THe CHRISTGAU CONSUMER GUIDE
Despite my small hopes at Pazz & Jop time, I found two of them — albums that would have made my 1975 top 30 if I'd done my listening right. "Beserkley Chartbusters" simply slipped past me — it's sort of a sport as product, anyway, kind of like "The Harder They Come" in its collective identity — and the Sonny Rollins I might just have declared rock by fiat on account of it uses an electric bass, which would be no sillier than any other definition.
THe CHRISTGAU CONSUMER GUIDE
Robert Christgau
Despite my small hopes at Pazz & Jop time, I found two of them — albums that would have made my 1975 top 30 if I'd done my listening right. "Beserkley Chartbusters" simply slipped past me — it's sort of a sport as product, anyway, kind of like "The Harder They Come" in its collective identity — and the Sonny Rollins I might just have declared rock by fiat on account of it uses an electric bass, which would be no sillier than any other definition. Rock and roll diehards, however, will note that three of the bounty of five As this month would normally be classified as jazz, and then nod regretfully over the lost faith they've been foreseeing for years before getting down to penning their hate letters. Not true. I've been listening to jazz diligently for the past year and these are the first albums made in this decade that have earned an A from me. I hope there are more, but just like those berserk chartbusters I am a structure fan beneath my manic exterior, and very few jazz records satisfy my need for that.