Heard this a ton of times on the heels of Galactic Vibes, and I still cannot explain how and why it is as good (if not better than) that album, but in a different way. It's a mystery I don't know if I will ever be able to crack. Psychedelic rock blended with Classical and native South African influences, but that is selling Astra's powers far short. The version I have includes three bonus tracks which were recorded pre-Astra; including an enchanting pop single called "The Coffee Song" which is as good as their more progressive works. This band should have been world-wide mega stars, and would have been, if not for the stinking shroud of Apartheid.

Just an awful episode - the only positives are James Hong is pretty good as the Chinese crime boss (not really much of a stretch), and Hunter's nuclear-sized machine gun.

The Elephants had the good fortune (or misfortune) to catch the ear of John Lennon and Yoko Ono and essentially be hired as their backing band in late 1971. The only problem was Lennon's ongoing political situation which prevented him and the Elephants from touring on a regular basis. For their one album under the now long-defunct Apple label, we find a more jovial spin on their radicalism (no doubt affected by John & Yoko's absurdist bent) backed by advanced musicianship thanks to recent arrivals "Tex" Gabriel, Gary Van Scyoc, and Adam Ippolito. This is a professionally executed street record from start to finish, which even contains some nice detours like Van Scyoc's country ballad "Wind Ridge". The one thing missing, ironically, is the boiling-over anger which was a calling card of the previous album, and on the lengthy "Baddest of the Mean" it feels like they are taking a sarcastic potshot at that version of the band. Still, this is a really good record, and I have no idea why it has not been re-packaged on CD or a new run of vinyl.

Public Enemy seemed to hit a period of malaise in the late 90's even though the He Got Game movie still had them in the public eye, garnering a hit with the title song and soundtrack album. But the music was far removed from their hell-raising heyday. It was thought There’s A Poison Goin' On might remedy this, but for the second album in a row a cardinal mistake is made - it's boring more often than not. There are isolated spots where the old combative spirit comes through ("Do You Wanna Go Our Way", "Crash"), but on the average it sounds like every other hip-hop record of the time, with tough, slow beats more reminiscent of a Cypress Hill record, and Chuck often coming off like a battle rapper, instead his usual booming preacher vocal. In short, they cut an album far below their usual standard.

Welcome to the asylum, Alice Cooper style. This was the way the Godfather of Shock Rock signed off for the Me Decade - by cutting a concept album about his stay in a New York asylum - because at the time, no actual rehabs existed for serious alcoholics such as Alice. What follows is ten tracks of head-slapping bewilderment, and it is hard to tell if I mean that in a good way or not. From a sheer health standpoint, this was most definitely not the best move for Cooper to make. I'm sure, on some level, it was therapeutic and even cathartic, but at the end of the day, all of the Jacknife Johnny's and Millie and Billie's and Veronica's and Nurse Rozetta's were once again elaborate covers for the real issues deep inside the man's psyche. Going against the grain, Alice collaborated with Bernie Taupin and David Foster (although he did retain long time guitarist Dick Wagner), so there had to be some thought of commercial intent behind this already twisted idea, right? And, from a technical standpoint, the general sound is less harsh than preceding Cooper releases. Cooper sings quite clearly throughout, the instrumentation is flashy and pronounced, the background vocals are fairly prominent, and overall, this is more of a pop then a rock record. But wow, is the lyrical material - and delivery of it - disturbing on average or what? Cooper and Taupin run through this cast of characters all too vividly, which I am certain turned a lot of people off, except for maybe hard-core Cooper fans. Even so, the bizarre back-and-forth of "Millie and Billie" really personifies the niche this record should occupy - late night B-movie cheap thrills. In the end, From The Inside serves as a rickety bridge between Alice's garish solo escapades with Bob Ezrin and Dick Wagner, and his more obscure early 80s blackout albums.