I was listening to my newly re-acqquired LP copy of Welcome to the Boomtown by David + David (an absolutely great four and one half - star album from 1986), and I thought to myself, what makes an album great? To be sure, there were plenty of vinyl releases back then, many of them gambles. But one listen to this album and I was hooked, song after song. They never left another album for their fans (and they should). The statement is that it doesn't take much to stumble upon great albums (rather than just great songs). One look at any of these album covers that we have been showcasing will remind you that there were great complete albums. Nowadays, there are still albums being released, but we can barely listen to the whole thing.

It also serves to note that Welcome to the Boomtown served up NINE great songs instead of one or two great songs and 15 filler tunes. THAT makes this album memorable while today's artists fail to produce a great album for the mass of mediocre tracks crammed around a better tune. Funny how we found our way back to our old "less is better" dialogue.

Bands...do us a favour and concentrate on making an album of fewer but great songs that we cannot forget over decades. Not only will we revere it, we'll buy it again in the future in whatever fancy edition comes out. Because our old copy is worn. And we'll be happy to do it.

The point I have tried to blend together and to communicate to you is this: Give us quality songs, not quantity. We DON'T WANT a handful of trash. What we DO WANT is a GREAT album. Now some can make them without a problem. The Rifles' newest album is excellent and it has a lot of tracks. Some can do it, but most cannot. If you can restrain yourselves and just work hard on 9-10 songs, shining them up until they gleam, we'll take notice.

Imagine fewer songs making greater albums thus revitalizing a dying album trend. Imagine. I can see it happening.

"...singin' along with the jukebox baby, swallowed by the cracks, fallen so far down, like the rest of those clowns beggin' bus fare back. swallowed by the cracks, our pride worn down, talking times gone by like everybody else, swallowed by the cracks..."

and hopefully...

"...welcome to the boomtown..." because the music industry needs one.

Sad news today at the passing of John Hughes, who, at the age of 59, succumbed to a heart attack. We loved every film by the prolific director/producer. The Digital Bits has written up a piece for him.

We've been given the OK to provide you links to two excellent songs by The Rifles as well as a video. We really hope that you enjoy them. The video is The Great Escape and can be enjoyed by clicking the link. The downloadable MP3s can be had by clicking the available links following: The Great Escape and I Could Never Lie.

I failed to rustle up a review for you but we have a few for you coming up soon. More Neil Young re-masters, some more from that stream of Audio Fidelity, Steve Hoffman remastered (Alice Cooper - School's Out, Deep Purple - In Rock) Gold reissues. We also have Legacy's From Elvis in Memphis (Elvis Presley), a strong set. And yeah, there's more than that too.

Here's another round of Great Album Covers:

Bradford D. who writes: Very Hot, Very Rock n Roll…The size and weight of the graphic sit nicely on the sleeve. You want to pick it up.

Bob M. writes: ...if I have to pick one cover, it would be Sgt Peppers!  It caused more discussion than any cover I have heard of – was Paul dead and were there clues? Who were the personalities on the cover?  Plus the back was the first time lyrics were ever printed.  My second choice would be Satanic Majesties – remember the holographic images when you tilted it?  Those two covers go together because of their history.

and finally, this short batch by Jim B.:

Watch for a series batch called The Collection for the following artists, all available on September 29: Aerosmith; Johnny Cash; Miles Davis; John Denver; Celine Dion; Bob Dylan; Earth, Wind & Fire; Hall & Oates; Whitney Houston; Billy Joel; Journey; Willie Nelson; Elvis Presley; Frank Sinatra; Barbra Streisand; James Taylor; Luthor Vandross; and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Very, very interestingly, Legacy will be reissuing two David Cassidy titles as DD, scheduled for August 18. Cherish will be issued by Buddah Records, while the interesting title is the rare RCA release, Gettin' It in the Street. The title song was a collaboration with Mick Ronson. As Cassidy worked hard to push himself into "serious" territories, his three RCA albums revealed his increasing maturity. All are worth having.

Epic and Legacy will release on CD, The Music of Korn, planning the release for September 29.

Yeah, I've been kinda pushin' these guys (The Rifles)...but only because they're so good. Their US issue of Great Escape will be released by Nettwerk Records on September 15.

Shout! Factory will release Blood and Candle Smoke by Tom Russell on September 15.

Hollywood favours an industrial style of music when soundtracking for their high energy action films.  Good reasoning as that style of music is like audio adrenaline and seems to engage the listener with heart-pounding effect.  And within a film that stars the current energetic action hero, Jason Statham, such music just seems right.

Composed and performed by Mike Patton of Faith No More/Fantomas fame, this experimentally  industrial 32-track set is the wired, standalone music from the Statham vehicle, Crank: High Voltage.  It is a definite fan-set as it is quite musically inconsistent, transitioning from one track to another.  But Patton fans are used to the eclectic manner in which he works and so a set like this should be satisfying to them.  But traditional soundtrack buyers should beware.  What works with visual counterparts within the film, may be bizarre in a non-visual environment.   ** ½

Nettwerk Records will digitally release the 4-track EP, named Great Escape, by UK's The Rifles, whom Paul Weller of The Jam has gushed about, on July 28. Later in the year, Nettwerk will release their full-length album, which we'll be sure to cover. Three tracks found on this release will NOT be found on the band's upcoming album. Check 'em out at Facebook, and/or MySpace, and/or their official site.