4Play

Feb. 15, 2006

Nobel Prize nominee Bob Geldof has been familiar to pop culture enthusiasts lately because of his charitable work and his helming of the Live 8 concerts. But let’s not forget that, prior to his altruistic stance, Geldof was a founding member of a UK band called The Boomtown Rats (who saw the song “I Don’t Like Mondays” become their biggest hit), and went on afterwards to have his own moderately successful solo career. This 4-CD box set remembers, and quite comprehensively, too - song highlights include “This is the World Calling,” “This Heartless Heart,” and “Love or Something.”  The set includes all four of Geldof’s solo albums - Deep in the Heart of Nowhere, The Vegetarians of Love, The Happy Club, and Sex, Age, and Death, and also brings together a ton of bonus material, much of it unreleased, and all of it reaffirming what a cool humanitarian AND rocker Geldof still is.


Ryan Adams - 29 - Lost Highway

His third release in the mere span of a year, Adams steps away from his band, The Cardinals, and breaks things down a little, mostly interpreting this new series of songs on piano or acoustic guitar. That’s not to say he’s back into his alt-country vein, though - this leans more towards the singer-songwriter department than anything else.  It’s a thoughtful, heart-on-his-sleeve kinda set, with pretty but heartbreak-filled songs ranging from the longing “Starlite Diner,” the forceful “The Sadness,” the quieter “Voices,” and the confessional title track. The instrumental parts here are spare, almost empty sounding at times - but that melds well with Adams’ brooding lyrics, which range from sad to... well, mostly sadder.  This isn’t what you’d call an upbeat album. But what it is is a very personal album that nicely showcases what happens when Adams decides to really pour his heart out on the line.


The Jam - The Jam at the BBC - Fontana International

For those unfamiliar with The Jam, the UK band emerged from the punk explosion of the ‘70s, combining that influence with the British mod sound, and went on to leave a musical legacy that has influenced plenty of fellow Brit bands, including Blur, Oasis, The Smiths, and Ocean Colour Scene. They’re pretty much a necessary listen for anyone wanting to track the history of Britpop - and it’s an enjoyable listen, at that. This disc is a great live look back at The Jam’s career, and would also be a great intro to the group - songs here range from the aggressive and propulsive (“Modern World,” “News of the World”) to the slightly more produced, more witty tracks (“Town Called Malice,” “Absolute Beginners”).  Some of The Jam’s more mellow tracks might be missing (“English Rose,” “Man in the Corner Shop”) but it’s still a great overview of an influential band.


The White Stripes - Walking With a Ghost - V2 Records

Short but brimming over with black-coffee-and-late-nights coolness, ...Ghost... starts off, surprisingly, with a White Stripes cover - the Stripes covering someone else, that is, on the title track, which was originally a song by Canadian duo Tegan and Sara. The Stripes quickly follow that song up with four live tracks - a couple of live-on-the-radio versions of songs from their Get Behind Me Satan album (“As Ugly As I Am” and “The Denial Twist”) and a solo acoustic Jack White version of “Same Boy You’ve Always Known.” Wrapping up this mini collection is a live jam of “Screwdriver” that shows Jack and Meg White can really crank it out. There may only be five tracks on this end-of-the-year offering from Detroit’s hippest export, but Stripes fans old and new will find that it’s well worth the purchase.