Peter Gabriel: Up
Geffen 493388

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Overall Enjoyment

It is both funny and exasperating to hear what critics have said about Up. Some have condemned its lack of pop-sensibility, while others have attacked Up’s dark tone. I’m a bit puzzled. When has Peter Gabriel’s music ever been about satisfying "pop" conventions? Although commercial success did come with So, the balance of Gabriel’s work is anything but conventional. Up is no different. Cuts like "No Way Out," "Growing Up," and "I Grieve" not only offer poignant lyrics, but also wonderfully dense and melodic arrangements that leverage Gabriel’s trademark mix of Middle Eastern, African, and rock influences. If you want conventional pop, throw on Genesis’ Invisible Touch. If you want music that digs deep into the human condition and makes you think, then sit back and allow this pristine recording to captivate your soul. This is the best album I’ve heard this year and yet another jewel in the crown of Peter Gabriel’s unique body of work. Brilliant.

Nino Rota: Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo & Juliet
City of Prague Philharmonic; Nic Raine, conductor.
Silva America SSD 1140

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Overall Enjoyment

Nino Rota’s score for Franco Zeffirelli’s youth-oriented film of Shakespeare’s classic play has always struck me as a perfect balance between historical and contemporary. It pays homage to medieval chant and old dance music, while providing a voluptuous 20th-century love theme, one that became a gold hit for Henry Mancini. The original soundtrack recording has always been problematical. The score was not very well recorded, and one of the discs contained a lot of dialogue from the movie, which pleased a few listeners, and irritated others. This new version, which employs a larger orchestra than that afforded Rota, fills the gap admirably. Conductor Nic Raine plumbs the music to its very soul, and secures marvelous playing from his pickup orchestra. The recorded sound is lush, rich, warm, and full, yet loaded with detail.

Blue Rodeo: Palace of Gold
WEA 2 44915

Musical Performance
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Overall Enjoyment

Even with two lead singers sharing the limelight (Greg Keelor and Jim Cuddy), Canada’s Blue Rodeo has enjoyed a nearly two-decade-long career that’s spawned nine studio albums without a clunker in the bunch -- a feat rarely seen. Palace of Gold maintains their tried-and-true formula of country and pop with a healthy dose of blues and rock’n’roll. Fans will readily identify their trademark sound, but they do stretch out musically a bit with the addition of strings and horns on various tracks. Keelor and Cuddy again share all songwriting credit, but it’s obvious whose influence is where. Edgy, darker feasts like "Homeward Bound Angel" show off Keelor’s psychedelic and sometimes Beatle-esque side; while Cuddy’s countrified crooning on tracks like "Bulletproof" carry on their longstanding tradition of producing country-pop gems that can raise concert-hall roofs. Then there’s the title track, "Palace of Gold," which shows how skillfully the two still blend -- sung by both, probably written by both. Blue Rodeo’s formed their reputation with topnotch musicianship and album consistency. Palace of Gold holds true to that.

Steve Earle: Jerusalem
Artemis 751147

Musical Performance
Recording Quality
Overall Enjoyment

The raw, gritty sound of "Ashes to Ashes" sets a dark tone for what follows on this riveting 11-track disc. With Steve Earle almost snarling into the microphone you’d swear Tom Waits had a hand in the production. Earle has something to say and he does it with a simple and direct musical style that transcends his country-rock roots. Jerusalem’s lyrics are politically charged, to the point of inspiring debate, but Steve Earle's ferocious delivery intrigued me the most and kept me playing this disc over and over again. The only track I never warmed up to is the third one, "Conspiracy Theory." Musically it sounds out of place, and it simply doesn’t measure up to the rest of what’s here. And if I have to gripe, "Shadowland" has a hook or two that sounds too much like "Guitar Town." But those are minor complaints on a disc that’s bristling with intensity. Earle’s voice is mostly close-miked, perhaps a tad hollow at times, but is projected with immediacy that puts his words where he wants ‘em -- in your face.

French Ballet Music (Delibes: Le Roi s’amuse - ballet suite; Debussy: Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, Cortège et air de danse from "L’Enfant prodigue"; Saint-Saëns: "Danse" and "Bacchanale" from Samson et Dalila; Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust excerpts; Massenet: "Valse" from Cendrillon; Gounod: "Ballet Music" from Faust)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Sir Thomas Beecham, conductor.
EMI 67900 Great Recordings of the Century

Musical Performance
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Overall Enjoyment

No one, before or since, conducted smaller pieces, what might be called musical bonbons, with greater spirit and joi de vivre than Sir Thomas Beecham. There are also large measures of grace and lyricism involved in each performance. The conductor’s interpretation of Debussy’s famous Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune moves along at a good clip without ever sounding rushed. The result is ravishing. Fortunately, Beecham lived to record in the early days of stereo, and the EMI producers and engineers of the period provided him the best sound possible. Their combined efforts have been fully realized here, the excellent original sound processed in the digital realm with Abbey Road Technology (ART). Put this disc on from the beginning, and you’ll be hooked for 70 of the most delightful minutes you will experience all year. "Blast from the past" is a phrase that can have meaning for classical music as well as rock!