Tom Fine

June 2021 Pop/Rock Record Reviews
Music and Recording Reviews
Phil Brett, Tom Fine  |  Jun 04, 2021  |  1 comments
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band: The Ultimate Collection, Gang Of Four: 77–81 and Japan: Quiet Life.
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Revinylization #18: Déjà Vu all over again
Revinylization
Tom Fine  |  May 27, 2021  |  2 comments
The central question behind Déjà Vu was "How do you top a classic?" The eponymous debut album by Crosby, Stills & Nash was a case of magic musical synergy meeting the perfect moment. It peaked at #6 on the Billboard 200, won the Grammy for Best New Artist, and opened the door for the trio's legendary performance at Woodstock.
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May 2021 Pop/Rock Record Reviews
Music and Recording Reviews
Tom Fine, Kurt Gottschalk, Anne E. Johnson  |  May 07, 2021  |  1 comments
Jon Batiste: We Are, Various Artists: Nuggets, Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968, Arlo Parks: Collapsed in Sunbeams and XIXA: Genesis.
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April 2021 Pop/Rock Record Reviews
Music and Recording Reviews
Phil Brett, Tom Fine, Anne E. Johnson, Fred Kaplan, John Swenson  |  Apr 09, 2021  |  0 comments
Paul McCartney: McCartney III, Loretta Lynn: Still Woman Enough, Little Freddie King: Going Upstairs, Irma Thomas: Love Is the Foundation, Goat Girl: On All Fours and James Yorkston: The Wide, Wide River.
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Recording of March 2021: Paranoid Super Deluxe
Recording of the Month
Tom Fine  |  Feb 16, 2021  |  11 comments
Black Sabbath: Paranoid Super Deluxe
Rhino/Warner Records R1 556692 (5 LPs). 1970/2020. Rodger Bain, original prod.; Hugh Gilmour, reissue prod.; Barry Grint, LP mastering eng.
Performance *****
Sonics ***

The reviewer venturing to identify the birth bed of heavy metal music risks wrath. So be it.

The heavy metal genre has many roots. The idea of power chords and music centered on ominous, mythological, and vaguely threatening lyrics goes back centuries; consider the use of European church music in various eras to literally scare the hell out of believers. But heavy metal as we know it started 50 years ago with Black Sabbath's Paranoid.

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January 2021 Rock/Pop Record Reviews
Music and Recording Reviews
Tom Fine, Anne E. Johnson, Kurt Gottschalk  |  Dec 31, 2020  |  2 comments
Beabadoobee: Fake It Flowers, Adrianne Lenker: Songs and Instrumentals, Prince: Sign "o'" the Times (Super Deluxe Edition) and The Rolling Stones: Goats Head Soup 2020 (Deluxe Reissue) .
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Revinylization #12: Déjà Lou (Reed)
Revinylization
Tom Fine  |  Dec 01, 2020  |  4 comments
Lou Reed: New York
Rhino/Sire R2 628762/603497847556. 1988/2020. Lou Reed, Fred Maher, prods.; Jeffrey Lesser, eng.
Performance *****
Sonics **** (Because vinyl should have been sourced from analog tape.)

It's déjà vu all over again in New York City.

1988: The bankrupt Fear City NYC of the 1970s had given way to the go-go '80s, with many missing the fruits of the Wall Street boom. AIDS ravaged the city, unabated, and a rash of violence and crime fueled by the crack-cocaine epidemic made for a grim underbelly of urban blight and neglect.

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