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Christgau's Consumer Guide

Having shied away from the depressingAlways on My Mind a yearago, I compensate now by reviewing no less than six Willie Nelsonalbums, some of them depressing and some definitely not. Took a monthlonger than planned--this passion for completeness is hard tosate. But I've got to stop somewhere, so if the Willie & Waylontape that just came in the mail turns into a disc before I'm off thestands, forgive me and look for it in this space a year from now. I'vegot to stop somewhere.

KATE BUSH:The Dreaming (EMI America) The mostimpressive Fripp/Gabriel-style art-rock album of the postpunkrefulgence makes lines like "I love life" and "Some say knowledge issomething that you never have" say something. Part of the reason isthat Bush is flaky enough to seek the higher plane in "a hired plane,"although as you might expect the resulting analysis often crumblesunder scrutiny. It also helps that the emotional range of her singingsometimes approaches its physical range, although when it doesn'tyou'd best duck. But the revelation is the dense, demanding music,which gets the folk exoticism of current art-rock fashion out ofmandolins and uillean pipes and didgeridoos rather than clumsypolyrhythms, and goes for pop outreach with hooks rather than clumsypolyrhythms.B PLUS

EARTH, WIND & FIRE:Powerlight (Columbia) Sinceclassic EW&F succeeds in spite of Maurice White's universalisthoohah, the paucity of inspirational numbers is a blessing. The onethat celebrates voting is gratifyingly practical, the one thatcelebrates children's eyes one too many, and otherwise we're free togape at this band's spectacular popcraft. Their sonic affluence andshowtime groove encompass whispering strings no less perfect thantheir JB guitar beats, Funkafunnies harmonies no less schmaltzy thantheir Lionel Richie homages, and when the synthesis is this catchyit's the best argument for universalism they'll evermake.A MINUS

MERLE HAGGARD/WILLIE NELSON:Poncho and Lefty (Columbia)Haggard hasn't sung with so much care in years, which is obviouslyNelson's doing--the difference between this "Half a Man" and the oneonGoing Where the Lonely Go is the difference between ahusband who doesn't deserve to be cut down and a shit who does. But ifWaylon brings out Willie's self-righteousness, Merle brings out hisself-pity--Leona Williams doesn't want you to know it, but both ofthese boys have had more soft places to fall than any good manneeds.B PLUS

BUDDY HOLLY:For the First Time Anywhere (MCA) If likeme you were crying, waiting, hoping, or just wishing for new songs,dream on--other versions of the five originals and five covers arealready familiar to owners of the six-discComplete Buddy Hollyimport, most of whom bought this the week it was released. Thosewho've settled for20 Golden Greats will greatly enjoy meetingthe originals, especially since they sound much stronger in theserecordings. And now here's wishing I could say the same for thecovers--Holly rejected "That's My Desire" because it was a dog, and ifthe new "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man" is competitive with the one youknow, the new "Bo Diddley" isn't. Time: 21:03.B PLUS

KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, WILLIE NELSON, DOLLY PARTON, BRENDA LEE:TheWinning Hand (Monument) This 20-song mix-and-match isn'teven monumental in theory, because two of these "kings and queens ofcountry music" haven't earned their crowns--BL is a rock and rollprincess who never really graduated, KK a frog ditto. But BL is also apleasing bedroom-voiced journeywoman who turns in half of asurprisingly definitive "You're Gonna Love Yourself in the Morning."The other half comes from WN, who's on nine cuts and sounds like he'sthinking even when he also sounds like he's asleep. DP teams with WNon a surprisingly definitive "Everything's Beautiful in Its Own Way,"but sounds more at home on the album's two utter unlistenables--"PingPong," in which DP at her cutesiest is outdone by KK at his klutziest,and "Put It Off Until Tomorrow," in which DP kisses KK's warty littlehead and he croaks back. Time: 59:45.B MINUS

LENE LOVICH:No-Man's Land (Stiff/Epic) Lovich hasn't somuch gone Anglodisco as vice versa: she was swooping through postpunkwell before the coming of the synthesizers, and she's no less goofytoday. Nevertheless, she doessound less goofy, because she'ssurrounded by swoopers. Which doesn't make her secret privatism anyeasier to get to.B

NICK LOWE:The Abominable Showman (Columbia) Pretends heonly goes for bad puns, yeti trails "Time Wounds All Heels" with "(ForEvery Woman Who Ever Made a Fool of a Man There's a Woman Who Made a)Man of a Fool." No tour de force, just unlabored love songs, and mybest to the Lowe-Carters.B PLUS

MINUTEMEN:What Makes a Man Start Fires? (SST) Thelyrics are richer, bleaker, and smarter than the hardcore rant thatsoftened the world up for this art band in disguise, but I prefertheir music. The more you listen the less fragmentary these eighteentense little guess-you-have-to-call-them tunes sound--each transformsits own riff into an identity that meshes with the album'sguess-you-have-to-call-it gestalt. Since they're not purist (or unpop)enough to resist putting the strongest material first, theirsteady-state kineticism does lose a notch or two of stress as eachside proceeds, but that's the only way they could work it--any kind ofclimax would be too romantic for these guys. Time: 27:39.A MINUS

WILLIE NELSON:Tougher Than Leather (Columbia) In theend, I don't know what the fuck this supposed concept album is tryingto say, and if Nelson does he should continue to keep it tohimself--something about murder and honor and other romanticclichés. But since he felt duty-bound towrite the thing, itdoes of necessity include a number of those modern rarities,newWillie Nelson songs! Including two thatsomebody else mightactually want to cover: the throwaway coda "Nobody Slides, My Friend"and the new-cowboy advisory "Little Old-Fashioned Karma." Plus, for(symbolic) life, a rousing new version of "Beer Barrel Polka"!C PLUS

WILLIE NELSON & ROGER MILLER:Old Friends (Columbia)As a staunch admirer of "You Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd"who's had less than no use for Miller since he got serious, I'm almostpersuaded by this tribute-to-the-composer cum duo quickie. In fact,one more standout like "Old Friends" (including Ray Price), "SorryWillie" (didn't know you thought she was your darlin'), and "When aHouse Is Not a Home" (one of Nelson's patented dry-eyed weepers) wouldmake the difference. But when this doesn't stand out it's just thelimp Nashville jazz either will stoop to when no one's looking. Time:29:42.B[Later]

WILLIE NELSON & WEBB PIERCE:In the Jailhouse Now(Columbia) The strained nasality of Pierce's endless string of'50s honky-tonk hits hasn't aged especially well, but his voice surehas--any suggestion of the callow or awkward is long since gone, whichmeans that for somebody who wasn't there (like me and probably you),some of these remakes sound tougher and more vibrant than theoriginals. And the originals are honky-tonk standards for areason. Time: 25:19.A MINUS

THE NITECAPS:Go to the Line (Sire) Things get grittylike clockwork on this little bit of soul, which John Xaviersignifies--rather inappropriately, I feel, by gargling. The UptownHorns keep themselves busy on top.C

SMOKEY ROBINSON:Touch the Sky (Tamla) Since histurn-of-the-decade renaissance, Smokey's been slipping back among themarginalia, where qualitative distinctions (better thanYes It'sYou Lady but notBeing With You) get fine if not strictlypersonal. This one's recommended especially to cheating-songfans--"Gimme What You Want" is defiant enough for Millie Jackson, "AllMy Life's a Lie" defeated enough for George Jones--though I'll admitthat what pushed me over the line was the way the positivity of thetitle cut fades out on a pleading "touch it, touch it" that I'd swearaims lower than the sky.B PLUS

NILE RODGERS:Adventures in the Land of the Good Groove(Mirage) Because the basic bass parts are Nile's and not Bernard'sand the basic drum patterns Nile's and not Tony's and the basic vocalsNile's and not Alfa's, this groove is stiffer, sharper, tougher,weirder, and less pleasant than Chic's. It's also good if not better,colored with Rodgers's trenchant, voluble guitar talk and renderedmeaningful by his willingness to experience lust as an unsentimentalneed that can turn into unsentimental love.A MINUS

KEVIN ROWLAND AND DEXYS MIDNIGHT RUNNERS:Too-Rye-Ay(Mercury) Rowland's arrangements are impossibly busy and hisvocals impossibly mannered, but on this record he does theimpossible--makes me believe he's found some young soul rebels. Theunison horn voicings and post-Stax fiddles impart an underlyingsimplicity that'll pass for Celtic, and if Rowland swoops and swerveswhere a real soul singer would just emote, his earnestness prevailsanyway.B PLUS

LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III:Fame and Wealth (Rounder)Loudon's most confident album since he split with CBS in 1975 is alsohis least ambitious, done folkie-style with two penetratingembellishments from Richard Thompson and two band cuts. For a while hewalks his old tightrope, wild and nasty enough to make his chronicegoism seem of general interest. But the jokes and feelings aregetting thinner, and soon you'll find yourself wishing he'd grow up,shut up, or both.B

WAYLON AND WILLIE:WWII (RCA Victor) Last time these twoganged up, Willie kept things honest, but this is Waylon's caper:Willie sings on only half the cuts, and sounds almost as full ofhimself as Waylon when he does. You'd never know "Mr. Shuck and Jive"was about Jimmy Webb himself, and Willie's own "Write Your Own Songs"makes you wonder whether that "purified country" "music executive"(same guy?) got on old tougher-than-leather's nerves by asking him fora few new ones. Waylon's solo turns on "The Last Cowboy Song" and "TheOld Mother's Locket Trick" are the giveaway--the idea is toacknowledge that all this outlaw myth is shuck-and-jive and then makethe shuck-and-jive itself seem mythic. But despite some distinguishedtunes, only their duet on "Dock of the Bay," which has nothing to dowith anything except its own lazy self, does thetrick.B MINUS

Additional Consumer News

Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force's "Looking for the PerfectBeat" (Tommy Boy) has peaked--hear it'll sell close to 200,000,impressive except that "Planet Rock" moved four times that--but I mustmention that I've fallen in love with it. Those with a resistance toKraftwerk may well share my love-feh relationship with "Planet Rock,"but the followup expands its winning earnestness to a much higherlevel of rhythmic and verbal ambition, all that naive technofuturismdigested and further funkified. . . .

Rammel Zee Versus K. Rob's "Beat Box" (Tartown, or is it TestPressing, no address), produced by Jean Michel Basquiat with music bythe Sekou Bunch, is art-rap so accomplished in the mix-beat-and-rhymesthat, unlike Celluloid's graffiti series, it may actually launch theinevitable movement. Like me you may not be sure this is a good thing,but like me you'll know this is a great record anyway, laid backSpoonie Gee-style and so contemporary attitudinally I might even callit postmodernist if I wasn't afraid of attracting the wrongelement. So instead I'll call it rock and roll. . . .

Jesse Rae's "Desire"/"Rusha" (Columbia) is a demented electronic dancerecord with plenty of moaning, shrieking, and heavy ostinatos forpre-/post- synth impurists as well as smurf voices for the young atheart. . . .

Haven't decided on Mutabaruka's album yet, but "Drug Kulcha"(Heartbeat) is such exemplary anti-coke propaganda that I can go alongtemporarily with its xenophobic ganja lesson, probably absorbed viathe B side, Sister Breeze's "African School." . . .

Catching up with EPPs, all of them worthy fo note even if they don'tall live up to my absurdly high standards of consistency for theconfiguration. Roxy Music'sThe High Road (Warner Bros.) is agenerous (26:28) live disc that features limber amplifications ofBryan Ferry's "Can't Let Go" and "My Only Love" on the A and twoirresistible, knockout covers on the B: next time I want to hear Bryancroon or Phil wail or just "Like a Hurricane" or "Jealous Guy," thisis where I'll turn.Green on Red (Down There) is as hooky asthe L.A. trash aesthetic gets, with Chris Cacavas's organ thenugget. Wish they didn't favor the B-movie imagery so prevalent in thefilm capital of the world, but I can think of several New York bandswho should have written "Aspirin." The Suburbs'Dream Hop(Mercury, formerly Twin/Tone) adds sonic girth to their arch pop-funkhybrid, so that on three out of four songs I don't care whetherthey're the new Buzzcocks or just the new Sparks. D.O.A.'sWar on45 (Alternative Tentacles) is Vancouver hardcore with hearty oitempos and second-clash breadth. Best originals: "Liar for Hire,""Let's Fuck." Best covers: "War," "War in the East," "Class War." TheB side of Brave Combo'sUrban Grown-Ups (Four Dots) comprises alistenable "polska" and Mexicali dance that like the band album aretoo damn whimsical for my party, but on the A "Three Weeks" pins downthe real fun that Saturday is really good for (lawn-mowing included),while "You Pull My Tongue Out" isn't really about real torture. NudeAnts'Search for Tornado Victims (New Deal) lays down deadpanwhite funk and Police rips that aren't especially original but arecertainly clever enough to make me wonder why no one has ever told meabout them.Hi Sheriffs of Blue (Jimboco) proves not that Deltablues was avant-garde (we knew that) but that avant-gardists who thinkso are sometimes capable of simulating its lesser effects.BlueRiddim Band (A Major Label) are so fine live and so superiorrhythmically, vocally, and conceptually to the sorry run of whitereggae in this great land that it pains me to suspect them of lackingthe vocal and compositional wherewithal to get across. But "NancyReagan" is a great start and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" won'thurt. . . .

Negative words are seldom heard around ACN, but allow me to castaspersions upon MDC (hardcore "radicals" whose failure to understandJohn Wayne's style of evil tags them as probable enemies of thepeople), the Three O'Clock (garage psychedelia at its ickiest), andNew Order's "Blue Monday" (disco).

Village Voice, Apr. 26, 1983

Mar. 29, 1983

May 31, 1983