The Scrounger's Report

Apr. 04, 1999

Sometimes gambles pay off..and sometimes they don't.

Friday I went out shopping. Overall it was a wasted day: entirely
too much driving and not enough good stuff to make it worthwhile.
Three out of the four "gambles" I made fell flat on their face. *sigh*

Anyway:

 1. Hi-Gloss - You'll Never Know. 1981. Prelude Records (Canada)
    This was an "artwork and song title" purchase. I was expecting
    AOR or lite rock. I got soul R&B. It's pretty good as that
    genre goes, with a bit of a Supremes sound. It's available for
    trade.

 2. Geoffrey Downes - Evolution. 1996. Blueprint (Austria)
    This was a *MAJOR* letdown. Instrumental covers of AOR/hard rock
    classics. No vocals whatsoever. *BLEAGH*. I figure some Downes
    fan will want this. Also available for trade.

 3. Andy McCoy & Pete Malmi - Briard. 1997. BMG (Japan)
    I knew this would be a gamble. The cover art said "punk" but
    the song titles said AOR/hard rock. Meet in the middle and
    you have sleaze glam. This, as it turns out, is no surprise
    as Andy McCoy was the lead guitarist for Hanoi Rocks. I'm divesting
    myself of most of my sleaze glam stuff. This is available for
    trade, only played once, complete with OBI strip.

Ok, and now the stuff I'm actually keeping:

 1. Saxon - Wheels of Steel. 1980. Electrola/Parlophone (U.K.)
    I *will* eventually own all of Saxon's albums on CD. Really....
    I tend to prefer the later/recent material simply because of
    the better arrangements and better production quality, but
    this is "klassik" early Saxon hard rock. Rating: 83%

 2. UFO - Ain't Misbehavin'. 1989. Metal Blade.
    Checking online, this one doesn't seem to be available any more.
    It's a 7-track EP. Typical UFO (is it just me, or is Mogg not
    the greatest vocalist in the world?). Rating: NYR

 3. Deep Purple - The House of Blue Light. 1987. Polygram.
    I hadn't seen this one in a coon's age, so I figured I'd pick
    it up. Kinda nondescript, but then again DP hardly ever "blows
    your doors off", and by the same token never really puts out
    garbage either. Good for all the classic hard rock fans. Rating: NYR

 4. Jet Circus - Step On It. 1990. Wonderland Records
    Take a couple of Swedes (or so it would appear) that want to
    do funk/glam and this is what you get. It's...well...."different."
    Rating: NYR

 5. Scorpions - Best of Scorpions. 1984. RCA.
    I've not seen this one on CD in quite a while. The "Volume 2" is
    still in print, but for some reason this is not. It is all early
    pre-Mercury tracks. Good stuff though! Rating: 85%

 6. Mammoth - S/T. 1989. Jive Records.
    This is *quite* good! You wouldn't know it by looking at the
    artwork (and I think that's why it gets overlooked by a lot of
    people), but this is first-rate AOR! The lead vocalist at times
    reminds me of Steve Perry singing in mid-register. Good harmonies.
    Rating: 88%

 7. Lost Weekend - S/T. 1997. Now and Then Records.
    The cover art grabbed me on this one, and as I pulled it from the
    bargain bin I saw the Now and Then logo, so I figured I had to get
    it (I *never* see anything on Now&Then, MTM, Frontiers, or Escape
    labels here in the midwest, so when I do stumble across something
    it's akin to "system shock"). Laid-back AOR, at times with a bit
    of a "country" sound to it (hard to describe). It's definitely
    a keeper. Rating: NYR (should end up in the mid-upper 80s).

TTFN, TTYL, KMA, FOAD, and a zillion other "Ackernimms"...

-Dan