All the ingredients, and the players, Bootsy Collins, Maceo Parker, McKnight, Shider, and more are here, but R&B Skeletons in the Closet (1986) is not the most vital piece of George Clinton’s body of work. Some of songs are perfect and some are down right grating. The two I like the most are “Hey Good Lookin” and the semi-hit “Do Fries Go With That Shake!?”

The album cover art alone is worth the price. I wish you could see it better, but I’m feeling too lazy for detail shots. In a nutshell the whole thing is a commentary on black artists that sell out to “cross over.”

Check out his “ObamaNation” at MySpace. It reminds of that blast from the past: “Paint the White House Black.” Look how many celebs are in this video!

I got to see Mr. Clinton, George that is, live somewhere between this album and that video. Maybe I’ll dig out the t-shirt I got and post that later.

Read more about George Clinton’s R&B Skeletons in the Closet at Wikipedia

According to Wikipedia Shovel (1986) was feedtime’s most critically acclaimed record, which makes me think I need to go spin it again. I enjoy a little primitive noise rock once in a while, even now that I’m elderly. But this just didn’t do it for me today. There were a couple riffs that held my attention, a few great songs, and some occasional moments where they reminded me of Head of David. Still, I don’t think this one will stay in the collection.

For the concerned grammarians in the house I want to point out that the proper spelling of feedtime is with a lowercase f.

feedtime at Wikipedia

• Artist: New Order
• Title: Shellshock
• Year: 1986
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: 1987? – Plan 9

We seem to have an endless supply of 12 inches. Almost all of them are Mary’s; she’s quite the completist collector. Here is another piece of pop art from New Order. This version of “Shellshock” is almost 10 minutes long. “Original version appears on the original picture soundtrack Pretty in Pink” is printed on the typically minimalist back cover. The flip side has an instrumental version of “Thieves Like Us.” Why do we keep these things? Is my wife leading a secret second life as a DJ for ’80s dance parties?

More data

• Artist: Metallica
• Title: Master of Puppets
• Year: 1986
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 10
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1986 – Probably when I worked at Mother’s Records
• Keeper: Yes

The great one from the great ones. Some, people smarter than me that is, consider this the greatest heavy metal album of all time. I wouldn’t argue with that.

I was listening to Rodrigo y Gabriela‘s version of Metallica’s “Orion” this Saturday and decided I should play the original, which ended up turning into a Metallica history lesson for my son Mars. Then, coincidentally on Sunday I got another, and unexpected, dose of Master of Puppets. We were at our kids’ music recital where most of the tunes were seasonally-correct holiday stuff. But then this one middle-school-age-looking youngster came up to play the title track, “Master of Puppets.” He was even wearing the t-shirt. He has the same cool teacher as my kids, and his teacher accompanied him on bass. There is nothing simple about this music. It’s intense in every way, but the kid did a solid job getting pretty far through the song then stopped somewhat abruptly before the pretty bridge and solos.

I was looking around the room at the faces of the parents and relatives wondering if anyone else in the room was getting it. As great as this music is, it’s not for everyone. And even for metal aficionados it takes some adaptation just to digest what’s going on. I’ve played “Master” more than you can imagine and I was still surprised how fast, intense and sophisticated it is when I spun it again this week. I was talking to the kids’ teacher yesterday and as he put it, “it still holds up.” Indeed. Side one alone qualifies it as a “10″ in my book.

Check it out:
“Battery”
“Master of Puppets”
“The Thing That Should Not Be” (for you fans of H.P. Lovecraft)
“Welcome Home (Sanitarium)”

Also worth mentioning about “Master” is that it was the last album with bassist Cliff Burton. He would die in a bus accident while on tour. OK, everybody knows that. But do you know this? Tipper Gore’s PMRC had it in for the title tack, which they apparently said was about “getting kids hooked on drugs.” Any moron could read the lyric sheet and see that the song was about the nightmare of drug addiction. I remember reading an interview with James Hetfield some time after the flare up. He might have even had to testify at a Senate hearing, can’t remember for sure. When he was asked about the whole thing he just said “people are going to believe what they want.” He didn’t need to explain anything.

Smashing through boundaries
Lunacy has found me
Cannot stop the Battery!

Lemme see those horns people!

More at Wikipedia:
Metallica
Master of Puppets

• Artist: The Damned
• Title: Anything
• Year: 1986
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Mary and Tracy, two copies
• Acquired: 1986 – When she worked at Plan 9 Records in Richmond, VA
• Keeper: Yes

The now sound, the wow sound, the psychedelic Goth rock sound of The Damned is back only one year after their biggest hit, Phantasmagoria with Anything. I saw a review at AllMusic bashing this record. The reviewer seemed to have some facts wrong, and I completely disagree with the opinions. Anything is great. It’s a strange mix of the big goth sound, pseudo-classical interludes, and a soulful ’60s rock. At times it sounds like a goth version of The Fleshtones. The title track, “Anything”, opens the album and it’s my favorite.

We have two copies of Anything. My copy is the boring American release, but Mary’s copy is a great looking UK version with a gatefold cover and die-cut pop-up of the band inside. The UK version has a colorfully painted carving on the front with the unpainted version on the liner, and lyrics! The US version just has the unpainted carving on the front… and nothing else. Mary’s copy is pictured below.