Here’s a track from Randy Newman’s most recent album, 2017’s Dark Matter. The fact that this is the first time a song from the album has appeared on the blog since its release says a lot.
Newman is notoriously slow when it comes to releasing new albums (in part because he spends a lot of time on movie scores). Dark Matter was only his fifth studio album release in the more than four decades following a rather prolific run in the 70s.
‘Long Gone’ is one of the few songs on Bryan Adams’ 1984 album Reckless that isn’t an arena rock classic. I’m always blown away by the lineup of that album and I wish I’d owned it when it first came out.
The middle stretch of Reckless goes like this: ‘Run To You,’ ‘Heaven,’ ‘Somebody,’ ‘Summer of ’69.’ Spare me any highbrow dismissals of Adams as a songwriter and performer — those are four stone-cold bangers right there. Add in leadoff track ‘She’s Only Happy When She’s Dancin” and late album duet ‘It’s Only Love’ (featuring Tina Turner) and you have an essential classic rock album.
Today’s random selection was a bonus track on Katy Perry’s 2013 album Prism. Prism, the singer-songwriter’s fourth studio album, was the follow-up to smash hit Teenage Dream.
While this album didn’t reach its predecessor’s heights, it did reach #1 in a half dozen countries and debuted in the top spot in the U.S., where it ultimately went 5X Platinum. At the time, Katy Perry was pretty much the biggest name in pop music.
Today’s random selection is the title track from Ashley Monroe’s 2015 album The Blade, the country singer-songwriter’s third solo album.
The Blade is my favorite Monroe album (though to be fair, I haven’t listened to her most recent release in depth). The production gives this batch of songs a rootsy pop-rock flavor that fits her voice and melodies well. At times on this record Monroe reminds me of an airier Bonnie Raitt.
When Christie McVie passed away a few weeks ago, I couldn’t help but imagine the public reaction when her Fleetwood Mac bandmate Stevie Nicks eventually shuffles off this mortal coil. No doubt it will be far more intense.
In part that’s because Nicks is the more flamboyant artist, the scarf-draped mystic who commanded the stage visually while McVie held back. Nicks is also responsible for ‘Landslide’ and ‘Dreams,’ arguably the band’s most popular and beloved songs.
Meet Me In Montauk 