Stryper, Cooper among overlooked albums

SOUND BITES: CD REVIEWS

updated 6:14 p.m. ET Jan. 4, 2006

A look at some of the albums overlooked in 2005:

Tera Melos, ‘Untitled’
A four-piece rock band out of Sacramento, Calif., gets the nod for the most deceptively talented band of the year. Tera Melos took a bit of rock, a dash of jazz, some ambient techno and a whole lot of punk and rolled it together for a nameless debut album that pretty much defies every musical convention available.

What brings the styles together is Tera Melos’ most valuable constant — talent. This album is a lush listen that has you gently bobbing your head one minute and moshing uncontrollably the next.

The eight songs on the album are simply titled “Melody 1,” “Melody 2” etc. The band does not employ a lead singer, or force any of the four members to try their hand at crafting words around the crush of guitar or heady bass work. A singer would only slow things down, and that is not what Tera Melos is about.

“Melody 2,” contains guitar screeches that sounds like underwater dolphin calls put through a guitar fuzz box. Meanwhile, the second guitarist plucks away at a gentler melody and the drummer holds it all together throughout. Most of Tera Melos’ songs begin with strains of something you think you’re about to recognize as jazz fusion, or some punk-infused standard. Then comes the beautiful mayhem, like the band fell down a long flight of stairs and somehow continued playing.

Tera Melos live shows are said to be the most kinetic affair you could watch short of a rugby match. Think blood, cartwheels and bodies thrashing wildly from stage end to stage end and you’re thinking of Tera Melos. Bassist Nathan (they use only first names) broke his instrument on guitarist Jeff’s face at a show in San Diego. And in Santa Barbara, the crowd threw the band across the room in middle of their set.

Buy a front row ticket if you dare.

Here’s hoping that Sacramento’s hugely talented Tera Melos gets in front of more people and ears in 2006. They definitely do not teach this in music school. Nor could they.  —Ron Harris

Danny Roberts, ‘Mandolin Orchard’ (Butler Music Group)
NewFound Road, ‘Somewhere Between’ (Mountain Home Records)
Hot licks don’t grow on trees, but Danny Roberts’ bluegrass quintet makes picking sound simple on “Mandolin Orchard.” The group zips through 11 instrumentals, all but one written by mandolinist Roberts, who shows the same taste and flair he displays in his work with Dolly Parton. Nearly stealing the show is guitarist Tony Wray, whose solos are full of leaps, plunges and inventive syncopation that sometimes flirts with jazz. From start to finish, “Mandolin Orchard” swings.

NewFound Road works with a broader palate, although “Somewhere Between” also includes its share of fine fretwork. Tom T. Hall’s “That’s How I Got to Memphis” becomes a lovely pop tune, and the quintet successfully explores country (“Lonesome Feelin”’) and Western swing (“Nothing Ever Turns Out Right”). Tight harmonies support Tim Shelton’s twangy lead vocals throughout, making “Somewhere Between” another gem in a banner year for bluegrass recordings.    —Steven Wine

Jon Randall, ‘Walking Among the Living’
Except for a few largely unnoticed albums, Jon Randall has played the role of an anonymous Nashville sideman and songwriter for the past 15 years. Then along came the Country Music Association’s song of the year, “Whiskey Lullaby,” that he wrote with Bill Anderson, followed by “Walking Among the Living,” and — lo and behold — he’s a singer-songwriter. And a darn listenable one at that.

With an effortless tenor comparable to Vince Gill’s, it’s a wonder it has taken this long for him to earn a spot with a major label. The album is steeped in traditional country/bluegrass with a sparse, largely acoustic accompaniment. One high point on a CD with no low points is the poignant “North Carolina Moon,” begun 15 years ago by Randall’s father and completed by the son. Sonya Isaacs’ harmony completes a lovely package.

Randall’s version of “Whiskey Lullaby” is more somber than the Brad Paisley-Alison Krauss hit version, darkened by a cello and string section accompaniment — the only violins on an album otherwise full of fiddles.

Along with Isaacs, he’s joined on the album by Patty Loveless in the ultimate cheating song, “I Shouldn’t Do This” and by Krauss on the solemn “No Southern Comfort.”

While ballads are his forte, Randall can be compared to the Eagles on the lilting “Long Way Down” and shows his rockabilly side on “Austin” in an album that’s notable not only by his performances but by the range of songs — all but one with his name on it.

The lone exception is “My Life” by R.L. Castleman, who penned “The Lucky One” for Krauss. It’s an uptempo delight on which he’s joined in a “new grass” jam by Sam Bush, Bela Fleck and John Cowan.    —Tom Gardner

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