The first two albums could roughly be tied together since all of the music for both records were taken from the same recording sessions. So…it makes me wonder how people bash this album, then turn around and praise the next one. Or vice versa! So, there was another “super group” album in 1969 – remember Blind Faith? While I like some tracks from that record, it revels in some of the same things people disliked about 70’s dinosaur rock acts – too heavy on the egos, too much faux-soul, not enough gut-rock, and overindulgent jamming. As Safe as Yesterday Is may not be the exact opposite, but it is downright authentic, from the gut, and if it is overindulgent in places at least you know these guys are not going to bleat on for 25 damn minutes and there is still a damn Rick Grech bass solo to get through. Steve Marriott’s intent with Humble Pie, from the get-go, was to make it as democratic as possible. Others usually peg this album as unnecessary since Led Zeppelin released their debut record months earlier. Talk about a short-sighted view to take, and I love Zeppelin’s debut. But it is not anywhere near as diverse as this record here. In fact, I’d say Marriott and crew are a little too all over the place, trying to hit so many bases at once, and many times it’s his keyboards which drive the tracks, not the guitar riffs. The best part about this record is its’ sheer diversity. There are big, leaden-heavy rockers. Eastern-influenced drop-out love tunes. Lovely pastoral country-folk songs. Also, the contrasts between all of the band members – Frampton’s polished tastefulness, Ridley’s all-around bedrock professionalism, Shirley’s youthful bash-it-out enthusiasm, and Marriott’s total unpredictability – it seems like here the magic which allowed the group to function naturally and let each individual member spotlight his talents was at its’ peak. I have some favorites but specific songs IMHO are kind of useless to mention. This is the kind of record you have to experience on your own. One more quick note – on many remaster editions the early single “Natural Born Bugie” and corresponding B-Side “Wrist Job” are included. Both are essential to enjoying this early period of the Pie.

The Darkness were normally shelved in the very same category as all of the other garage-rock phenoms of the early 2000’s that came and went by in about 15 minutes – The Strokes, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and on a lower level, Interpol. But unlike some of those other groups, this platter was a heck of a lot of unabashed, unpretentious fun. Derivative? Oh sure. But that was beside the point. They were a complete throwback – a hydra-headed hybrid of Queen, Thin Lizzy, and dozens of other early 70’s stadium brawn-rock bands, with a bit of ’80’s synth-tech thrown in here and there – right down to the look; the bass player sported a handlebar mustache, the lead singer was heroin-chic skinny, and oh by the way we haven’t even got to the matter of the falsetto vocals yet…. Permission to Land, just with the elements detailed above, really could have sucked. Instead, it’s an engaging work that puts the band’s eccentric personality on full blast, take it or leave it. In their native UK, this disc was far more popular with five of the ten tracks released as singles. Stateside, there was only one big hit – the synthesizer-spiced driving rocker “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” – which compared to the faster-paced songs here is pretty much run-of-the-mill Darkness, but with more energy and I would imagine has become a signature song for them. I do vaguely remember the song had quite the outrageous video which the cover art shares a theme with as well. I won’t say The Darkness are for everyone (by no means) – certainly, their very image and style put them in a niche from the jump, but at least on their debut CD, they looked like they knew how to maximize all the style’s strengths, and hide the weaknesses.

Sloan made a splash in alternative-rock circles with the grungy favorite "Underwhelmed" in 1992, but this release from 1997 finds them going more in retro and Brit-pop directions. The horn-spiced and Beatle-homage sound of the single "Everything You've Done Wrong" was a highlight, but the rest of the album struggled to match up.

Another shining example of how the big bad depressing grunge 90's were really nothing more than an unoriginal rehash of the long forgotten bigger badder and hairier arena rockin' early 70's. And lo and behold, Soundgarden pretty much forgets to put together songs, sacrificing them at the expense of growly tones, faux-experimental grooves, and Chris Cornell acid-trip yowls. All of the good material you will hear is right up front - the galloping "Rusty Cage" followed by the Sabbath-humping "Outshined" - and it goes gradually downhill from there.

Styx in the early 80's were a curious deal. They had clearly attained a higher status than many other arena rock bands from the 70's - roughly comparable to Journey, I'd say - but their two LP entries are perceived to have craved and fallen way short of the Pink Floyd-ian stratosphere. Whereas Paradise Theatre was more of a flashy, celebration/tribute kind of package, Kilroy Was Here goes the other way, making a strong statement against government censors moving against rock music. This, along with the ever-building tension within the group, produced the most fascinating album of their career, bar none. This is far more than the supposed faux-tech cheese of "Mr. Roboto" - which is actually one of the more heartfelt tracks in the Styx universe - but they remain true to their original sound AND branch smartly into 80's pop realms on frequent occasions. There is also a serious dose of sardonic humor which really makes its' presence felt on tracks like "Heavy Metal Poisoning" and "Cold War".