GAtkinson:

I enjoyed your review of the latest Steely Dan, and I think you are right on the mark.  Here are some of the albums I've been enjoying lately:

Del Amitri: Can You Do Me Good? 

I think fans of this band tend to consider Twisted to be their best, but this album gets the vote in Herringland.  Like this board's honoree and occasional participant, Del Amitri draw characters from life like a trashy novel (something to enjoy about the cover art) and craft songs of disappointment and loss that are hard to put aside.  They are clever, fun, and almost always a great listen.  Unfortunately, this album will not be released in the US, so you have to pay import prices.  Take out a loan if you must & get the singles as well, as the B-sides are good too.

TVEYES:  "She's a Study" and Roger Manning:  "Sleep Children"

Anyone who is now or ever was addicted to Jellyfish may be heartened to know that Manning and Falkner have teamed up again to form TVEYES.  Where the first Jellyfish album could be seen as an homage to The Beatles, and the second more of an homage to Queen, ELO, Badfinger, KISS, and others from the 70's, this new project might best be described as an homage to the New Wave bands of the late 70's and 80's, such as The Cars.  They have yet to release an album, and the limited vinyl pressing of the single "She's a Study" seems to be rarer than AFM, but this is a band to watch out for.

Manning's song "Sleep Children" is a rather beautiful little free download, available at an address I will dig up & provide if someone asks for it.  A very nice song that could easily have been at home on a Jellyfish album.

The Thorns

When I heard that Matthew Sweet was teaming up with Pete Droge and that "rockabye" guy, I initially thought "AWESOME!!!"  The results are a tad less than stellar though, as the album tends to get pretty "samey" pretty fast.  Still, some nice moments, and, as you might expect, some nice songwriting.

Matthew Sweet:  Kami Suki Ga

Another album available only as an import, this is perhaps Sweet's most quickly completed project.  He states in the liner notes that he wanted to do something for his fans in Japan, and I am sure there are many fans there who appreciate it . . . probably more than I do.  I love Matthew Sweet's work, from Girlfriend to In Reverse, but this one is not among his best.  At least so I think now.  Then again, his albums often take time to work their wicked little roots into my fertile brain.

Spock's Beard:  Feel Euphoria

After the recent departure of Neal Morse, it seems some SB fans went with him, as I have seen this album talked of in far less than glowing tones.  But you know what?  I like it!  (If you're not into a bit of the proggy sound, you won't.)  I recently began listening to this album on my commute, and it just keeps growing on me.  I don't think this band will have any problem continuing to put out great music.

Fleetwood Mac's latest --excellent

Steely Dan's latest -- as you said, excellent

Boston:  Corporate America

This record is among my biggest disappointments ever in purchasing music of any kind.  I have enjoyed Boston since their debut album, even going so far as to say that Walk On stands up there with their best.  But this time . . . well let me just say that I was unaware of the album until I read a terribly scathing review of it in Rolling Stone.  Because I can usually count on David Fricke and his ilk to represent the opposite of my tastes, I smugly went straight to the CD section of the store and plunked one down for purchase, sure that the reviewers would once again be wrong.  They weren't.  This stinker is worse than Alan Parsons' The Time Machine.  (My second-biggest musical disappointment of all time.)  I'll go into details if anyone cares.

Supertramp:  Slow Motion and Roger Hodgson's Open the Door

Once again I have invested in some import-only recordings.  Sometimes you find a true gem, like Roger Hodgson's Open the Door.  Sometimes you find disappointment.  Other times, the jury stays out for a while as you enjoy getting to know a decent enough album.  I am often called crazy for enjoying Supertramp's post-Hodgson album Brother Where You Bound.  Fact is, that album is my favorite by Supertramp.  It speaks to me more than the others.  Then along came Free as a Bird, and the band half-lost me.  Then Roger Hodgson released Jai-Jai (or whatever) and he lost me entirely, until Open the Door.  This album is excellent.  I can think of no better personal testemony to that claim than to mention that after two years of listening to an (ahem) unoriginal copy, I actually bought the CD, at import price.  Slow Motion is still gaining ground on me, but I have to imagine that it will remain somewhere close to Free as a Bird status.  Good, but not great.

There are others, but I don't want to detract from everyone's time.  After all, in the time I have spent writing up this post, there are probably 87 or more new KDB posts to attend to.

Enjoy.

Herring405