Posted in Album Reviews

The Alan Parsons Project – Best of Alan Parsons Project (2011)

Posted on by Michael

After working on some of the biggest albums in rock history (Abbey Road, Dark Side of the Moon), Alan Parsons teamed up with composer Eric Woolfson to form UK band The Alan Parsons Project.  More successful in North America, the duo enjoyed several hits, peaking with top 10 hit “Eye In The Sky”. The soft rock classic about a relationship falling apart went to #1 in Canada. With a bit more oomph and a Phil Spector like wall of sound, “Don’t Answer Me” was another hit.

This 2011 compilation collects those two tracks plus 15 others.  What the duo did well across this collection is mix soft rock with prog and the occasional disco beat on songs like “Games People Play”.  “I Robot” is a funky celestial instrumental and the bright sound of “Lucifer” gets the speaker tweeters working. “Time” is a floaty, Pink Floyd number before the disc closes with the wistful “Old and Wise”. After giving the Essential Yacht Rock playlist a workout, Best of Alan Parsons Project is a solid listen for a deeper dive.

9/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Metric – Romanticize The Dive (2026)

Posted on by Michael

Romanticize The Dive is Metric’s 10th studio album. The band is currently out on a massive tour with fellow Canadians Broken Social Scene and Stars. The album is filled with their signature twinkling indie rock. First single and brilliant opener “Victim Of Luck” sees singer Emily Haines counting down from five and declaring “it’s time to live my life like it’s never been done. “Time Is A Bomb” has a deeper sound and shiny chorus to boot. “Crush Forever” adds effects to the vocals over a bed of synths.

After a breather on the slower “Moral Compass”, the Torontonians pick up the pace again with James Shaw’s chiming guitar meshing with synths on “Loyal” before finishing on “Leave You On High”, which the band do.  Metric have been around since the early 2000s and with this new album, they add several more tracks to their ever-growing list of sleek, danceable indie rock.

7.5/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Bob Dylan – Hard Rain (1976)

Posted on by Michael

Just two years after the live album, Before The Flood, Bob Dylan released Hard Rain in 1976.  Recorded at two of The Rolling Thunder Review shows in May of that year, the Fort Collins and Fort Worth concerts, the album came out to mixed reviews at the time. Listening 50 years later, this is not greatest hits live album, but instead focuses on an assorted batch of songs to make for a good 50 minutes of music.

A rousing country version of “Maggie’s Farm” starts off the album that dips into various albums in the Dylan catalogue. The band eases into “Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again” that is a solid toe tapper, “Shelter From The Storm” has some great guitar playing and really gets things moving. Dylan’s single “I Threw It All Away” appears towards the end before a ten-minute version of Blood On The Tracks’ song “Idiot Wind” closes out the short live album.  Those wanting more from this tour can seek out the two disc Bootleg Series Vol. Five or the whopping 14 discs of The Rolling Thunder Revue released in 2019.

7/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Broken Social Scene – Remember The Humans (2026)

Posted on by Michael

Broken Social Scene, the popular Toronto based collective returned in 2026 with their sixth album – Remember The Humans. Singer/multi-instrumentalist Kevin Drew still gets top billing, having written more than half the tracks. Starting the album off, “Not Around Anymore” brings airy horns that also appear on the midtempo “Hey Amanda”. Andrew Whiteman takes over for the frisky beats of “The Call”, Jill Harris’ background vocals add to the atmosphere, as she does on several tracks.

Like most BSS records, it’s when the girls takeover that things get exciting. Hannah Georgas brings early album highlight, “Only The Good I Keep”, singing about Julie Doiron and The Smashing Pumpkins. Frenzied drumbeats programmed by Lisa Lobsinger amp up the excitement on “Relief” as she sings, “lying on my lifeline, choking me up”.

Two of the best songs appear at the end – Leslie Feist on the atmospheric Americana of “What Happens Now” and Kevin Drew returns for the lovely “Parking Lot Dreams”.  It’s been nine years since the group’s last album Hug of Thunder, here’s hoping that the next batch of songs arrive much sooner.

7.5/10

Posted in Paper Chase

Albert Camus – The Fall

Posted on by Michael

The Fall by French philosopher Albert Camus was originally published in 1956, a year before he won the Nobel Prize for literature. The novel takes place in Amsterdam where Parisian lawyer Jean-Baptiste Clamence has moved. He befriends a fellow patron at the Mexico City bar and opens up about his life with its many ups and downs.  Most notably, speaking about the parts of his life where he has not acted charitably. Or even when he does, is it to help fellow men and women or to only gain attention of others..?

It’s a fascinating story that takes place over several meetings, Clamence is charming with seemingly many lives lived. The whole story feels like it takes place in a Brassai photograph – in black and white, at night, and in the cold and damp.  Clamence’s fall from grace, his Garden of Eden, sees him turn inwards and analyze his life and its many events, his many decisions. At less than 150 pages, it’s a quick story but thoroughly thought provoking, a true work of art.  

10/10