THE INVISIBLE MOVIE SOUNDTRACK

I'm not entirely sure who this is aimed at as the 19 tracks on offer jump from soul to blues to electronica to fusion to rock and all points in between. Which makes me assume that the reason for the soundtrack moniker is that this is a film compilation in everything bar the existence of a film, hence invisible.

Most of the vocals are handled by Lydia from Mother's Favorite Child, with the rest of the musicians forming a collective of musicians from Minnesota. Fortunately she is more than capable of handling the switch from pop to easy listening and on into the rock without too much trouble. Of course, it could be that Shakespearian nonsense about "all the world's a stage", in which case it could serve as a soundtrack to life itself. I hope not, as that would provoke my usual Ben Johnson genius / Shakespeare hack rant, and we don't want that. Again. I'm sure the sleeve notes mean something to somebody but I don't do acid anymore, so that side of my brain doesn't work anymore.

Highlights! I was taken with the poptastic, harmonic "She Sings To Me", and the soulful "Darwin", but overall this is an interesting and unusual project, well worthy of your attention.

http://pennynation.com/

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HUGHES TURNER PROJECT - HTP 2 To answer your first question, no it isn't as good as the first one. However, to answer your second question, yes it is one of the finest hard rock releases of the year. And to answer the third unspoken, hanging in the air, we don't really want to draw odious comparisons, but somehow, relentlessy are drawn towards it question. Yes, it blows the Deep Purple album out of the water. Now I know they're not really related, but whereas Purple sound tired, listless and lacking in inspiration, Glenn Hughes and Joe Lynn Turner seem to have a crazy creative peak, right about when most performers are putting on their cardigan and slippers and pottering around the garden. Think about it, since the first HTP album, Joe has put out the fabulous "JLT" album, Glenn unleashed the stupendous "Songs In The Key Of Rock" release, and now, in the space of 12 months we have HTP 2! Quite remarkable. If you want proof, just take a listen to the final cut on this release "Let's Talk About It Later". Right. You're back. Suitably gobsmacked. Good. Granted the element of surprise has gone, but bar one clunker ("Sofia"), this is just good old fashioned hard rock, the way I love it. Completists will be delighted to know that Red Hot Chili Pepper Chad Smith and ex Zappa / Dave Lee Roth / Whitesnake axemeister Steve Vai turn up the rock on "Losing My Head", another stormer. A little more work on the sequencing could have turned a great album into a classic, but this will rightly be near the top of the Best Of list for 2003. www.joelynnturner.com www.glennhughes.com

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ROBERT PLANT - Sixty Six To Timbuktu

I never was a Led Zeppelin fan. Their blues rip offs were over bombastic, their acoustic work unconvincing and their live work just too damn long. Plants solo work largely left me cold, his eighties material too desperate with its desire to be 'of the time', which meant dull pop songs and synthetic drum sounds. So, apart from bits of "Fate Of Nations", I had no real interest until last years stunning "Dreamland".

So what was I to do with 35 tracks of Plant (and 2 vidjos)? Well CD1 is largely disposable with the hits all present and correct, and just as poor as I remember them being. Apart from the aforementioned "Fate../Dreamland" tracks. But then we get to CD2. Delving back into his pre Zeppelin days, then rounding up some obscure soundtrack work and tribute album offerings, coming right up to the Live In Timbuktu track referenced in the title, CD2 is an absolute peach. From the opening 1966 Young Rascals cover "You'd Better Run", so sixties in its brassy backing with an almost unrecognisable Plant vocal, this is quite remarkable. And thoroughly enjoyable. Stephen Stills, Skip Spence, "Louie Louie", Arthur Alexander, they're all covered. And the next time a mad LedZep fan burbles on about them, I shall wave Percys version of "Our Song" in their face, and laugh. It is that bad.

Worth buying? Well, Zeppelin fans will enjoy getting this in their Christmas stocking, but not really for the casual listener. Musicologists (or sad sacks like me) will enjoy CD2.

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EAGLES - The Complete Greatest Hits

Well as we've already established, tis the season to be churning out best ofs and career retrospectives. So if you're looking for a gifted singing drummer, some of the finest harmony vocals ever crafted, and beautifully melodic country rock songs, then track down a copy of "The Forgotten Trail 1969 - 1974" by Poco, an awesome 2CD retrospective. Then you will find every trick (and a couple of bass players) stolen by the Eagles for their assault on the US record buying public. And no, I'm not kidding about the singing drummer. Poco were first there as well.

But back to the Eagles. They were no Poco, but credit where it is due, their first 3 albums were absolute gems. "Eagles", "Desperado" and "On The Border". Buy them. All you need to know about the 'California Sound' are contained therein. And tracks 1 - 12 on this 2CDer hail from those seminal releases. You'll also get a crash course in classic songwriting from the band plus Jackson Browne, J D Souther, Jack Tempchin and Tom Waits.

After that things got patchy. "Lyin' Eyes", "New Kid In Town", "The Sad Cafe". There were still some gems, but they tended to get lost amongst the cocaine and under age sex. The reformation stuff sucks, and there is a new sucky song all about September 11 to shake your head over. But head back to the first 12 tracks, 1972 - 1974, and listen carefully. Remarkable songs from a time long gone. I assume the arrival of this will delete the previous Greatest Hits Volume 1, and if you don't want to buy the first 3 releases, this will do for a reasonable fee.