BLOBBY'S BLOG

RECORD OF THE MONTH

I figured I'd do a monthly 'what I'm listening to' kind of thing. This could be viewed as a lame placeholder kind of post. And probably it is. But it's my blog! So there!

These may or may not be newly released disks. They might not even be a good disk - just what is been in heavy rotation in my car (as usually the iPod is playing anywhere else).

Yeah, I'm ekeing this one under the wire.

I'd have to go through my 18 or 20 Record of the Month postings, but it just seems to me that I might not feature enough male artists. I fully admit to deferring to the female gender, not only in my posts, but in my buying habits too. I'm here to mix it up a bit.

This disk is not really new. Maybe two years old? I have said earlier this year that I didn't have a lot of new disks to review, but in the upcoming months I have about five, so you won't have to listen to these oldies but goodies. Or at least oldies.

I like Michael Penn, I just wish I liked him more. His first disk was stellar. Spot on, as it were. I don't mean just because of "No Myth", which still stands up today.

Since then, Penn has had about 2-5 really good songs on disks that contain another 6-7 songs that are just bland as bland can be. I like his style, I like his voice, but the songs just don't resonate with me.

Mr. Hollywood Jr. 1947 is no different. It is one of those disks I've put away for a period of time and just recently brought out of hibernation to throw into my car for my longer drives. This "new" job allows me to give music a second chance - when I can have hours to really focus on it.

It is fine music to listen to, but nothing is going to stick outside of "Walter Reed". I realllllly want to love "Denton Road" (I mean.....c'mon!!!!!), but it's just ok. And that is Penn's biggest issue with most of his music - it's JUST ok. If I were to compile his best music, it would be a great disk. He does have a retrospective (you can't have a greatest hits package if you've only had one hit) and though it looks ok, there was much left off that I would have included. He should have called me.

But I give him props for doing his own thing and not compromising what he wants to do - which is why he has to release his own disks now and has limited exposure.