These Foolish Things
Artist: Bryan Ferry

Much like his contemporary David Bowie, Ferry consolidated his glam-era success with a covers album, his first full solo effort even while Roxy Music was still going full steam. Whereas Bowie on Pin-Ups focused on British beat and psych treasures, Ferry for the most part looked to America, touching on everything from Motown to the early jazz... Read More

Viva el Amor
Artist: The Pretenders
Community Score: 10.00

Since (at least) Packed! each new record from the Pretenders has been hailed as Chrissie Hynde's return to form (praise that was thrown at Learning to Crawl, by the way), and it's hard not to resist to say the same of Viva El Amor!, the seventh studio album from the Pretenders. So, we won't say that, even though it may be true. At the very... Read More

The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner - CD & VIDEO
Artist: Ben Folds Five
Community Score: 6.50

The follow-up to the popular Whatever and Ever Amen, Ben Folds Five's third LP, The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Mesner, continues the eclectic and clever songwriting that has become the group's trademark. Like other piano-based rock composers such as Randy Newman and Todd Rundgren, principal songwriter and de facto leader Ben Folds... Read More

Hatful of Rain: The Best of Del Amitri - BONUS LIVE CD
Artist: Del Amitri

It's likely that a large portion of the audience Del Amitri won with the lightly infectious, incessantly catchy "Roll to Me" thought of the Scottish group as a new band, not an outfit that had been recording for over a decade. That may be one of the reasons why Hatful of Rain: The Best of Del Amitri was released in 1998, a mere three years after... Read More

Johnny Rivers Rocks the Folk/Meanwhile Back at the Whisky A-Go-Go
Artist: Johnny Rivers

Johnny Rivers' two 1965 albums have been released together in a double-disc package. Though neither Meanwhile Back at the Whisky A Go Go or Rockin' the Folk were commercial disappointments, they weren't the singer's most popular records, either. Rivers' first album was also recorded live at the Whisky, so Meanwhile represents something of a... Read More

Something Else by the Kinks
Artist: The Kinks
Community Score: 8.03

Face to Face was a remarkable record, but its follow-up, Something Else, expands its accomplishments, offering 13 classic British pop songs. As Ray Davies' songwriting becomes more refined, he becomes more nostalgic and sentimental, retreating from the psychedelic and mod posturings that had dominated the rock world. Indeed, Something Else... Read More

Illegal, Immoral and Fattening
Artist: Flo & Eddie

Flo & Eddie are both impressive singers and very funny comedians, and both aspects of their talent are on display here, from the pop sheen of "Rebecca" to the sidesplitting return of The Sanzini Brothers. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide Read More