ROCK • A • RAMA

ROCK-A-RAMA

This month’s Rock-A-Ramas were written by Bill Holdship Richard C. Walls, Dave Segal, and Richard Riegel.

AARON NEVILLE Orchid In The Storm (Passport/Jem)

Doo wop and those beautiful C/Am/F/G ballads of the ‘50s and early ‘60s were always the sounds of love as far as I was concerned. Unrealistic, perhaps—but it was kinda nice getting totally lost in the overwhelming, powerful romance of it all (and is probably where the “love will cure/save all” fairy tales of the late ‘60s evolved from...). Anyway, Aaron Neville really makes you believe it all over again on this minialbum. His “Pledging My Love” actually beats versions by Johnny Ace and Elvis, while “For Your Precious Love” is as fine as Jerry Butler’s original. Some of the choices are questionable; I’ve never been especially fond of “The Ten Commandments Of Love” or “We Belong Together.” But his “Earth Angel” is like the first time you ever heard it and may make you wanna go out and find one of your own. B.H.

THELONIOUS MONSTER Baby...You’re Bummin’ My Life Out In A Supreme Fashion (Epitaph)

This just may be the best album of the year, but who am I to say? Well, for one thing, Ethel, I’m old enuff to have reached my majority during those fab, fab 1960’s, and I can tell ya firsthand that this is yet another path the legendary rockers of that era shoulda followed. Dig it, Sam: Thelonious Monster sound like if those ‘66 punkers Shadows Of Knight had gone fully atavistic & had referred back to the jump jazz that inspired the Stones rather than to the Stones themselves. White grunt punk Jazzy (saxy) trash & blues, sloppydelic too, plus prophetically mewling vocals from Bob Forrest & tiddy-ae-boom drums by Pete Weiss. Consumer warning: antique misogynist lyrix spotted in the vicinity (but come on in, the riffs are fine.) Grit punks kneejerk deep into da blooze, what more could anybody want? R.R.

PAT METHENY/ORNETTE COLEMAN Song X (Geffen)

The young punk meets the Godfather (of the jazz avant-garde). This is alto saxophonist Coleman’s best album since his last one, which was cut seven years ago (Of Human Feelings) and it’s a nice change-up to hear him in a different context than his fanatically democratic group, Prime Time. The pairing here isn’t as odd as you might think—both leaders share a willingness and ability to follow a song wherever it will take them. And guitarist Metheny, despite his rep as a semi-pop kinda guy, sounds the more cerebral of the two (careful, always careful), while Ornette seems plugged into some eternal flow of pure melody—as the band (rounded out by bassist Charlie Haden and drummers Jack De Johnette and Denardo Coleman) perpetrates a mind-boggling density, Ornette cuts through it all with a stillradical directness of expression. And that’s only side one... R.C.W.

THAT PETROL EMOTION Manic Pop Thrill (Demon import)

The title’s a succinct review of this LP, one of the most ecstatic debuts since, oh, Psychocandy. Sean and Damian O’Neill, the catalysts behind the superb Undertones, have surpassed their former pop glory with some help from a few Ulster boys and an American vocalist of considerable emotional range. TPE excel at reckless, Verlaine-ish guitar rock with oodles of euphoric hooks that could melt the heart of your teenage sister. They’re versatile enough to throw in a couple of sublime ballads on which singer Steve Mack recalls fab McCartney in his prime. Life-affirming stuff, as is TPE’s first single, "Keen.”D.S.

JOE HENDERSON

The State Of The Tenor/Live At the Village Vanguard Vol. 1 (Blue Note)

Tenor saxophonist Henderson was a Blue Note perennial during the ’60s, beginning his recording career on the label and releasing a half-dozen or so minor masterpieces of hard-swinging grit-edged jazz which feel somewhere between the post-bop and avant-garde pigeonholes (way between— the recently reissued Our Thing is a hearty example). Here he’s presented as an elder statesman operating squarely in the mainstream (fair enough), and one’s first impression that the lion has mellowed can be chalked up partly to the chamber qualities of the trio format (Ron Carter, bass; Al Foster, drums) and partly to the wellmeaning production gloss—and partly because Henderson is a little mellower; he still sinks his teeth into a song, but the fiery playing is tempered somewhat by the elegance of the seasoned improviser. Also, it’s just possible that this current phase of introspection and refinement has as much tb do with the tenor of the state as with the state of the tenor—either way, highly recommended. R.C.W.