one end of the sanctuary and the microphone on the other. Unless the pianist is really banging away you hardly even know the vocals are being accompanied. Add to that the soloists voices that sound like fingernails on chalkboards and it becomes quite the puzzle. Now, some of this may have to do with the age of the project (original recording 50 years ago) and the fact that my main point of comparison is The Ladykillers Soundtrack (Great recording by the way, highly recommend it; it has great mixing and mostly alternates gospel choir with hip hop/rap) but still, the mixing that has survived to this current edition is, bluntly, atrocious and would not be in my list.








He Stays in My Room


Finally, this time around, is composer John Adams' Harmonium/Choruses from The Death Of Klinghoffer. This recording caused me the greatest difficulty for this post: the recording and instrumentation were far too subtle for my daily activities, I had to plug the earbuds straight into the front of the comp. After I did a massive soundscape was laid before me: the soulful laments of both Palestinians and Jews (for the same land from different exiles), the frenetic haste of modern life and calming elements flowed around me. I was disappointed about the lengths to which I had to go to discover all this but not with the album itself. Classical (in any of it's forms- his work is quite contemporary) is not usually my cup of tea and this was a pleasant introduction back into the genre.

Harmonium: Negative Love - John Adams