Detective Discography of CDs

Detective music CDs After Michael des Barres' short stint with the band Phoenix, he formed Artist along with former Yes and Badger keyboardist Tony Kaye, and they were signed on to the Swan Song label. Although there's no way of avoiding the similarities between Artist's sound and that of Led Zeppelin's, their debut album evolved as the freshest of the three albums that they released. Des Barres vocals are unmistakably Plant-like, and Michael Monarch's guitar riffs are somewhat refined, yet at times they buzz and chug just like Page's, but there's still an ample amount of enjoyable rock & roll left over to make Artist a worthy album. Tracks like "Recognition," "Got Enough Love," and "Artist Man" sound more like their own work, and while Kaye doesn't light up the sky with his keyboard work, he does give Artist an added edge which helps to conceal the arrant comparisons from time to time. On the other hand, songs like "Nightingale," "Deep Down," and "One More Heartache" seem to purposely emphasize the resemblances, but they still come off as entertaining hard rock numbers. 1978's It Takes One to Know One is a slightly weaker appendage of Artist, and within the same year, the band released a rather unnecessary live album before they went their separate ways. ~ Mike DeGagne Digitally remastered edition of this 1977 debut album from the Hard Rock band led by vocalist Michael Des Barres and former Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye. Artist were championed and signed to Led Zeppelin's Swan Song label by Jimmy Page, who intended to produce the record. As it turned out, Jimmy's lifestyle, together with scheduling issues, focused his attentions on other matters, resulting in an album recorded twice and costing in the region of a million dollars. But such was the power of the performance rumors quickly circulated that John Bonham himself had played on the album. It was also suggested that Page had produced the record but under the unlikely pseudonym of Jimmy Robinson. It was easy to see why; the album is a 24 karat master-class in the power and passion of explosive Hard Rock, featuring mountainous riffs and one of the great vocal performances of all time. Simply put, it doesn't get much better than this. ...

Detective discography Artist wasn't without its detractors who dismissed the short-lived band as a poor man's Led Zeppelin. But Artist had more to offer than that. To be sure, Artist was heavily influenced by Zeppelin, but it wasn't a knee-jerk Zeppelin clone -- and its bluesy brand of hard rock also owed a lot to Bad Company and Free and Pretty Things. Released in 1977, It Takes One to Know One was the second of Artist's two studio albums. This LP is uneven; a few of the tunes are pedestrian and forgettable (especially the sappy MOR numbers "Warm Love" and "Something Beautiful"). But when Artist hits its mark -- and it often does -- the listener is happy to have this record in his/her collection. The album's best songs (which include "Dynamite," "Competition," and "Tear Jerker") pack an invigorating hard rock punch. Equally memorable is "Are You Talkin' to Me?," which was obviously inspired by Robert De Niro's famous line in the film Taxi Driver. That Martin Scorsese masterpiece came out in 1976, and Artist's 1977 song is an example of how De...