BoDeans - Resolution (***.5)
Say, do you like jangly guitars? Then check out the BoDeans new album. This is quintessential American pop-rock. Nothing fancy, no dissonant keys, no syncopated rhythms. Just a pile of four minute pop songs with catchy melodies, a lively beat, and those jangly guitars. If that all sounds like a put down, then you don't understand how great a well crafted pop song can be. In a musical landscape full of overproduced mush, the clean, uncluttered sound of the BoDeans is as refreshing as a cool mountain stream on a warm summer day. The only drawback is that the album goes a bit longer it should. The judicial trimming of about three songs would have tightened it up and made it just right. Still, a minor complaint. Make a resolution to give a listen to the pure pop pleasure of the BoDeans.
Mike Castro, 10/4/04 Top

Eddie From Ohio - This Is Me (*****)
How do they do it? Nine albums into their career and Eddie From Ohio can still produce an album of such quality. Fifteen tracks, each of them a gem. Great melodies, brilliant harmonies, and the kind of clever lyrics that really do make you laugh, think, and cry. Well, almost cry. Do goosebumps during "Independence, Indiana" count? EFO might be labelled a folk band, but to do so is to do a disservice to the breadth and variety of their music. What distinguishes this band is the sheer quality of the songs. The emotion and humor and intelligence all combine with virtuoso musicianship to produce magic. These songs are alive. I'm sure someone out there could listen to this album and not like it... but they would simply be wrong.
Mike Castro, 10/21/04 Top

Goldfinger - Disconnection Notice (****)
In the mid-90s, a wave of American punk-pop bands burst onto the scene. Most have faded away, but a few survive; Green Day and The Offspring have probably achieved the biggest commercial success, but there are others who keep on going even though they have turned from kids into grownups. Goldfinger is among the best of these. Hardcore fans may not be happy with this album as it marks a distinct shift toward melodic songwriting and away from the speed metal and screaming that appeared throughout earlier efforts. For mainstream fans like me, this is an outstanding collection of 2.5 minute power pop/punk tunes that is both accessible and crank-up-able. Better still, Goldfinger are still a band with something to say. Speaking out against animal cruelty, binge drinking, and invasive governmental oversight, they still maintain their trademark sense of humor. Catchy melodies, nice guitar hooks, and just a hint of the old ska-beat from earlier work make for a refreshing 35 minute blast of rock and roll.
Mike Castro, 7/27/05 Top

Ari Hest - Someone to Tell (****)
Ho hum, another singer-songwriter. Wait a second, not so fast. Ari Hest is more than that. Yeah, he plays a lot of acoustic guitar and gives us a bunch of earnest ballads, but there is an intensity that is missing from lighter-weight acts like Josh Kelley and, frankly, John Mayer's latest effort. The ballads are more powerful with some transcendant melodies, while the faster songs, like Aberdeen, really get cooking. Hest's vocals are honest and strong and his music shows a real sense of drama and melody without sacrificing intimacy. If Hest had appeared on the scene a few years ago, he may very well have set the standard for the coffee-shop-singer-songwriter-goes-for-the-big-time, but coming onto the scene when it's already saturated, I fear he may not have the thrusters to break away from the pack, which is no less than his talent deserves.
Mike Castro, 11/16/04 Top

Billy Idol - Devil's Playground (****)
The best pure rockin', roll-down-the-windows album I heard in 2004 was by a "has-been", Rick Springfield. Now, in 2005, it's happened again. Billy Idol has emerged from the ruins of his career to produce an album of such heart-pounding excitement that you have to look twice at the name on the disc. Yes, Billy Idol. I was never a big Idol fan. He had a half dozen great songs, half a dozen good ones, and a whole lot of filler. When he was good, though, he was very good and on Devil's Playground, he is very good. Backed by a roaring band led by that awesome guitarist of years past, these tracks are alive, leaping off the disc and throttling you... in a good way. There are some quiter moments, which are a necessary break from the sledgehammer, and the acoustic rocker "Sherrie" is a joyous tune that defies all Billy Idol stereotypes, but it is the pounding rhythm section, screaming guitars, and surprisingly acrobatic vocals that are the star. Whoever decided that Idol should explore the upper range of his voice chose wisely because the higher octaves deliver a great youthful energy instead of always languishing in the growling lower registers. Devil's Playground isn't imperfect, it ain't groundbreaking, but it really cooks and gives us power rock with just enough irony to make it all fun.
Mike Castro, 8/10/05 Top

Michael McDermott - Ashes (****.5)
Hailing from Chicago, Michael McDermott is a big time performer that has somehow failed to hit the big time. This is no niche-indie act. McDermott writes big time rock tunes with infectious pop hooks and great storytelling. His performance is powerful and passionate. He’s basically a modern, Midwestern Bruce Springsteen (before he became a mansion-dwelling millionaire, that is). The opening track “Arm Yourself” is absolutely killer. With a pounding baseline, subtle jangling guitars, and a restrained yet insistent vocal, it caused my wife to ask “Is this from the new U2 album?” I’m talking about that kind of quality. Moving easily from driving rocker, to tender ballad to scorching screamer, Ashes is an album that deserves to be heard. And guess what? You can! For free! The album is available on www.freshtracksmusic.com. From the menu on the left, select “Top Songwriters”, then Michael McDermott and click. Under the song list, click “Play The All” and you can listen to the whole album... free!
Mike Castro, 8/19/05 Top

U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (****)
The latest studio album from U2 finds them unable to leave behind the burden of lengthy titles. It may seem a curious choice: unwieldy, dangerously portentous and only referenced in the lyrics of the European bonus track “Fast Cars”. But, for Bono, the answer to the titular conundrum is “with love”, and this provides the key lyrical focus of the album. Even the upbeat bombast of the playful opener “Vertigo”, replete with an energetic bass and drum combination surmounted by the stabbing rhythms of the Edge’s guitar, ends with the singer’s confession “I can feel your love teaching me”. In “Sometimes You Can’t Make it on Your Own”, written in the memory of Bono’s father, the understated instrumental provides a counterpoint to the singer’s deeply personal lyric. Somehow the band steer well clear of the potential for mawkishness; this is surely HTDAAB’s answer to Achtung Baby’s “One”. But where that earlier album was underpinned with the bitterness of failed relationships, here the tone is much more positive. Rejecting what Bono calls “romantic love” in “Mystery Drug”, the quest for a purer, more complete form finds the singer rejoicing in the “true love” that “will find you/Catch you by the heel” in “A Man and A Woman”, the song resting on a beautifully rich and resonant bass. The album moves towards a close with “Original of the Species”, inspired by a young woman on the verge of becoming a teenager, an expression of paternal love to complete the filial and marital versions visited earlier. Suitably enough, the album closes with “Yahweh”, the nearest thing to a worship song that U2 have written in years. Possibly the most unified album of their career, give it a chance: you, too, may end up loving it...
Mike McLean (UK Correspondent), 12/12/04 Top

Neil Young - Greendale (***.5)
Yes, it's a concept album. You thought you'd seen the last of these? No way. Neil Young gives us a musical novel about the town of Greendale, focusing on the effects of a policeman's shooting on the families of the shooter and the victim. Musically, this is classic Young with Crazy Horse; a loose, almost unrehearsed sound with a natural groove that makes some of the very long tracks seem not quite so long. Young's voice is clear as he works through a number of different characters and tells their stories. It's always refreshing when you can understand every word. It's an interesting album that is at times engrossing. I wouldn't put it up on the level of some of the great story-telling concept albums of all time, but if you like Neil Young, it's definitely worth having.
Mike Castro, 10/31/04 Top
Update: Several readers wrote in that hearing the live version of Greendale, with commentary by Neil Young, would improve my opinion of this album. They were correct. With the intensity of a live performance and narration of the story by Mr. Young, the album does indeed improve to a solid 3.5 stars.

Anyone wishing to contribute reviews to this page is welcome to e-mail them to me and I will put them online. I do, however, reserve full editorial control over anything that appears on this site.