Epic
2007
The Remains
About This Album
For years, the debut album from Boston's the Remains -- the only album the group would release during their original incarnation -- got a bad rap, not so much for its inherent strengths or weaknesses but because a number of writers and fans (most notably Jon Landau) felt it didn't capture the power and energy of the band's fabled live shows. But while the live-in-the-studio demo the band cut for Capitol Records in 1966 (currently available as A Session with the Remains) may be sharper and more frantic, time has vindicated The Remains as a superb example of blues-influenced garage rock, tough and swaggering but with plenty of heart to go along with all that soul. While the early Rolling Stones are a fair comparison to this, if anything the Remains were able to fuse blues and full-bore rock with a more satisfying sense of groove and Barry Tashian's emotionally charged vocals and bare-wires guitar work are consistently electrifying on this set's ten songs, while William Henry Briggs' keyboards offer solid and admirably varied support. While the album gets off to a midtempo start with the deep and moody "Heart" and "Lonely Weekends," once the band shifts into fourth gear with the almost-hit "Don't Look Back" this album rocks solidly, and the six originals show Tashian, Briggs, and bassist Vernon Miller were all top-shelf songwriters.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14 and 15)

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