:: theLogBook.com Music Reviews ::

On November 24th, 1996, the original lineup of Crowded House (plus longtime touring musician and recent full-time recruit Mark Hart) took its final bow on the steps of the Sydney Opera House, with a crowd of somewhere around 200,000 people making it the biggest concert anywhere in the world that year - ironic when one considers that the whole thing started out with Neil Finn’s suggestion for a humble, small-scale farewell performance for the group’s final public outing…at least in that form.

Farewell To The World has wowed me for a long time, going all the way back to its VHS video release, and I’ve always wondered where in the world the obligatory CD was. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the group’s final performance (as well as to get the Crowded House name back in the public eye just in time for a reunion album and tour), Farewell is finally available on CD and DVD, and it even sidesteps my natural inclination to grumble about re-releases that this edition includes some material that didn’t appear on my now well-worn videotape of the event. Still, this should’ve been on CD years ago.

It’s difficult to overstate just how good a live band Crowded House was. Part of the reason Neil Finn closed the books on Split Enz was to focus on a less “produced” sound that could be more faithfully captured on stage. At least that was the idea before the band teamed up with producer Mitchell Froom, who added churchy organ solos, sampled strings and horns, to name just a few of the touches which meant that the group couldn’t tour without a keyboard wizard in tow. But even with that in mind, the band pulls it off incredibly well here. Songs like “Private Universe” and “Hole In The River,” already more than listenable, take on new life here. (Even with two studio versions of “Private Universe” out there, I consider this performance to be the definitive reading.)

Farewell To The World was already a historical document of sorts, but with Paul Hester’s tragic death, it becomes even moreso. Paul gets his moment in the spotlight during “Sister Madly”, serving as both drummer and comedian, though his impression of Tina Turner falls a little bit flat when robbed of its visual component (file it under “you had to be there”); I’m a little surprised it’s actually on the CD at all. I don’t recall hearing “Italian Plastic” on the previous video release either. To say the whole band is on top form is a bit of an understatement, and I’ve especially got to single out Mark Hart’s luxurious walls of electric guitar feedback, never overpowering but always atmospheric.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about Farewell on CD is that it was a bit of, for the lack of a better term, “stealth marketing” presaging the return of Crowded House to the studio and the stage. I’m eagerly awaiting the new album and tour, but I can truthfully see where both camps are coming from (Pro-Crowdies Reunion vs. Get Back Together But Don’t Call It Crowded House Without Paul). As with the reunion itself, it’s too bad that it took a tragedy to finally get this into our CD players.

Disc one:
1. Mean To Me (4:11)
2. World Where You Live (3:33)
3. When You Come (5:54)
4. Private Universe (5:35)
5. Four Seasons In One Day (2:54)
6. Fall At Your Feet (3:25)
7. Whispers & Moans (4:30)
8. Hole In The River (6:47)
9. Better Be Home Soon (4:43)
10. Pineapple Head (4:04)
11. Distant Sun (4:51)
12. Into Temptation (4:49)
13. Everything Is Good For You (4:09)

Disc two:
1. Locked Out (3:49)
2. Something So Strong (3:51)
3. Sister Madly (4:54)
4. Italian Plastic (3:51)
5. It’s Only Natural (5:07)
6. Weather With You (5:22)
7. There Goes God (4:54)
8. Fingers Of Love (5:35)
9. In My Command (4:26)
10. Throw Your Arms Around Me (2:57)
11. Don’t Dream It’s Over (6:22)

Released by: Capitol
Release date: 2007
Disc one total running time: 59:25
Disc two total running time: 51:08

One of the three most recently remastered ELO albums, Face The Music is long overdue for a fresh listen, being - arguably - the first album of the band’s golden years. It’s also the album with “Evil Woman” and “Face The Music” on it, which certainly doesn’t hurt. (Sadly, during the remastering process, nobody remembered to kick “Down Home Town” out of the original track listing.)

As with the other remastered titles from ELO’s back catalog, the sound has been sharpened up quite a bit, softening a few rough edges that had become noticeable with repeat listens. The obligatory bonus tracks are included as well, though they’re not much to write home about. In the liner notes booklet, Jeff Lynne says he prefers the slightly longer, stripped-down and orchestra-free new mix of “Evil Woman,” but even with that extra verse and chorus that we hadn’t heard before, something is just missing without that big string section adding to the song. Similarly, a series of demos for the menacing “Fire On High” intro will interest serious students of Lynne’s work, but maybe not anyone else, and the U.S. single edit of “Strange Magic” isn’t so staggeringly different as to be a real revelation.

That said, it’s surprising that a song that we have heard before turns out to be the real gem of the bonus tracks. Closing out this new edition of Face The Music is a completely instrumental mix of Waterfall, with the full-up instrumentation both from ELO’s rhythm section and from the studio orchestra - all that’s missing is the vocals. (Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but I’m wondering if Lynne’s ever thought of re-re-releasing some of ELO’s material in this form, both for the karaoke fans out there and those of us who just love the intricate arrangements.) Heard in all of its vocal-less glory, “Waterfall” is an excellent candidate for this treatment, standing out as a fantastic performance even as an instrumental.

Whether or not one really great instrumental of a song you’ve already heard is worth buying the album over again is up to you, but that alone is just about worth the price of admission for die-hard ELO fans - and in the end, “Down Home Town” aside, Face The Music is still a fine album and a prime specimen of early ’70s rock.

1. Fire On High (5:31)
2. Waterfall (4:11)
3. Evil Woman (4:29)
4. Nightrider (4:26)
5. Poker (3:32)
6. Strange Magic (4:29)
7. Down Home Town (3:54)
8. One Summer Dream (5:51)
9. Fire On High Intro (alternate mix) (3:23)
10. Evil Woman (stripped-down mix) (5:00)
11. Strange Magic (U.S. single edit) (3:27)
12. Waterfall (instrumental mix) (4:15)

Released by: Epic / Legacy
Release date: 2006 (originally released in 1975)
Total running time: 52:28

There’s nothing quite like Weird Al Yankovic firing on all cylinders. Much moreso than most of the targets of his satire, the man has a talent that defies time’s every attempt to pass him by. He’s even endured the wrath of a few of the artists he’s parodied (such as Coolio), or their labels (Atlantic actually vetoed a song that was recorded for this album - and so, unable to sell it, Weird Al released it for free on his web site). He’s definitely a force to be reckoned with.

And yet, if there’s one problem with Straight Outta Lynwood, it’s that this album is nothing like Weird Al firing on all cylinders. There’s a roughly equal number of hits and misfires here. When the songs hit their target, whether they’re parodies or originals, they’re some of the best of his career. “Don’t Download This Song” is a wickedly funny original that picks on everything from ’80s Chicago to bloated “We Are The World”-style all-star charity epics. “Virus Alert” sets the now-ubiquitous virus hoax e-mail trend to tremendously catchy music. And of course, there’s the biggest hit single of Weird Al’s career, “White & Nerdy.” I also have to single out the surreal “Weasel Stomping Day” and “Polkarama” - the obligatory polka medley of current top 40 hits - for special praise.

Where it misfires, though, Lynwood misses by quite a margin. “Pancreas” is a “style parody” of classic Beach Boys ballads (with a special emphasis on “God Only Knows” though it steers clear of mocking any single song musically) that just never quite comes in for a landing. A certain overblown R. Kelly pseudo-epic becomes the fodder for “Trapped In The Drive-Thru”, which is one of those songs that’s funny the first time around, but as with a lot of Weird Al’s longer songs (I’m looking at you, “Genius In France”), it grates on repeat listening (”Albuquerque”, it ain’t). And maybe I’m missing the joke, but “Canadian Idiot” seems atypically mean-spirited for Al.

All this being said, I still give Straight Outta Lynwood high marks, because on average, I’d rather listen to half of a good Weird Al album than an entire album from most of the targets of his satire.

1. White & Nerdy (2:50)
2. Pancreas (3:48)
3. Canadian Idiot (2:23)
4. I’ll Sue Ya (3:51)
5. Polkarama (4:54)
6. Virus Alert (3:46)
7. Confessions Part III (3:52)
8. Weasel Stomping Day (1:34)
9. Close But No Cigar (3:55)
10. Do I Creep You Out (2:46)
11. Trapped In The Drive-Thru (10:51)
12. Don’t Download This Song (3:54)

Released by: Volcano
Release date: 2006
Total running time: 48:24

As with the TV series it accompanied, the music of Lost really ramps up the stakes in season two. Where it’s scary, it’s much more boisterous and scary than season 1, and where it’s mysterious, it’s much more mysterious. There are quieter moments too, including the piano piece from what still stands as my favorite episode to date, Everybody Hates Hugo.

Definite themes emerge as the chronologically-ordered selection of music unfolds (if indeed any show that has flashbacks every week can be described as chronological), including a theme for the Dharma station hatch, which may also be shared by Desmond. This first appears in “Peace Through Superior Firepower,” the scene which introduced us to Desmond, and later appears in a couple of other tracks, including the moment in last season’s finale when Desmond realized that he brought down Oceanic 815 in the first place.

Michael Giacchino’s instrumentation is more densely layered here, generally lending the whole thing a “bigger” sound. (Like Battlestar Galactica composer Bear McCreary, Giacchino is classy enough to list every session player who participated in the Lost sessions - and lo and behind, many of them are the same musicians. What a great job that must be, playing all that killer music.) Somehow that fits because, obviously, the story is getting bigger too.

One of the most interesting tracks is the show’s end credits. (”Wha…?”, I hear you saying already, “there isn’t music on the end credits because ABC squishes everything and runs previews.”) I’m guessing this is the end credit music for the un-squished credits on the DVDs. It’s interesting, and it defnitely has the same “Lost sound” as the score cues, but it’s almost too upbeat.

Some fans may not be thrilled with how much music is heard from specific episodes; some shows - quite pivotal ones in the Lost mythos, in fact - wind up represented by only one track or don’t appear at all, while others (I’m looking at you, Live Together, Die Alone) seem like most of the music written for them is here. It’s a nice listen from beginning to end, but with shows like this, Galactica and Doctor Who, the track listing seems like it’s bursting to expand beyond the running time of a single CD.

Those looking for songs featured in the show go away empty-handed again; I’m not saying that I don’t like having an entire CD of underscore, but with non-score material like Driveshaft, and prominently heard songs like Mama Cass Elliot’s “Make Your Own Kind Of Music,” you’d think someone would’ve put together an official “Songs heard on Lost” compilation by now.

It’s a tremendously enjoyable and relentlessly intense listen, and that’s why Lost Season 2 was one of my favorite soundtracks of 2006, hands-down.

1. Main Title (0:17)
2. Peace Through Superior Firepower (1:26)
3. The Final Countdown (5:49)
4. World’s Worst Landscaping (1:18)
5. Mess It All Up (1:28)
6. Hurley’s Handouts (4:42)
7. Just Another Day On The Beach (2:49)
8. Ana Cries (1:47)
9. The Tribes Merge (2:05)
10. The Gathering (4:19)
11. Shannon’s Funeral (2:12)
12. All’s Forgiven…Except Charlie (5:19)
13. Charlie’s Dream (1:50)
14. Charlie’s Temptation (0:51)
15. A New Trade (2:40)
16. Mapquest (0:38)
17. Claire’s Escape (3:45)
18. The Last To Know (2:22)
19. Rose And Bernard (2:40)
20. Toxic Avenger (0:41)
21. I Crashed Your Plane, Brotha (1:46)
22. Eko Blaster (1:44)
23. The Hunt (3:57)
24. McGale’s Navy (2:21)
25. Bon Voyage, Traitor (5:30)
26. End Title (0:32)

Released by: Varese Sarabande
Release date: 2006
Total running time: 64:48