TOMORROW ON OUTQ: SPRINGSTEEN, PETTY, OZZY

For those of you who are new to No Expiration, every Wednesday morning at 9 am ET, I go on the SIRIUS XM Channel OutQ to talk about music.  I'm a weekly guest on The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick. This week I'll be talking about some new releases from some pretty big legends.

First up is Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, who just released the DVD London Calling: Live In Hyde Park. I wrote about this a few weeks ago. But I'm still knocked out by what a great show it is. I love it as a DVD, but I think they should release it on CD at some point. Of course, the main complaint about this DVD is that there were better shows on the tour: namely the shows in the U.S. where he played complete albums. Those would make great CDs also. Actually my request would be to get a live version of Joe Strummer's "Coma Girl," recorded at Glastonbury, the night before the show that was filmed for this DVD. Pretty cool that he opened two huge shows with Strummer compositions (London Calling opens with a cover of The Clash song of the same name).

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers have a new album, Mojo, which I'm digging. I don't know if I love it as much as his last two efforts: his reunion/debut album with his pre-Heartbreakers band Mudcrutch, or his solo album Highway Companion. Mojo was definitely inspired by Mudcrutch though: on Mojo the band would record a song within one day, all live on the floor. It sounds like they had a great time on it, and I bet the songs will be great live.

I was a bit cynical when I heard about Cyndi Lauper's new album Memphis Blues, which is, as it sounds, a blues album. Lots of legendary artists do blues albums, either in some bid for some kind of credibility, or because they're out of ideas. I don't think Cyndi worries about cred, and I don't know why she did this album, but I think she did a great job with it. She is a great singer, and knows what she's doing. I think if people listen to this with an open mind, they'll dig it. There are guest shots from harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite, Ann Peebles, Allen Toussaint and (of course) B.B. King, but Cyndi is really the star of her own show.

I started making fun of Sting's Symphonicities last week. Sorry, I can't help it. It's Sting, backed by a symphony orchestra, doing new versions of songs from his Police and solo catalog. This, from the guy who doesn't want to dwell in nostalgia. I'd pay to hear Stewart Copeland review this album. From listening a bit: The Police songs sound goofy, but some of his solo songs work in this context. But they're not as good as the originals. So what's really the point?

I don't think anyone ever expected Devo to do a brand new album, of all new songs. But they did, and it's getting good reviews too. I like a few songs off of the misleadingly titled Something For Everyone. Their philosophy has always been that they don't believe in evolution: in fact, they think the human race is DE-volving. Hard to argue that point, sometimes.

Finally, Ozzy Osbourne's album, Scream, exceeded my expectations. This is his first album in a while without guitarist Zakk Wylde, now he's got a guy named Gus G. and a new drummer Tommy Clufetos (formerly of Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie's bands). Cluefetos replaces Mike Bordin who is back with the reunited Faith No More. Scream is really rocking and very contemporary sounding without condescending. Good job, Oz.