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MASS HYSTERIA (ABO#427)

MASS HYSTERIA
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
(1997-2009)

Mass Hysteria is all my youth. As a young student, this was one of the most frequent music I used to listen. On their first album, a fusion of Metal, Hardcore and nearly disco rhythm summed up this very energic music. On their following album, that recipe endured even if the band was clever enough not to restrictively and exclusively stay in that description. However, this is what we remind the most from them. By the way, Mass Hysteria is a great act on CD but really deserves being witnessed live. Recently this month a new live DVD as been edited. I truly think that this will be worth the listen. You can buy it here

Extracts :

Une Somme De Détails
(from Une Somme De Détails, 2007)


Knowledge Is Power
(from Le Bien-Être Et La Paix, 1997)

My Mass Hysteria TOP :
1. Le Bien-Être Et La Paix (1997)
2. Contraddiction (1999)
3. Un Somme De Détails (2007)
4. Failles (2009)
5. De Cercle En Cercle (2001)
6. Mass Hysteria (2005)

ROBERTA FLACK (ABO#426)

ROBERTA FLACK
SOFTLY
(1969-2003)

Sure I did want to Baistophe Roberta but how hard was it to find all of her albums especially her youngest ones. I really wanted to compile this artist even if I didn't really know her complete work. In fact, I only knew her best period (1969-1975). This golden era completely fills the first CD of this chronological compilation. The second one gathers songs from 1977 to 1999. A last album, Holiday was been recorded in 2003 but was in fact a re-recording og her 1997's Christmas Album. This second period is much more smoothy and much more RNB than Soul. I'll understand you'll prefer to reduce this compilation down to the first CD... However, even if there are no real highlights in CD2, there some songs that are honestly listenable. Make your own opinion, if you want to...

Extracts :

Go Up Moses
(from Quiet Fire, 1971)


Feel Like Making Love To You
(from Feel Like Making Love, 1975)

My Roberta Flack TOP3 :
1. First Take (1969)
2. Killing Me Softly (1973)
3. Quiet Fire (1971)

My Roberta Flack BOTTOM3 :
1. Born To Love (feat. Peabo Bryson, 1983)
2. Oasis (1988)
3. The Christmas Album / Holiday (1997/2003)

PETER TOSH (ABO#425)

PETER TOSH
NO SMOKE WITHOUT HIGHER
(1976-1988)

I first heard of Peter Tosh as a solo artist a dozen years ago. The fact is that I really don't like Reggae. A friend of mine had suggested me to give an ear to Peter Tosh's live album. Since then, I had the idea to discover this artist that may make me reconsider my opinion about Reggae music. At the beginning of making this Baistophe, I still didn't know nothing about Peter Tosh, even that he was a member of the Wailers... what a shame! And now that I have finished it, I'm aware of one thing : like many other very popular music, Reggae is not a bad one, just that too many musicians can't do it well because this is not just a rhythm section. Peter Tosh, like Bob Marley had the talent to work the melodies and, then, make this music listenable... more : enjoyable.


Extracts :


Bush Doctor
(from Bush Doctor, 1978)


Rastafara Is
(from Wanted : Dread Or Alive, 1981)

My Peter Tosh TOP :

1. Bush Doctor (1978)

2. Legalize It! (1976)

3. Mama Africa (1984)

4. Equal Rights (1977)

5. Wanted : Dread Or Alive (1981)

6. No Nuclear War (1987)

7. Mystic Man (1979)

PIXIES (ABO#424)

PIXIES
INTO THE WHITE
(1986-1993)

The Pixies started out as a college band, releasing early material on a purple demo tape. Each album got a little bigger than the previous one but they disintegrated just as they were getting famous -- pulled into fame by groups inspired by them, citing them as an influence, notably David Bowie covered them and Nirvana's Kurt Cobain said "Smells Like Teen Spirit" had taken it's use of loud/quiet dynamics from The Pixies. There aren't any "bad" pixies albums, but rather ones you like more than others -- latter records are more polished, early stuff is more raw and Doolittle is the middle point where it all sort of meets together. This Baistophe is a little difficult to make because although the Pixies only put out 4 albums and 2 EPs, almost everything they did was excellent. Even their B-sides album only has one or two weak songs.
After Doolittle, tensions between Black Francis and Kim Deal brought the band to a hiatus, but they got back together to record a few more records before breaking up for good in 1990. They recently reformed and have toured, finally earning money they missed out on during the "grunge" or "alternative" hey-day due to their break-up.

-THE REAL ANONYMOUS-

Extracts :

Here Comes Your Man
(from Doolittle, 1989)


Gigantic
(from Surfer Rosa, 1988)

THE REAL ANONYMOUS' Pixies TOP3 :
1. Doolittle (1989)
2. Surfer Rosa (1988)
3. Come On Pilgrim (1987)

THE REAL ANONYMOUS' Pixies BOTTOM3 :
1. Bossanova (1990)
2. Trompe Le Monde (1991)
3. Complete B-Sides (2001)

ATOMIC ROOSTER (ABO#421)

ATOMIC ROOSTER
WALKS BEHIND YOU
(1970-1989)

Here's another band whose reputation couldn't get further from its name. Of course, Atomic Rooster is well known by many music addicts mostly because first drummer Carl Palmer had joined ELP quickly after, mostly because Vincent Crane was a member of the famous Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Sadly their music had not the same popularity. One thing that's wrong with the band is that mostly every media consider them as a prog band, because of ELP, because of Arthur Brown (who's not more prog either), and maybe because of the hammond organ. To me Atomic Rooster is definitely a hard rock band, whose music can be easily compared with another hammonded hard rock band : Deep Purple. Discography is short. Only 5 albums were recorde between 1970 and 1973 and a new Atomic Rooster with only Vincent Crane as original member reunited for 2 more LPs in the early 80s. Only the last album, Headline News, is not included here because of the very low quality of the sound and often the music but a late 80s re-recording of 1970 song Tomorrow Night is available here. Vincent Crane sadly died in 1989 bringing his band with him for good.

Extracts :


Death Walks Behind You
(from Death Walks Behind You, 1970)


A Spoonful Of Bromide [Helps The Pulse Rate Go Down]
(from In Hearing Of Atomic Rooster, 1971)

My Atomic Rooster TOP :
1. Death Walks Behind You (1970)
2. Atomic Roooster (1970)
3. In Hearing Of Atomic Rooster (1971)
4. Made In England (1972)
5. Atomic Rooster (1980)
6. Nice 'n Greasy (1973)
7. Headline News (1983)

CLIMAX BLUES BAND (ABO#422)

CLIMAX BLUES BAND
STANDING BY A RIVER
(1969-2003)

How funny things are. When I came to Baistophe there was plenty of great bands to compile. Some had already been done, some other are still not. Climax Blues Band was certainly one of those I really wanted to make for the simple reason that I only owned one album of theirs : FM-LIVE, a great live album that invited me to discover more from that forgotten band. For reasons completely unknown by anybody (especially me), I have never done such an exploration. So you may understand how happy I found myself to receive a mail from new part-time contributor GARY who was sending me this compilation. As it is becoming an habit (you may think it's a good one, or not) this is a 2CD compilation which second one can be considered like a bonus CD. The firt one is a simple CD compilation exploring the almost complete CBB discography. Not exactly complete because the very first album and the very last one is not included in it. I think that the very first CBB album is not particularily as enjoyable as the other, but I think that I will give it a listen to make my own opinion. The last one is more understandably put aside : this is an exclusively tribute to Willy Dixon. Some classical blues that does not really fit with the rockier songs they used to record. In the contrary, Rich Man is unarguably the best represented.
As I said earlier, the second CD can be considered like a bonus one. It's indeed a live CD consisting of only bootleg tracks. The sound is good from the beginning to the end at the exception of one track where there's a bit of saturation. Well, it's good first attempt from Gary on our dear blog.

I simply hope he won't damn me for having made my own artwork. His was good anyway but in a too low resolution. I couldn't find his pix on higher resolution so I made my own one, respecting the title he had chosen for this Baistophe...

Extracts :

Rich Man
(from Rich Man, 1972)


Couldn't Get It Right
(from Gold Plated, 1976)

STAN KENTON (ABO#423)

STAN KENTON

ARTISTRY IN RHYTHM

(1940-1960)

An off-the-wall choice today. I had it at hand, and decided that it didn't cost anyone to share it. To enjoy this collection, you'll have to have some appreciation of postwar Big Band music or Exotica.
As you begin to explore Jazz, you'll see Stan Kenton's name mentioned often. He is a controversial figure, recognized as a flawed genius by many. This baistoiphe covers roughly 1940-1960. Dates are hard to determine, as most pre-Sixties jazz albums are compiled from 78s and 10" EPs and released on budget labels with no annotation. Be forewarned that this baistophe bounces around stylistically. It opens with a big band sound, but the next tune could be the theme of a '60s action show. Another would be a fitting score for the denouement of a James Bond film; where they confront the villain in his hollow volcano. You may recognize snippets of cartoon music; both Raymond Scott and Carl Stalling borrowed ideas from The Kenton Orchestra. The collection wasn't originally constructed for public consumption, so I won't feel badly if you take cuts from both CDs to make one that suits you.
Kenton's 'Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra' was known less for their music than their sound. While everyone else had a dance band, he had an orchestra. If he were to start today, he would definitely be into heavy metal. He liked everything big and dramatic with unusual time signatures. His progressive musical ideas emphasized power and had more to do with 20th Century orchestral music than jazz. Today, it just sounds like swing music and it's hard to judge how radical some of Kenton's ideas were. It's like a 15 year old trying to figure out what was so different about Nirvana.
He had hired top-flight musicians and vocalists but this was not enough to win the respect of jazz aficionados. The music often veered off into ponderous and overly commercial territory. But he depended on his chart hits to finance his more experimental works. By the mid-Fifties, he was drifting toward more conventional big band arrangements. By 1960, jazz was becoming irrelevant, and Kenton, having been irrelevant to jazz, was just a musician on the margins of popular music. His best musicians had moved on, and he filled their positions with young and inexpensive talent. He tried to reinvent the band by emphasizing a big brass section, but it mostly sounded the same except for more horns.

-BURNS-

Goodbye

Jebediah speaking,

I love the concept Baistophe came up with and gave my best to satisfy those who visit and comment on our work. Alas, it seems I cannot find the time to do quality compilations anymore...
I really wish some new people could continue the work we've started... so long ago and I wish I could do it, I just can't... It must be time to call it quits.

So, this is goodbye and I know GEMY has a few projects up his sleeve before retiring from Baistophe too. Which means that Baitophe is destined to disappear if nobody takes over.

Feel free to mail us if you wish to join the team.

ALMOST FAMOUS (FSS#002)

VARIOUS ARTISTS
ALMOST FAMOUS

Second of the Full Soundtrack Series, this one deals with Almost Famous O.S.T. Like Dazed & Confused (FSS#001) the story takes place in the seventies and the sountrack is majoritary contemporary to the story at the exception of Pete Droge (?) and Stillwater. This latter band (that is not to be mistaken with the 70's southern rock band) is the one founded for the film and have recorded a 5 tracks EP to be included in the film. Those 5 tracks are available here alongside songs that illustrated the story (Deep Purple, Elton John, ...) or that are part of the story (The Who, Allman Brothers Band, Black Sabbath, ...). Only one track is not exactly part of the film : Chicago's Colour My World (part of Ballet For A Girl In Buchannon) is just sung by some characters in the film.
The soundtrack is quite amazing and deserved to be compiled here in its entirety. This compilation is in fact the second one I did after Magma's one (ABO#002). I just had to make the artwork.
Fortunately, only one song (Paranoid from Black Sabbath) is common with the previous FSS.

Extracts :

Sparks [The Who]
(from Tommy, 1969)
Taken apart from the Tommy album, Sparks reveals its high psychedelism and, in the film, this goes pretty higher.

^

Dear Jill [Blodwyn Pig]
(from Ahead Rings Out, 1969)
It's quite a justice to find this really good band founded by ex Jethro Tull Mick Abrahams. Their to small discography couldn't have justified a Blodwyn Pig BAISTOPHE so, happy to this band on the blog anyway



Wishing Well [Free]
(from Heartbreaker, 1973)
Another band we would have liked to Baistophe but to my point of view I think it will be hard to do especially without considering Paul Kossoff and his Back Street Crawlers too. This song proves that we have not unfairly forgotten this band. (by the way, if one of you feels strong enough to work on this/those talented band/s, he will be welcome)

BILLY IDOL (ABO#420)

BILLY IDOL
IDOLIZE ME
(1981-2006)

Billy Idol's solo work needs baistophing since so many of his albums are uneven. There’s some great hard rock in here and some inventive new wave. Although he had some success after Generation X without guitarist Steve Stevens ("Cradle of Love"), his weakest period was after Stevens left in 1987. Cyberpunk was an attempt to reinvent himself in the grunge era, and it's awful. After that, label conflicts prevented him from releasing new music, although he briefly posted two advanced tracks for free on Mp3.com until the label forced him to take them down. This music was never officially released, but one track is included here ("Find My Way") and you may hear others live and on bootlegs. Billy regrouped with Stevens and finally released new material in 2005. He continues to release new tracks on best hit compilations (an annoying trend) and there have been rumors of a new album since 2008. Until then, enjoy this Billy Baistophe.

Thanks to EYE OF NEWT for this great awaited Baistophe

Extracts :

Rebel Yell
(from Rebel Yell, 1983)
This song is supposed to be Idol's fans fave. It deserves a great mixture of both Hard Rock and New Wave sounds.

World Comin' Down
(from Devil's Playground, 2005)
Devil's Playground is the result of a great return of Billy Idol with long time side man Steve Stevens. This album is as ballsy as it can and prove that Idol is a real rock'n'roll singer.

Eye of Newt’s Billy Idol Top 3:
1. Rebel Yell (1983)
2. Devil's Playground (2005)
3. Whiplash Smile (1986)

Eye of Newt’s Billy Idol Bottom 3:
1. Cyberpunk (1993)
2. Happy Holidays (2006)
3. Charmed Life (1990)

CORONER (ABO#419)

CORONER
'TIL DEATH DO US PART

Of the many Thrash bands which raided the Metal scene in the second half of the eighties, Coroner (from Switzerland) are among the finest and most original, no doubt.
Alas, a deadly combination of bad luck, lack of support from their label (which shows promotionally as well as with the quality of the recordings doomed by low budgets). But, as quality almost always wins, Coroner has gained a well-earned cult status.
From their early material, something like a more melodic and technically evolved Kreator, to their final album (the much underrated Grin), the band has known a tremendous evolution continuing to set themselves apart from their scene-mates. Eventually, the three-piece will grow tired of their lack of success and recognition and call it a day leaving the metal scene short of one of its greatest values.
Not much has been heard from the three lads since. Tommy Vetterli alone will keep on the radar, joining country-mate Stephan Eicher as a live musician and, later, Kreator during their most controversial period.
Coroner recently came back together with plans for a Celebratory World Tour. No recording has been scheduled yet.
About the compilation, I chose a chronological order as to demonstrate how big an evolution Coroner has seen. Also, I excluded both the covers the band recorded, namely The Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy" and Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze"; both are fine versions but not good enough to be included here. I hope you'll enjoy what I came up with and won't mind the somewhat muddy production of most of Coroner's recordings.

A taste of what you'll get:

3 samples to demonstrate Coroner's technical skills, compositional abilities and evolution, ENJOY!

Masked Jackal (1988)
from "Punishment for Decadence"

Read My Scars (1989)
from "No More Color"

Host (1993)
from "Grin"

RIYL:
Kreator, Death Angel, Watchtower, Celtic Frost

PAUL McCARTNEY (ABO#418b)

PAUL McCARTNEY
SELECTED HITS
(1971-1993)

As said Burns in our previous post, Its something useless baistophing Mcca's Hits because they are so much known that there's no point doing that. It was also my opinion until I listened to what Burns sent me beside his Baistophe : his complete single-o-graphy. 50-or-so titles that weren't all very famous but quite a majority was indeed very popular.
In a first approach, I really didn't want to do that Baistophe because I felt that Paul's official best of Wingspan was a top one, even if it focused on his Wings carreer.
By the way, none of his latter singles were in it an I felt it was unfair not to mention any of it at all, to begin with C'mon People and Hope Of Deliverance which are songs I really like.
You will find no tracks from Band On The Run for two reason : the first one, the real one is that they are already on Burns compilation. The second one is that Band On The Run is a splendid album and you can buy it to complete this panorama

Extracts :

Mull Of Kintyre
(1977 single, included as a bonus track on 1993 reissue of London Town)
Simply because it is my absolute favorite Mcca's song. I love pipe bands too.

C'mon People
(1993 single, issue from the album Off The Ground)
That year Paul McCartney has issued two great singles and those two ones, included in that Baistophe are imho the best ones sice Mull Of Kintyre. That proves that he has never really lost his inspiration.

PAUL McCARTNEY (ABO#418a)

PAUL McCARTNEY
INCOGNITO
(1970-2007)

When Paul McCartney said in 1969 that he was leaving in the Beatles, there was no question that the band would no longer exist, but the group was so brilliant that it seemed obvious we would now have at least two great bands instead of one. What did we get from one of the greatest composers of the Twentieth Century? Mary Had A Little Lamb, We're So Sorry Uncle Albert and My Love whoa whoa whoa whoa. Paul had not been my favorite, but I knew he had written some very good songs in the past. As time went on, I became more disappointed. This year I decided that there weren't many Beatles left, and it was time to reconcile. I listened to all of the twenty-three studio albums from Wings and his solo rock career, ignoring the four classical works. I've also put aside his albums as The Fireman. I will tackle those at a later date. My goal was to produce a two disc Baistophe, and it was apparent that the studio albums would provide more than enough material and I would not be able to fit in anything from his seven concert albums. Because I disliked most of his hit songs, and because they are very well known and widely available on store shelves, I decided to leave those off the collection also. When It was done, I thought that only four of his albums were truly wretched and three of those were conceptual albums. The others could be counted on for at least one good song other than the hit single. I really liked six of them, and the rest fell somewhere in the middle. I am impressed with the songs that ended up in this Baistophe. McCartney is capable of equaling his former efforts but it seems that he only occasionally makes an effort. In my opinion, his work has improved greatly in the past ten years. Before I apply a rank to McCartney's albums, I will remove four of them from the running. Thrillington, Liverpool Sound Collage and Give My Regards To Broadstreet are concept albums and cannot be considered part of the canon. They are only for completists. Run Devil Run would be in my Top Three but for the fact that it is mostly covers of Fifties rock 'n' roll songs. I enjoyed it very much but it is unneccessary and listening to the originals would be a better use of your time.

Thanks to BURNS for having compiled this BAISTOPHE. This one is finally a 3CD set just because it deserves it... and I let BURNS say why :

"These are the three Paul McCartney discs that I made. My intention was to only make a two disc collection for Baistophe. It later was agreed on La Caverne d'Ali Baba that there should be three discs, with a third possibly containing concert recordings. I do not want to do that, but I had already made a third disc for myself that contained a few hits and what was left over from the Baistophe."

Extracts :

Little Willow
(from Flaming Pie, 1997)
It seems like an evidence that the recent edition of Bealtes' Anthology had taken Mcca in a nostalgical mood. This song must undoubtedly be compared with such beautiful songs like Julia

Run Devil Run
(from Run Devil Run, 1999)
The album is a full fifties' rock cover. This also might be considered like a tribute to Paul's early Beatles days.

Band On The Run
(from Band On The Run, 1973)
One of the only 3 hit singles included in this Baistophe is on of McCartney's best work : a 3-pieces tune recorded like a scenarized story. All 3 pieces are independantly great. The all 3 gathered are just excellent.

BURNS' Mcca Bottom 3 :
1. Wings At The Speed Of Sound (1976)
2. McCartney II (1980)
3. Flowers In The Dirt (1989)

BURNS' Mcca Top 3 :
1. Ram (1971)
2. Band On The Run (1973)
3. Driving Rain (2001)

THE POLICE (ABO#417)

THE POLICE
DEMOLITION MEN

It took me quite some time to finally do this one. The thing is, the Police don't have that many albums which - with the pre-existing compilations - kept me from doing this one before.

A few days ago, I was asked by a friend of mine to do a compilation that, while displaying most of the band's hits would also be an introduction to more obscure tracks in their repertoire.

Initially, I wanted not to include "Don't Stand So Close to Me" and "Every Breath You Take" but changed my mind when listening to said tunes. Others didn't have that chance, "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da", "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", "Spirits in the Material World" or "Wrapped Around Your Fingers" all got shafted.

Getting rid of those songs obviously opened slots for more surprising material such as the two instrumentals ("Reggatta de Blanc" and "Behind My Camel") or overlooked tracks such as "Driven to Tears", "Truth Hits Everybody", "Darkness" and a few more.

Also, I chose not to order the track-list in a chronological order which wasn't as easy as the Police have known quite a radical evolution throughout their short career. Anyway, I hope the transitions are as smooth as possible and that you'll enjoy how the whole disc unfolds.

A taste of what you'll get:



Driven to Tears
(from Zenyattà Mondatta, 1980)
An infectious funk number which, at the time, strayed from the "Reggae Pop Rock with a touch of Jazz" the Police had so talentfully crafted.



Synchronicity II
(from Synchronicity, 1983)
The closest the Police ever got to Progressive Rock, this exquisite track has a very nice Arena feel to it, no wonder it became one of the landmarks of the band's last two tours.



So Lonely
(from Outlandos d'Amour, 1978)
The Police still retained the nervousness of their punk roots on their debut album, So Lonely is just that: a great Reggae Rock number with just enough Punk energy to spice it up.

(all these samples are at 128kbps, the compilation is at 320kbps)

My THE POLICE list:
1 - Synchronicity (1983)
2 - Zenyattà Mondatta (1980)
3 - Outlandos d'Amour (1978)
4 - Ghost in the Machine (1981)
5 - Reggatta de Blanc (1979)

RIYL:
Talking Heads, Squeeze, XTC, Dada