Bullz-Eye’s Favorite Albums of 2010: Staff Writer Mike Farley’s picks
It was an interesting year for me music-wise. So much great stuff passed my desk or by e-mail from publicists, but something odd happened: my old PC started getting so slow that I literally could not listen to my iTunes and work at the same time. Makes writing CD reviews tough, but makes listening while I work to get a feel for new music even harder. I persevered, playing stuff in the car and also, finally, getting a super-fast new PC recently. My joy of listening to my iTunes catalog and discovering new music has returned. And so, I give to you, my Top 10 albums of 2010:
1. The Silver Seas: Chateau Revenge
There are two songs on this album that can bring anyone from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs in no time flat: “The Best Things in Life” and “What’s the Drawback.” Daniel Tashian and company continue to make some of the best music that, unfortunately, most people have never heard. So hey, this holiday season, do something about that. Go buy the Silver Seas’ music, and tell them I sent you.
2. Rooney: Eureka
Editor David Medsker to me, “Hey, I think you’ll like these guys.” Me, after hearing band: “Um, understatement.” It’s just good, unadulterated pop/rock – no whiny kid voice and no Auto Tune.
Read the rest after the jump...
If you dig classic rock, but are sick of hearing the same Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Steve Miller Band tunes, sometimes it’s nice when one of these acts releases something new after all these years. Sometimes it’s not nice, but that’s a comment for another review. In this case, we have Bachman & Turner’s debut album, but it’s not really a debut. They were the two front guys for ‘70’s rock institution Bachman Turner Overdrive, a band that created some of the greatest, well, classic rock tunes in history – “Takin’ Care of Business” and “Ya Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” being among the biggest. So after a few decades, Randy Bachman was working on a solo album and asked Fred Turner to sing a few songs, and the rest is history. But here’s the thing: aside from more strained vocals, this stuff is almost as good as the stuff they released in the ‘70s. It’s not a band trying to sound current; it’s Bachman and Turner being Bachman & Turner. The album is a complete set of 12 songs, but a few stand out: the rocking “I’ve Seen the Light” and gang-vocal driven “Rock and Roll is the Only Way Out,” as well as “That’s What It Is,” which sounds a bit like Bachman backed by Steely Dan and Todd Rundgren; and “Moonlight Rider,” which has a Clapton-esque feel and could have easily been a hit in 1976. These songs are timeless, the duo’s playing is timeless, and this just may give classic rock radio a few new songs to add to the format. (RBE Music/Fontana 2010)