This week, we talk about a handful of other records pulled out of my big box. I guess if there’s something approaching a theme to be drawn from this batch, it’s the presence of hidden lore behind a record that makes it what it is. I almost threw in a review of the newish Wailin’ Jennys record I picked up last week while I was scavenging a Borders location, though as REALLY GOOD as that record is, I need to digest it a little more, and since I’ve only had it a week, I’m not sure if it applies, even if I did get it at a discount (which fits the cutout aesthetic).

♦ Saraya – When The Blackbird Sings: In the waning days of the hair/glam metal era, 1989, PolyGram records began setting up a band to become the next Bon Jovi; with the same heavy New Jersey working class attitude, only this band would have a pretty girl out front rather than a pretty guy. Saraya was that band. Fronted by Sandi Saraya (the band used to be called Alsace Lorraine before the record company got hold of them), had a modest MTV hit with “Love Has Taken It’s Toll” off of their self-titled debut, and toured as support for bigger acts. Then they put this record out, and promptly broke up, saving themselves the disappointment of Grunge’s ascendence and PolyGram’s buyout where more than 50% of the artist roster was slashed. At least that’s the story from wikipedia, anyway, and it’s sounds about right. Anyway, it’s kind of a shame, because it’s a pretty good, if not particularly unique (other than being one of the handful of female fronted rock bands at the time), hard rock record. I’m not sure what the singles were; if there were any (this record landed in the cutouts pretty quickly after release), but I could see “Bring Back The Light” hitting moderately big a few years earlier. It kind of has that definitive late 80s glam sound, some of it has a definite “Pat Benetar fronting High and Dry era Def Leppard” vibe, which works for me. The rest of it sounds like one of those bands who plays in the background of the ubiquitous club scene in many a lower-teir 80s movie whose tune fades into the background after a minute or so, but helpfully shows up on the soundtrack album, largely because the studio’s music division was looking for cross promotion.* There’s nothing at all wrong with that band. That song often set just the right mood in the film. However, no one’s going to argue that that band ever made it big.** Also, significant only because of the title of this series, I bought this record from a cutout rack, with a notch in the spine so deep it actually clipped the edge of the disc, making it unplayable in my car CD player; luckily, it did play in my computer so I could rip and burn a replacement copy.

♦Stairway to Heaven, Highway to Hell: This record, a benefit project for the Make A Difference Foundation, features most of the bands that took part in the Moscow Music Peace Festival, a huge rock show in Moscow (one of the first high profile western performances there) in 1989, benefiting anti-drug efforts in both the US and the Soviet Union. It wa A lot of people credit the show for helping to bring down communism and westernize the Soviet Union. Those people are probably giving the festival too much credit, but it was a high point in the history of “”hard rock.”” Really, the whole project and subsequent record were part of a settlement for übermanager Doc McGhee to avoid jail time on drug charges. He took his entire stable of artists to moscow for the show, and had them record cover tunes from bands touched by drug or alcohol abuse as part of his community service. Most of the stuff on the record really isn’t the artists’ best work, frankly, but it’s interesting. Motley Crüe’s cover of Tommy Bolin’s “Teaser” is probably the highlight. I bought it, not surprisingly, for the Bon Jovi track, a pedestrian cover of Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys are Back in Town.” What’s most interesting (besides Klaus Meine’s broken english on the Elvis medley) is that Neither Stairway to Heaven nor Highway to Hell appear on the album (though Bonham’s kid drums on one track).

♦The Cranberries – Everyone Else Is Doing It, SO Why Can’t We?: Sure, everybody remembers the omipresent singles, “Dreams” and “Linger” from this record, with their bright shiny hooks and lilting vocals. They were everywhere for a year or two, and probably still get routine airplay on Hot Adult Contemporary/doctors office radio stations to this day. And rightfully so, because they’re damned good pop songs. However, I always kind of dug the Cranberries not for the bright, shiny stuff, but rather the darker textures that populate much of the rest of their catalog. All the best Irish folk songs are dark and a little sad, after all, why should Irish pop music be any different? “How” serves as a pretty good example of this sound, and also demonstrates how putting the bass out in the front of the mix on these kind of pop songs ought to be done more often. I’m also surprised that “Sunday” didn’t chart higher (I didn’t even know i was a single), as it’s one of my favorites on the record, largely because it sounds so much like IRS-era R.E.M. Their best tune, though, by far, is the dark and political “Zombie”, which doesn’t come around until the next record. Finally, I kind of hate the obvious record company influence that forced the band to do away with it’s original name, The Cranberry Saw Us.

♦Rusted Root: –When I Woke: This is one of those records that seeped slowly into my consciousness through repeated exposure. In 1994, you couldn’t walk past an open dorm window on campus without hearing a track from this band; either this record, or one of the several copies of their previous indie release that crossed the state from their hometown of Pittsburgh. And this was before “Send Me On My Way” became the next go-to piece of music to set your movie trailer to. This band really was kind of crafted specifically to appeal to northeastern college students in the mid-nineties; the neo-hippie vibe, the infectious world-music percussion influence (drum circles on college campuses never quite go out of style), it all appealed to all of us who were young, on our own, and looking to change the world by co-opting a cartoon version of 60s youth culture. That said, beyond the image, the rhythms across this record really are engaging and get people moving, even unconsciously. I dare you to listen to “Drum Trip/Ecstacy” and not start shaking something. However, my favorite piece on the record are the interplaying of vocal harmonies on “”Beautiful People.”” Interesting, but of no particular note, are the number of songs about meteorological phenomena.

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* –That actually happened with this band post-breakup; ending up on the surprisingly good soundtrack to the electric-redneck Mitch Pileggi vehicle Shocker

** –The only bands I can think of off hand that got sucessful after a high-profile motion picture soundtrack appearance would be Extreme and Nelson, both of whom appeared on the Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure soundtrack. However, Extreme hit it big with “”More Than Words”” which is about as opposite as you can get from “”Play With Me”” (the guitar solo bit was used during the Beethoven at the mall montage), and Nelson’s contribution, “”Two Heads Are Better Than One”” was attributed to Powertool, and wasn’t “”Nelson”” so much as the twins knocking off a track with Dweezil Zappa.