Missionaria Protectiva

  JIM CROCE  I Got A Name  (ABC,1973) - Folk rock       I Got a Name  is Croce's third and last album; it is also his best. The production by Cashman and West, who also produced  You Don't Mess Around With Jim  and  Life And Times , is a bit richer than on the previous albums, but not in a way that interferes with Croce's persona, the tough-tender storyteller and philosophic realist, who naturally identifies himself with the young working class of the American heartland. Eight of the album's 11 cuts are Croce originals that divide between the philosophic and anecdotal. TRACKLIST: I Got A Name                   Lover's Cross                   Five Short Minutes                   Age                   Workin' At The Car Wash Blues         ...

  STORIES  About Us  (Kama Sutra,1973) - Pop rock      Compared to the band's intricate, insular debut, About Us is a completely different story altogether. No work is required of the listener on this second album by Stories, as  Eddie Kramer 's cinematic production gives the band definition and drama, pulling them into the leagues of such power poppers as  Badfinger ,  the Raspberries , and  Todd Rundgren . Not that Stories rocked as hard as any of those three -- there's not much kinetic thrust to their rhythms or reckless abandon to their playing, not even on the boogie "Don't Ever Let Me Down" or the jokey blues of "Down Time Blooze" -- but there's muscle and color to their sound on About Us; the songs leap out of the speakers and command attention, unlike the tunes on the debut which whispered and required close listening.  TRACKLIST: Darling                      Don't Ev...

  BREAD  Baby I'm-A Want You  (Elektra,1972) - Soft rock       When Bread's first album was released, the group was dismissed in many circles as a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young carbon. Since then, Bread has become one of the most consistent hit making musical aggregations in the U.S. and as the LP shows, they sure have that hit formula down pat; catchy and somewhat melodic rockers that are all under 3 1/2 minutes in playing time, just perfect for all those AM program directors who have made Bread this generation's Lettermen. Like The Guess Who, Bread has bridged the gap between bubblegum and progressive, though many of their ballads, like "Baby I'm-A Want You" and "Everything I Own" lean more towards the saccharine.       There is no doubt as to Bread's musicianship, for all its members are accomplished and respected studio musicians. As a matter of fact, when Robb Royer left the group, he was replaced by the ubiquitous keyboard man Larry ...

  BADFINGER  No Dice  (Apple,1970) - Pop rock      Badfinger carries on the rhythm-happy tradition of the early Beatles, rocking to the big beat without hang-ups or pretensions of profundity. Pete Ham and Joey Molland write most of the group's original material, but songs, as well as the Liverpool-type voices, cover the Beatles like a Xerox. The catch is they're good, and prove it nicely on "No Matter What," "Better Days," "Without You" and "I Can't Take It." TRACKLIST : I Can't Take It                       I Don't Mind                       Love Me Do                       Midnight Caller                       No Matter What                       Without You        ...

  DAVID ACKLES  American Gothic  (Elektra,1972) - Rock/Americana       A former Vaudeville performer, Illinois-born Ackles was hired by Elektra Records in the mid-1960s as a paid songwriter, a job that ultimately landed him a five-record deal that would yield this Bernie Taupin produced album, among three others. It was this unlikely clash of anachronistic show business and modern-day lyricism that so deeply informs his recorded output. Alternately calling to mind Hoagy Charmichael, Irving Berlin, Robbie Robertson, Tim Hardin, and Scott Walker, Ackles forged an utterly unique sound out of stray parts that comprise a whole that is as uncompromising as it is unrivaled. Nearly entirely eschewing the singer-songwriter staple of guitar, Ackles favors an elliptical piano that weaves itself around the moaning “high school” horns that were so memorably employed by the Band on their self-titled record. It’s a fascinating move that only adds to the wheezy candor of h...

        King's X developed one of the most unique, unmistakable sounds of the past few decades, and it stands to reason that their bass-playing frontman, Dug Pinnick, be equally one-of-a-kind. His playing beautifully fleshes out the group's avant-garde metal while his soulful vocals soar above it all like a religious experience. KING'S X Out Of The Silent Planet Megaforce,1988 https://www.sendspace.com/file/ek2hdk

  VOIVOD  War And Pain  (Metal Blade,1984) - Thrash metal       Canada was not exactly a leader in the heavy metal world. Aside from workmanlike power metal bands like Anvil and Exciter, the great progressive power trio Rush, the more middling power trio Triumph, and the fun party metal of Helix, the country had little to offer, metalwise, by the time 1984 rolled around.  War and Pain  changed all that; here was an album that was not only so extreme it was startling, but it was also one that derived heavily from the various stalwart bands in the underground metal scene at the time, yet remained completely different from anything that came out that year. TRACKLIST: Voivod                         Warriors Of Ice                         Suck Your Bone                       ...