As much as I like some acts which could be considered progressive rock (Alan Parsons, early ELO, and so on), I’ve got to fess up to something: I’ve never quite gotten as “into it” as some diehard prog-rock fans. I’m more of a popster, so sometimes the big league prog stuff like early Yes or Emerson Lake & Palmer leave me a bit cold. Not that I doubt the musicianship of the people involved, but it’s just not the style of music that I feel like spending a lot of time with. If I want long, epic pieces, I tend to go orchestral.

But damned if I don’t like me some early Yes from time to time. Remember the Wayne’s World scene where Wayne, Garth and friends are banging their heads in time to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”? I’ve been known to do something similar with “Roundabout”. And fortunately for me, there’s Highlights, a nice little one-disc selection of remastered material from a Yes box set that, while I’m sure the fans dug it, relly amounted to too much of a financial commitment for a casual fan like myself. Highlights is about all the prog-rock I need: sort of a prog-rock hot pocket which surveys the band’s career from those gloriously overblown AM radio epics of the early ’70s to their more accessible ’80s material.

Well, more accessible to me, anyway. “Owner Of A Lonely Heart” was a high water mark for Yes’s public profile as well as the early (and far more innovative) MTV era; that song also has the curious distinction of helping to launch the career of a whole other entity, as producer Trevor Horn took the sound of the now-immortal sampled horn break and ran with it to create the Art of Noise. I’ve also always had a sneaking liking for “Leave It”, which dispenses with some of “Owner”’s studio flash in favor of a great song with incredible vocal harmonies, a description which could be equally applied to “Rhythm Of Love”.

So perhaps what I need here is a Yes ’80s collection. But then again, maybe not. My life just wouldn’t be the same without the occasional psychedelic headbanging session set to the tune of “Roundabout”.

1. Survival (6:18)
2. Time And A Word (4:31)
3. Starship Trooper (9:26)
4. I’ve Seen All Good People (6:55)
5. Roundabout (8:31)
6. Long Distance Runaround (3:33)
7. Soon (4:06)
8. Wonderous Stories (3:45)
9. Going For The One (5:32)
10. Owner Of A Lonely Heart (4:27)
11. Leave It (4:10)
12. Rhythm Of Love (4:46)

Released by: Atlantic
Release date: 1993
Total running time: 66:00

You may know him as Lennier or Will Robinson or that creepy kid who cropped up again after 40 years in the Twilight Zone, but Bill Mumy’s also a more than capable musician, as demonstrated by this early solo effort.

It’s easy to say that Dylan is a prominent influence on Mumy’s own brand of singwriting, but think electric Dylan here. Mumy lets loose with some wailing electric guitar work in the background of his folky tunes. “Ambiguous Sky / Monte” is not only the best example of this electric-era Dylan influence, but it’s a catchy song with a very Dylanesque lyric. But Mumy isn’t just paying homage to Bob Dylan for the whole running time of the CD – at other times, he backs off of the electrics and goes for a feel-good folky sound, as with “My Sweet Seleena”. Other highlights include “Our Beautiful Life” and “Yes You In The Blue”.

And finally, you may laugh at the thought of Mumy penning a heartfelt, somber tune called “The Ballad Of William Robinson”, but don’t you dare laugh. It’s the crowning jewel of Dying To Be Heard, and actually puts a mature spin on Mumy’s adolescent Lost In Space character, updating us on what has happened to the Robinson family since their last televised adventures. The performance is outstanding, it’s some of Mumy’s best singing, and the whole song is built around a positively mesmerizing guitar lick with some equally hypnotic (and appropriately spaced-out) keyboard backing courtesy of Mumy’s son Seth. A must-listen, whether you liked the song’s inspiration or not.

It’s a pity that Bill Mumy isn’t the musical superstar he deserves to be. I applaud his acting talents, and I’ve always enjoyed them, but sometimes I think his screen fame has shafted him when it comes to getting his music taken seriously. Just about any Bill Mumy album will help you recover from the notion that every actor’s musical ambitions must necessarily culminate in a disaster of Golden Throats proportions. I highly recommend this one to you.

1. Nero’s Fiddle (4:03)
2. My Sweet Seleena (3:51)
3. Ambiguous Sky / Monte (6:08)
4. In The Grand Scheme Of Things (3:27)
5. Dying To Be Heard (3:35)
6. Our Beautiful Life (5:42)
7. Yes You In The Blue (5:14)
8. Waiting (Little Seattle Junkie) (7:48)
9. Denver Thing (3:19)
10. I Know We All Go (2:27)
11. The Ballad Of William Robinson (3:35)

Released by: Renaissance Records
Release date: 1997
Total running time: 51:52

I previously griped a bit about Taito Game Music, a CD which I liked despite its shortcomings but really couldn’t see recommending to a general audience. Well, as it turns out, some of the same problems rear their heads with Konami Game Music Volume 1, but those problems are tempered by one thing: generally, Konami’s 80s arcade games had more music than Taito’s, lending themselves more readily to a release like this.

Covered in this first volume of Konami coin-op audio tributes are Gyruss (whose techno take on Bach’s “Tocatta And Fugue In B Minor” was the first video game music ever presented in stereo), the original and arrangement versions of Twin Bee and Gradius, music and effects from Pooyan, Time Pilot, Yie Ar Kung-Fu, Roc ‘N’ Rope and a Japan-only release, Kekkyoku Nankyoku Daiboken. All strictly 80s goodness.

The sound transfers, as usual, are phenomenal, but all the difference is made when one tries to do this with games which had music to begin with. Gyruss and Time Pilot are personal favorites of mine in this department, and there’s no doubt that you’ll probably dig others that have memories attached to them for you as well. Good stuff, but still something for only the biggest video game fans.

Twinbee
1. Credit – Start BGM (Stage99) (0:10)
2. Twinbee’s Home Town Song BGM (Game BGM 1) (0:19)
3. Power Up – Fantastic Powers (1:05)
4. Boss BGM1 – Clear (0:45)
5. Boss BGM2 – Stage Clear – Extend (0:54)
6. Warning – Boss BGM3 – Game Over (0:52)
7. Normal Ranking (0:18)
8. Top Ranking (0:26)

   Kekkyoku Nankyoku Daiboken

9. BGM (1:15)

   Gradius Arrange Version

10. Beginning Of The History – Challenger 1985 – Free Flyer (4:44)

    Gyruss

11. Gyruss BGM (3:02)

    Roc ‘N’ Rope

12. Game Start (0:10)
13. BGM1 (0:56)
14. BGM2 (0:54)
15. BGM3 (0:53)
16. BGM4 (0:59)

    Yie Ar Kung Fu

17. Game Start (0:09)
18. BGM (1:02)
19. Game End (0:36)

    Gradius

20. Credit – Beginning Of The History (0:24)
21. Challenger 1985 (0:47)
22. Beat Bank (0:17)
23. Blank Mask (0:22)
24. Free Flyer (0:46)
25. Mazed Music (0:18)
26. Mechanical Globule (0:33)
27. Final Attack (0:24)
28. Aircraft Carrier (0:16)
29. Game Over (0:05)
30. Ranking (0:21)
31. BGM (0:53)

    Pooyan

32. Game Start (0:13)
33. BGM1 (0:52)
34. BGM2 (1:02)
35. BGM3 (0:53)
36. BGM4 (0:04)
37. BGM5 (0:41)

    Time Pilot

38. BGM1 (0:10)
39. BGM2 (1:18)

    Twinbee Arrange Version

40. Twinbee’s Home Town Song – Game Over – Normal Ranking (4:54)

Released by: Scitron Digital
Release date: 2000
Total running time: 35:24

Some people seem to take inordinate delight in downplaying Paul McCartney’s contributions to pop music, especially in his post-Beatles years. But I ask you: who can listen to “Coming Up”, “My Love” or “No More Lonely Nights” and say that Paul was past his prime when he coined these tunes? Forever doomed to be widely regarded as the cute, irreverent half of the Lennon/McCartney songwriting powerhouse, McCartney has always been capable of putting that perception to rest with his ballads. (C’mon, we are talking about the man chiefly responsible for “Hey Jude” and “Yesterday”.) Now, there are some tracks on here that do a lot to give McCartney’s solo portfolio that “cute, irreverent” label (I’m thinking “Band On The Run” and especially “Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey” – a song that some people refer to as “Hands Across The Water” – here), and a few that seem to go a bit far in trying to correct that perception (“Live And Let Die”) – but criticism of the lyrics aside, I still like just about everything on this collection.

It’s sad that Paul’s output and his chart-topping streak have come to a juddering halt in recent years – though I loved Flaming Pie – and this greatest hits disc is sorely in need of updating (thinking mainly of “The World Tonight” from Flaming Pie and “My Brave Face” here). But on its own, All My Best puts the lie to the notion that Paul didn’t go anywhere after the Fab Four fell apart. Corny as some of them may seem now, all of these songs are appealing, and serve as a reminder that they were, after all, written by one half of the most successful songwriting duo in chart history. They may not have been number one with a bullet, but they did at least have wings.

1. Band On The Run (5:14)
2. Jet (4:10)
3. Ebony And Ivory (3:43)
4. Listen To What The Man Said (3:57)
5. No More Lonely Nights (4:41)
6. Silly Love Songs (5:56)
7. Let ‘Em In (5:11)
8. Say Say Say (3:56)
9. Live And Let Die (3:14)
10. Another Day (3:43)
11. C Moon (4:35)
12. Junior’s Farm (4:23)
13. Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey (4:42)
14. Coming Up (3:31)
15. Goodnight Tonight (4:21)
16. With A Little Luck (3:14)
17. My Love (4:09)

Released by: Capitol
Release date: 1987
Total running time: 72:40

A snapshot of Home Cookin’ at the height of its funk-with-a-live-horn-section greatness, Mmm, Mmm, Mmm may not make a big splash with those who weren’t there when this kind of music was all over the radio. For those of us who did grow up in the ’70s, this is the big, orchestrated sound of funky soul, and it was good to find someone still keeping that alive in the ’90s. Had A Feelin’ and Home Cookin’s signature single “X-Rated Superstar” may well be the best examples of that sound on here. “All Talk” soft-pedals the funk elements in favor of an almost Caribbean sound complete with steel drums, while “Golden Rule” has a nice simple message about not treating people badly – a neat little number that puts Home Cookin’s pedigree as purveyors of true ’70s-style feel-good soul on proud display.

In the wake of the band’s break-up, many of the rhythm section players have reformed as Mo’ Friction, and while I’m sure they’re at the top of their game, there was nothing quite like Home Cookin’ blasting away at full volume with a real live horn section. Sure, maybe it made the band large, top-heavy and hard to keep together as a unit, but that sound – you know, the one we rarely hear these days outside of modern acts sampling the hell out of real vintage ’70s soul – has almost got to be worth the logistical headaches. And if only for that sound, I miss Home Cookin’. Maybe we need a reunion gig or two, guys?

1. X-Rated Superstar (3:34)
2. Hold Tight (3:08)
3. Against The Grain (3:10)
4. All Talk (2:38)
5. Somebody (2:54)
6. Needle’s Sting (4:15)
7. Golden Rule (4:54)
8. Had A Feelin’ (4:41)
9. Soul Space Express (4:17)
10. Words (3:27)
11. Rock It Man (4:48)
12. Cricket (3:40)
13. Shine It On (4:17)
14. Second Guess (4:56)

Released by: Fly Records
Release date: 1997
Total running time: 54:39