HIGH BIAS -- reissues

High Bias refreshed

CHEAP TRICK
At Budokan
THE ISLEY BROTHERS
Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
TED NUGENT
The Ultimate Ted Nugent
EDGAR WINTER
The Best of Edgar Winter
(Epic/Legacy)
If the success of the Fox sitcom That 70's Show is any indication, the 70s are back in a big way. This is hardly news, of course. Indeed, the phenomenon is already on its way out, no doubt to make way for the 80s revival. Part of the wave of 70s nostalgia comes in the form of music, as genres as seemingly disparate as stoner metal, R&B, prog and power pop pay tribute to the more organic sounds of the era of Nixon, Jimmy Carter and M*A*S*H. The time is ripe for attention on some of the 70s superstars—witness the comebacks of Kiss and Black Sabbath—and Sony's Legacy division is stepping up to the plate with reissues and compilations of acts that were big in the time of disco, but became footnotes later on. How much of this music has held up over the past quarter of a century? Let's find out, shall we?

It's hard to believe now, but in the late 70s Cheap Trick was not a superstar band. The Illinois quartet's loud, melodic and self-mocking brand of arena pop didn't catch on until it released its fourth and first live album 1979's At Budokan, reissued here in its original form with no bonus tracks. THEN it became a superstar band, if only briefly. It's unclear why these raw, unkempt versions of previously released Trick songs would suddenly catch on with the American public—perhaps it's a holdover of sentiment from Frampton Comes Alive—but catch on they did, and this album remains Trick's best known. The song selection is drawn mostly from the second album In Color, with a couple of otherwise unreleased tunes and a preview of the next studio album's "Need Your Love." The totally revamped "I Want You to Want Me" highlights the set and deservedly became a monster hit single; its bookends—a pulverizing version of Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame" and a raw, rocking "Surrender"—shine brightly as well. Drummer Bun E. Carlos, bassist Tom Petersson and singer Robin Zander are all in fine form, but it's guitarist Rick Nielsen who dominates the set; without the gloss of the studio records he's free to indulge in every over-the-top power chord, riff and filigree in his considerable arsenal. It's a fine concert souvenir and an acknowledged classic, and still stands as one of the Me Decade's best.

Though originally released in 1984, the Isley Brothers' Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 mainly covers the band's 70s run of hits, with a couple of 80s numbers and, on this edition, a handful of bonus tracks. The collection is weighted towards the ballads that were the siblings' bread and butter at the time of its original release. "For the Love of You," "Between the Sheets" and "Groove With You" would encourage beautiful music making of every kind, if you know what I mean, uh-huh, alright. But the love-man antics come balanced with strutting funk rockers like "Fight the Power" and "Live It Up," and the addition of "The Pride" and "Take Me to the Next Phase" evens the score even more. The classic "That Lady" splits the difference, as vocalist Ronald's sexy slither duets with guitarist Ernie's molten shimmy. No matter how often that song is anthologized, it always holds up. Indeed, every song here remains far superior to the over-produced slop on contemporary R&B radio. This ground is well-covered by Legacy's superlative Isleys box set It's Your Thing, but for those wanting to simply dip their toes into the brothers' pool, this remastered edition of Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 will be just the ticket.

Terrible Ted Nugent has been recording over-the-top rawk-n-fukkin-roll for 35 years now, but this compilation covers only his work from 1975-1980 (plus a couple of 80s-era live recordings of 70s-era material). With a generous 32 tracks spread over two disks, it's unlikely anyone will argue with its limited scope, especially since these cuts capture the Nuge in his commercial and creative prime. What one could argue with is the need for a comp this big at all. There's certainly some fine riff-rockers here, especially on the first disk—"Stormtroopin'," "Just What the Doctor Ordered," "Motor City Madhouse" and "Free-For-All" (sung by a strangely subdued Meat Loaf) hold up nicely as inspirations to the legions of stoner rock anti-heroes. Original Nuge singer Derek St. Holmes has the perfect voice for these songs, grainy and wailin', like Sammy Hagar without the histrionics. And, of course, Nugent's meaty guitar licks serve as the deserved focal point. Unfortunately, as this set proves, you need more than the ability to churn out hard rock hooks and squealing solos to maintain listener interest. Nugent's lick vocabulary is fairly limited, which leads to a lot of soundalike cuts. He also has a bad habit of letting a song go on way too long—the infamous "Stranglehold" would be his crowning achievement if only he had cut its nearly nine-minute duration in half. Then there's the lowbrow sentiments championed in songs like "Wang Bang Sweet Poontang" (does anybody even use the term "poontang" anymore?) and "Yank Me, Crank Me." While lyrical content is easily ignored in this kind of music, the overriding sameness of the songs isn't. Gonzo excess may be Nugent's credo, but the sad fact is that, when not taken in small doses, it's boring. (Not to mention, in the case of "Wang Tango" and "Scream Dream," incredibly annoying.) As is the Nuge. Unless you're an absolute Nugent fanatic, there's simply no need to own this.

Another artist with a career that's reached three decades, Edgar Winter found his greatest measure of fame in the early 70s as leader of two different groups, Edgar Winter's White Trash and the Edgar Winter Group. Accordingly, this compilation concentrates on the songwriter/multi-instrumentalist's peak years, with only a couple of tracks from later than 1972. The most famous, of course, are the engaging funk rocker "Free Ride" and the gnarly instrumental "Frankenstein," the use of which continues to butter Winter's bread to this day. The rest of the material here leans heavily towards rock-flavored R&B, influenced more by Motown, Sly & the Family Stone and jazz than acid rock. The horn-heavy sweatfunk of "Give It Everything You Got," psychedelicized soul jazz of "Entrance" and "Fire and Ice" and the overtly bluesy cover of "Tobacco Road" may surprise listeners familiar only with Winter's hits. Indeed, the Philly-soul style disco of "It's Your Life to Live" sounds like a completely different performer. Notably, the only truly duff track, the sterile "Rock and Roll Revival," comes from the 80s. There's little deathless tuneage here, but the cuts are good enough to prove that, in the 70s at least, there was more to Edgar Winter than just a couple of songs. And maybe there's more to the 70s than sitcom nostalgia. Michael Toland

For fans of:
Cheap Trick: the Goo Goo Dolls, the Who, Enuff Z'Nuff
The Isley Brothers: Sly & the Family Stone, Earth Wind & Fire, Band of Gypsys
Ted Nugent: Montrose, Kiss, Kid Rock
Edgar Winter: Al Kooper, the Chambers Brothers, J. Geils Band