By Kirby Ferguson

Well, the year ain’t quite over, but here at the X- Press we close down fairly early so I’m going to begin my summation of the year in music. Next week I’ll be listing the best and the worst of 91, but for now I’m going to skim through some of the year’s

more notable releases, good and bad, starting off with our fellow Canadians.

SOLACE- Sarah McLachlan.Brrrr... pretty chilly stuff. Uncannily Sinead-like at times. ‘‘The Path of Thorns’’ is lovely, but the rest kinda floats off into oblivion. Pompous lyrics to boot.

NIGHT RIDE HOME- Joni Mitchell.Also rather cool THE GHOSTS THAT HAUNT ME- The Crash Test ind airy somewhat like Sarah, but the songs are of Dummies,The fluke hit of the year, proving that when yetter quality. Not bad atall. you have a great melody absurd lyrics, pseudo- sing-

LOAD APPLES- The Tragically Hip.One ofa handful ing anda bizarre name mean nothing. The sound is if the year’s rock ‘n’ roll releases. They have a refreshingly rootsy, though the writing leaves some- tiving, forceful, rocking, blah-blah-blah sound, and thing to be desired a the lyrics are simply bad ock dynamics in spades. Beauty. poetry. Good taste in covers.

PHE REALITY OF MY SURROUNDINGS- Fishbone 2

A big disappointment for me. I expected them to ~ become a modern day Sly and the Family Stone,but ss ~_4 this is closer to hardcore than r&b/rock. It’s Okay, but . : [ expected something a little more musical. A

MAMA SAID- Lenny KravitzThe fact that he’s derivative as hell goes without saying, but he’s inter- i esting at least. He has monumental chops, but it’s all a artificial (though he’s trying to be real)- notan origi- i nal note to be found, and the dopey, hippy-dippy sees a

VAN MORRISON #eceauiens lyrics don’t help. If he gets his own voice look out. —~—— Be a eS

Hymns To The Silence BQ S37 THE SOUL CAGES- Sting Well done, thoughtful = | yri-feat e E APOCALYPSE 91- Public Enemy.Definitely not , boring, but a throwaway nonetheless. HYMNS TO Hymns to

THE SILENCE- Van Morrison,Now playing at an POP POP- Rickie Lee Jones Sheer boredom froma elevator near you. woman I expected more from.

Duan WOODFACE- Crowded House,Almost knocked a PA y

ec 9 ee certain bunch of smug Athenians off my top ten. | yy AST BY RD ait Cs aan Wonderfully tuneful. Not earth-shattering, but still De Wee SS

pretty good. w . ss es SR Moonee

eee YS

METALLICA- Metallica,I’m not saying if this is we good or bad (though it’s certainly impressive), but I

just don’t want to listen to it, and unless you got an ger ds

extra y-chromosome or something I’m not sure why FRASER RE per Coane EUS aes pans 2 REN My eA seh ar ia bial ts aateibeelnehelaaiaal ers

~ e. ae rt A y ~ ou a

anyone else would either. RAM DA dM ide RM Bint

}: a Nyt aed M4 Mk 4 he . bat ie : eee PN VR AN Eee i a pee ee at Ps i har . et ;. ‘ or]

<

A yA ty SNAPPERS A NOVEL Ni, a TRICK.ITEM BANG 4, DROP IT! TROWIT!

STEP ON IT/SNAPIT! \ CAUTION: CAREFULLY READ OTHER CAUTIONS ON SIDE PANEL