No Expiration - a blog about timeless music

DO YOU NEED ANOTHER LIVE RUSH ALBUM? YES. YES YOU DO

2012-01-29T22:22:00.000-05:00

Well, I do anyway. Rush recently released Time Machine, their ninth live album, and their fifth in the past decade. What makes it different? Well, not too much.

But it does feature the band performing their greatest album (arguably) Moving Pictures, start to finish. And yeah, there are plenty of live versions of "Tom Sawyer," "Red Barchetta," and "Limelight" out there (although this "Barchetta" is a bit different, they go into a surf version of main riff). But I don't think the band ever performed "The Camera Eye" on tour before, and longtime Rush fans (myself included) were excited to hear them play it.

They also played two songs from their upcoming album, "BU2B" and "Caravan." Supposedly that album is coming out this year. There's also a new Neil Peart drum piece "Moto Perpetuo" which has more of his jazz/swing influence. What else is different about the album? They add a bit of reggae (yes, really) to "Working Man." So, really, it's not a totally essential to have. But for Rush fans, well, anything new is fun to have. That's how we roll.

THE LITTLE WILLIES - "FOR THE GOOD TIMES"

2012-01-24T23:29:00.002-05:00

I am a big fan of The Little Willies, the group featuring
Norah Jones and some of the musicians who backed her on her debut album, 2002's Come Away With Me. My understanding of how the band got together is that, after all the hype from the first album got too crazy, Norah just wanted to go out and play Willie Nelson covers, and just be a band member, not necessarily the frontwoman. I think it developed a bit from there, to the point that they played other people's songs, and even wrote a few new ones.

I'd heard rumors about Norah and The Little Willies. When I interviewed her for VH1 on the day that her second album, 2004's Feels Like Home came out, she told me after the interview that she was doing a gig that night with The Little Willies, and that it was like $5 cover or something. I was amazed. On the day she releases the followup to one of the most successful debut albums in history, she's playing a bar with her undercover covers band. The following year, The Little Willies released their self-titled debut album, and I think they toured a bit too.

Last year, they announced their second album, For The Good Times. I was kind of surprised: Norah and bassist Lee Alexander were a couple and split up a few years ago. So I didn't think that they'd get the band back together. But it makes sense that the album was named after the classic Kris Kristofferson track: it's about looking back at the good times of a now-defunct relationship. And anyway, it sounds like they had a blast making this record. Songs like "If You've Got The Money, I've Got The Time" and "Foul Owl On The Prowl" show Norah letting her hair down a bit, as it were. She doesn't always sing lead: "Diesel Smoke, Dangerous Curves," (featuring her on supporting vocals) is definitely one of the highlights. So is the cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene." They also do Loretta Lynn's "Fist City," but it's hard to imagine her holding someone by the hair of their head and lifting them off of the ground.

It's interesting that I'm writing this the day that Norah's record label have announced that her next album, coming out later this year, will be produced by Danger Mouse, with whom Norah collaborated on the Rome album. I've got to think that that will be a lot different from The Little Willies, it's certainly not going to be straight up roots music. But I'm definitely looking forward to it.

BACK IN THE DAY: THE BEASTIE BOYS "PAUL'S BOUTIQUE"

2012-01-22T12:30:00.000-05:00

Well, there's nothing like it. The Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique didn't sound like any record that came before it, or anything since.

I remember buying it when it first came out, but I don't remember why I bought it. I liked a bunch of songs on their debut album, Licensed To Ill. But it seemed like a novelty album, and it's appeal was... I'd describe it as douche-y. Also their style was very derivative of Run-D.M.C.'s (understandable as they were a big influence and both groups were produced by Rick Rubin).

I think I may have heard "Hey Ladies" and thought that they didn't sound like they'd progressed too much. But the music was so much... thicker. I was intrigued. So I picked it up. When I first listened to the record, I was puzzled. What the hell? I know a lot of other people had the same experience.

But every time I came back to the album, I liked it a little bit more. I was always catching new references in the lyrics and in the music. In fact, there is an entire website that explains every reference and lists every sample. And there's a great book about the album that tells you just about everything about how it was made - it's part of the excellent 33 1/3 series. You couldn't make an album like this today without a multi-million dollar sample-clearance budget and probably an army of lawyers. I mean, they sampled The Beatles! You just couldn't do that today, but back then, there were no rules about it. It was a cool era: other hip-hop LPs like Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back and de la soul's 3 Feet High and Rising were similarly dense with samples, but no one can (legally) release albums like those today. It's interesting to note, though, that this album was about the time where hip-hop's mainstream started losing interest in the Beasties. On Licensed, they were signed to Def Jam and were managed by RUSH (both owned by Russell Simmons). On this album, they left New York for L.A., ditched Def Jam and signed to Capitol (who didn't really have a hip-hop team in place), left RUSH management, and moved on from producer Rubin to The Dust Brothers.

Today, it's one of my favorite albums, and unlike Licensed To Ill, it's aged really well, and still sounds ahead of its time.

CHRIS CORNELL'S "SONGBOOK" AND "THE KEEPER"

2012-01-22T06:45:00.000-05:00

I saw Chris Cornell on his solo tour last year, and was blown away, so I was glad when I heard he was putting out a live Songbook album. Like Eddie Vedder, Chris Cornell is making a good case for having parallel careers with a band, and as a solo acoustic troubadour.

The album starts and ends with brand new songs that he hadn't released before this. The first two tracks "As Hope And Promise Fade" and "Scar On The Sky" show that he still has lots of great songs in him. It's hard to imagine Soundgarden (or even Audioslave) doing "As Hope And Promise Fade." I would imagine this is the direction his solo career will go in. He sings really honestly about some of his issues. The line "You're never more than two drinks away from crying" kills me. "Scar On The Sky" sounds like it could be a classic Soundgarden slow tune. I just wonder: can he still write rockers?

The LP ends with "The Keeper," a studio track (not from the live performances) that he recorded for the film Machine Gun Preacher. It's an amazing song (I haven't seen the film) that somehow lost to Madonna's "Masterpiece" (cough) from a film she directed W.E. I like Madonna, but Chris's song is way better (and so is Mary J. Blige's "The Living Proof" from The Help).

Back to Songbook: most of the album is solo versions of Chris' songs from Soundgarden, Audioslave, Temple Of The Dog and his solo records. He does great versions of these classics. Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" and "Fell On Black Days" sound even more black, and the Audioslave tunes are just as soulful, stripped of their (amazing, face-melting) arrangements. I love "Doesn't Remind Me" and "Like A Stone." Of course, the Temple songs are incredible. And the album points out that Chris has had some great solo songs - and (sorry) that maybe his much-mocked Scream album would have been better with a producer other than Timbaland. I love lots of records that Timba has worked on, but I just don't think that that combo worked. Maybe someone like Flood or Danger Mouse could do a great, modern-sounding Chris solo record.

My only "complaint?" Well, I would have loved to hear the Bruce Springsteen covers that Chris performed when I saw him: "Atlantic City" and "State Trooper." And the "bonus tracks" on the album are "different" versions of "As Hope And Promise Fade" and "Call Me A Dog," that aren't much different from the non-bonus track versions of those same songs, on this same album. But I'm not a negative guy, so I'll just hope for a Songbook Vol. 2. But let's get that new Soundgarden record first!

WILLIE NELSON - "REMEMBER ME VOL. 1"

2012-01-21T22:55:00.001-05:00

Late last year, without much hype, Willie Nelson released another album, Remember Me Vol. 1. The LP sees Willie covering some of the biggest classic country hits of all time.

Which is sort of similar to what he did on his last album, Country Music, which was one of my favorite albums of 2010. That album was produced by T-Bone Burnett, and featured lots of timeless songs. This one was produced by James Stroud, It doesn't have the sense of occasion that a T-Bone production, but I think it's a cool album. You really can't go wrong with Willie singing songs like "Remember Me," "Why Baby Why," "I'm Movin' On," "Sunday Morning Comin' Down," "Satisfied Mind" and even "Roly Poly." The album won't change the world or expose Willie to any new fans, but I like it.

I know that there's a Volume 2 coming out later this year, and I've also heard that he's writing new songs for a new album (his last few albums haven't featured his own compositions). That's what I'm looking forward to: new songs by Willie Nelson. For now, I'm enjoying this one, if not as much as some of his other great albums like Country Music and Willie & The Wheel.

BACK IN THE DAY: GUNS N ROSES "APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION"

2012-01-21T12:46:00.000-05:00

I've heard a lot of people arguing that Guns N Roses is getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame based on one LP, 1987's Appetite For Destruction. Normally I'd agree, that no band should get in based on one LP. I'm cool with it. I don't really have a problem with The Sex Pistols as Hall of Famers (even if they do), and they only had one album. (But as Larry Flick rightfully points out, Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols kicked off a movement in a way that Appetite didn't).

That said, I think AC/DC could have been inducted just for Back In Black*, and the only other hard rock album with the impact of that classic is Appetite For Destruction**.

I remember the first song I heard by Guns was "Welcome To The Jungle," and I'm pretty sure I first experienced it on MTV's Headbanger's Ball. At the time I was in a very "death to false metal" mode. There were the cool bands, like Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Suicidal Tendencies and Megadeth. And then there were the lame (hair) metal bands, Poison, Warrant, Motley Crue, etc***. Guns seemed to fall somewhere in between. They certainly weren't thrash. They had a lot more of a Stonesy groove than the thrash bands (or the metal legends like Maiden and Priest) that I loved. But they also seemed to have a little in common with the pop metal scene. I wasn't hugely into punk rock at the time, but I knew they had a punk influence going on. They didn't sound totally original per se, but they definitely sounded different. I got Appetite right after that Headbanger's Ball episode.

I was BLOWN AWAY. I could not believe how badass this album was. The guitars were amazing, but never annoying like the shredders who were all the rage at the time. The bass was funky and cool. The drums swung (even though the drummer looked like he could fit into Ratt). And the singer: I'd never heard anything like this guy.

Most of the songs were like a fist to the face. But then there was "Sweet Child O' Mine." It was tender, but not wimpy, and had one of the coolest riffs I'd ever heard. The only song I didn't like was "Paradise City," with it's synthesizers and chorus that kind of sounded like something Bon Jovi would do. To this day, I don't really dig that one, but I can tolerate it, and it doesn't ruin the album.

I don't listen to Guns as much these days, I don't know why. I think Axl has lowered their status in my eyes, by turning the band into his solo project. I don't mind when Trent Reznor does that with Nine Inch Nails, because that group was always Trent's project. But I think Guns without Slash and Duff McKagan just isn't Guns. I was OK with Gilby Clarke replacing Izzy Stradlin', and totally OK with Matt Sorum replacing Steven Adler. But no Slash and no Duff? That's a dealbreaker. I wouldn't buy into Guns without Axl either, of course. I know Axl's current version of Guns is touring and playing all of the Appetite songs, but I just can't imagine it sounds nearly as good as it would the original guys.

Anyway, I'm listening to the album as I write this, and it is still incredible. Even, I must admit, "Paradise City." If you haven't heard it in a while, check it out.

* That said, I prefer Bon Scott-era AC/DC to Brian Johnson's era, but you just can't deny Back In Black.
**By the way, I'd argue that Guns did have a good handful of classics from after Appetite: certainly "Patience" from Lies, and "Dust N Bones," "Bad Obsession," "Civil War," "14 Years" and especially "You Could Be Mine" from the Use Your Illusion albums.
*** I've mellowed a bit on the hair metal thing. I don't own any of their records, but I can definitely acknowledge that most of the hair metal bands had some good songs. And, full disclosure, I wrote liner notes for some Warrant reissues, the younger me would have considered that a major "sell out."

TOMORROW NIGHT ON THE CATHOLIC CHANNEL - DAVE MATTHEWS' MUSIC

2012-01-18T22:42:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow night I'll make my first appearance of 2012 on The Busted Halo Show on SiriusXM's Catholic Channel. It's always fun to hang with Father Dave, Robyn and Brett. Now they have a new board op, a good friend of mine named Christian. I hung out with Christian at the Rock The Bells festival two summers ago, and we've worked together a number of times since.

Anyway, I'm dedicating my appearance to a friend who is no longer with us. She was a huge Dave Matthews fan, so I'm playing some Dave songs in her memory. It's all songs with The Dave Matthews Band, not from his solo stuff or his live material with Tim Reynolds.

A lot of people blow off Dave: in some ways, he combines two things that are very "uncool" in hipster circles: his roots are in the jamband scene, and he has huge appeal with soccer moms.

To me, Dave is a bit different than the rest of the jam band scene in that his lyrics are pretty important (and I don't think he gets the credit he deserves for being pretty heavy and dark). Also, he keeps the songs relatively short (at least in the studio) and tuneful... hence, he has a ton of hit singles. Hence, his appeal to soccer moms. He isn't a metal dude or a punk dude or an "alternative" dude or an indie rocker. He's a regular guy with a kind of awkward sensibility. I'm not the hugest fan: I have most of his studio albums and some live ones. I don't need to have every one. I rarely see his concerts - the long jams just aren't my thing. But I have a ton of respect for the guy, he deals with his stardom as well as probably anyone. He enjoys it, but doesn't let it dictate what he does creatively. I've had the pleasure of interviewing him, and he seems to be a great guy.

I had two songs that I definitely wanted to use - "Ants Marching" and "Everyday." "Ants Marching" was the first song I ever heard by Dave. I was at the H.O.R.D.E. tour and I heard this weird riff coming from the small stage. I went to check it out. This band featured black and white guys, guitar, violin and sax. I thought, "man, this is great, but they'll never get big, they're too different." Oops! I think of that every time I heard the riff. "Everyday" is a rare instance of a video really enhancing the song. If you've never seen it, check it out. I "crowdsourced" the third song on my personal Facebook page, and if you want to hear what song it is, well, you gotta tune in. If you have a subscription, great! I'm on The Catholic Channel at 7:20 pm-ish. If not, go here to get a free online trial subscription.

TRENT REZNOR'S "GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO" SCORE

2012-01-17T18:36:00.000-05:00

Trent Reznor has always been great at combining music with visuals, from his disturbing Nine Inch Nails videos, to the soundtracks of Natural Born Killers and Lost Highway (he produced both), to last year's Oscar/Golden Globe winning score to The Social Network to this year's score to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

I know that Dragon was nominated for a Golden Globe the other night and lost to The Artist (a movie I want to see, although there is some controversy about that film's score), and I'm sure it will be nominated for an Oscar.

I loved Trent's score for The Social Network last year (by the way, I should mention that he works on his scores with Atticus Ross, they are also bandmates in How To Destroy Angels). But Dragon is on a whole other level. I haven't read the book, but when I do, I will be playing the score -- it really adds to the film, and is almost its own character.

I also loved that Trent had Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's cover Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" for the opening sequence of the film. I thought that Trent didn't even like Zeppelin, but I'm glad he choose that song, it really works well. I wonder if Trent (and Dragon/Social Network director David Finch) will work together on the sequel, The Girl Who Played With Fire. The film worked on every level: the music, the cinematography, the acting and of course the great Steig Larsson story. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

And I'm also looking forward to the new How To Destroy Angels album, supposedly due out this year. Trent has even said that he's considering doing more Nine Inch Nails music as well.

METALLICA "BEYOND MAGNETIC"

2012-01-16T21:57:00.000-05:00

With very little hype, Metallica released the Beyond Magnetic EP at the end of last year. Made up of four songs that didn't make the Death Magnetic LP (produced by Rick Rubin), they played all four of these songs during their four night, 30th anniversary celebration at the Fillmore in San Francisco. (I'll be writing a separate post about that: all four shows are available at Metallica's website as paid downloads, and so far, they are worth the money).

This EP is like Reload to Death Magnetic's Load. From the same sessions, but a bit more expansive, more jams. I like the songs, especially the last one "Rebel Of Babylon." Like Death Magnetic, it recalls Master Of Puppets, but (sadly) without any songs that are quite that classic.

Still, it is well timed, coming shortly after the release of their double album with Lou Reed, Lulu. After that rather avant-garde project, it's good to remind everyone that Metallica is a metal band. (That said, I think Metallica made a great backing band for Lou on his Velvet Underground classics "Sweet Jane" and "White Light/White Heat.")

"(AHK-TOONG BAY-BI) COVERED" REVIEWED

2012-01-16T19:58:00.001-05:00

There were so many great releases towards the end of 2011, so if you have missed this gem I'll give you a pass. But it's time to catch up! (Ahk-toong Bay-bi) Covered is a tribute to U2's classic Achtung Baby LP from 1991. The original is one of my favorite albums ever, so I was a bit worried about this... but the talent lineup on it is incredible.

By the way, this was originally available only in the UK, it came with an issue of Q magazine. In the US, you can download it at iTunes, with proceeds going towards Concern, an organization dedicated to working with the world's poorest people to improve their lives.

The album starts out with Nine Inch Nails covering "Zoo Station," which is surprising on several levels. One, I thought Trent Reznor was done with NIN. I guess not? Second, I thought he didn't like U2, although I guess if he liked any of their albums, it would be this one (when it came out, I thought it sounded like U2 were influenced by NIN's debut, 1989's Pretty Hate Machine). Third, NIN's versions is so different. It's much more subtle, and a bit creepier than U2's.

Patti Smith, one of U2's biggest influences, honors them with her piano based cover of "Until The End Of The World." Accompanied by her sons on piano and guitar, and a bass player, it's much different and more sober, and maybe more sad, than the original.

Garbage, who opened for U2, makes their return to active duty with "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?" Like U2 during this era, Garbage wrestle with getting soul into the intersection of humans playing instruments and programmed computer music. Few do it well, but U2 and Garbage both did. I look forward to hearing Garbage's comeback album.

Depeche Mode, a peer of U2's, picked the perfect song for themselves with "So Cruel." It's interesting to hear them cover something from this era, since Achtung Baby (and Zooropa and Pop) are the closest U2 came to Depeche Mode's electronic sound. I've always thought that this is one of U2's most underrated songs (if I remember correctly, it's the only song from the album they didn't play on the tour). Depeche Mode really put their own spin on it.

Friend of U2 Gavin Friday takes one of my favorites, "The Fly," and makes it sound a bit sneakier. It's a bit more electronic, and like NIN's "Zoo Station," mostly strips The Edge's badass riff from the song. It almost sounds like he's covering a remix. It's very cool though.

One of my favorite artists, Jack White closes the album with a very emotional "Love Is Blindness," the closest thing to a blues song U2 has ever done. The Edge wrote that one when he was going through a divorce, and sadly, Jack just went through one. He brings a lot of sorrow to the song, it's the highlight of the album for me, and one of the best songs of 2011.

I don't love every song on the album, and of course you can just buy the songs you like, but because the money goes to a worthy cause, I downloaded the whole thing.

TOMORROW ON THE MORNING JOLT: NEW YEAR, NEW MUSIC

2012-01-10T22:30:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow morning on SiriusXM OutQ's Morning Jolt with Larry Flick, I'm going to be talking about some music that you may not have heard yet. Of course, most of it sounds like it's old, even though it's new. Larry is on the air weekdays from 7 am - 11 am ET, and he hosts a music show Feel The Spin Sundays at 2 pm. If you don't have a SiriusXM subscription (yet), go here and get a free online trial .

First off, Vintage Trouble. Even though they are from L.A.'s famed Laurel Canyon, their music isn't available here in the U.S. (although it is available in the U.K.). I don't know why. They are a classic soul band. I read about them in Mojo magazine, which is where I discover most of my music. These guys have an amazing video for "Nancy Lee" (shot on iPhones and featuring one of the Pussycat Dolls). I really think that this band will make a lot of noise in 2012, but I don't care if they do or not: I'm buying their album and telling people about it. The singer, Ty Taylor, has a great voice (apparently, he was a contestant on the show Rock Star, which attempted to find a new lead singer for INXS).

Jonathan Wilson is also from Laurel Canyon, and seems to be the center of the new scene there. Apparently he has built guitars for the likes of Jackson Browne, and has worked as a studio musician for Elvis Costello, Jenny Lewis and Jonathan Rice. He's also produced records for Dawes. It's not just that the guy is from Laurel Canyon, he sounds like he's from the Laurel Canyon of the late '60s and early '70s: like he could have been jamming with Jackson Brown and Crosby Stills & Nash back in the day. I "discovered" him in either Mojo or Uncut.

Michael Kiwanuka is a British singer (but he's from Uganda). As much as the two artists above don't sound like they're from this era, MK really doesn't sound like he's from the 2010's. He sounds like the '60s or '70s. I don't know how to describe him. He sounds like Bill Withers but also like Otis Redding, if they were making an album like Van Morrison's Moondance. Another Mojo discovery. I think he's great, but I don't know if he'll catch on here. But Adele loves him: he opened for her in the U.K.

Gary Clark Jr. Well, if you've been following me, you know of him. I talked about him last week on Larry's show, his Bright Lights EP was my 5th favorite release of 2011. I am really looking forward to his full length album that comes out this year.

We may also get to some other new(ish) names tomorrow, if we do, I'll write about them at a later time.

TIE FOR #11: MIRANDA LAMBERT "FOUR THE RECORD"

2012-01-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

I like a lot of contemporary country singers, but Miranda Lambert is one who I am an actual fan of. This chick is a badass. The cover of the album kind of says it all. Cute girl walking (not running) away from a car on fire as the sun is rising (or setting). Her latest solo album, Four The Record, nearly made my Top 10 of 2011.

"Fastest Girl In Town," co-written by Miranda and Angaleena Presley (from Miranda's group The Pistol Annies), is my favorite from the album. It is a rockin' track that I could hear a metal gal, or a female R&B singer, pulling off. It's not about the genre, it's about the attitude. Another song that she didn't write, but seems perfect for her, is "Mama's Broken Heart," where she explains that when her heart gets broken, she doesn't fix her makeup like her mom would have done. Nah, she cuts her bangs with a rusty scissor, numbs the pain "at the expense of my liver" and is "holding the matches when the firetrucks show up." On the other hand, she writes and sings "Safe," a lovely ode to a guy (likely her husband, country singer Blake Shelton).

One of the things I like about Miranda is that she can totally rock out (as on "Fastest Girl"), she can do traditional country ("Dear Diamond," "Same Old You") and then go into left field (playing with autotune on "Fine Tune").

As I mentioned, Miranda also has a new group, Pistol Annies, with Angaleena Presley and Ashley Monroe (who has collaborated with The Raconteurs and also worked with Jack White on Wanda Jackson's album). I like them also, and I hope it's a long term thing, not just a one-off. I just liked Miranda's solo album better, but both records are definitely worth hearing.

"THE YARDBIRDS ULTIMATE!" - YOU NEED TO HAVE IT

2012-01-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

It's crazy to think that Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page were all once members of the same band, The Yardbirds. Not at the same time, of course!

Clapton actually replaced original lead guitarist Anthony "Top" Topham early on in the band's career. The material they did with Clapton is among the best rock/blues/R&B you'll hear ever, their covers are up there with what the Stones were doing at the time. For my money, it's some of the best stuff Clapton has ever done. Clapton split after the band's big hit "For Your Love" (which he claims not to have played on) because it was too commercial (ironic, when you consider some of the things he's done in his solo career!).

He was replaced by Jeff Beck, ushering in a much more creative era for the band. This is when the band began moving in more jazzy and psychedelic directions. It's my favorite era of the band. Soon, Jimmy Page joined - as the bass player - but soon moved to guitar. And then, Jeff was canned. Page's version of the band was pretty cool, but pretty much overshadowed by what he turned the band into - The New Yardbirds, later known as Led Zeppelin.

For years, The Yardbirds' legacy wasn't well tended, it was hard to figure out what albums to get, and even which guitarists were on which album. But in 2001, Rhino combined all the eras of the band's career into one very well annotated collection, The Yardbirds Ultimate! I recommend this so highly. I just listened to the whole thing, and was amazed, once again, by how great this band was. What a tragedy that frontman Keith Relf is no longer with us - a Yardbirds reunion with Beck and Page, with Relf singing, that would have been amazing.

BACK IN THE DAY: ANTHRAX "AMONG THE LIVING"

2012-01-08T13:44:00.000-05:00

I've been listening to Anthrax' Worship Music lately, their reunion with singer Joey Belladonna. To me, it was the best metal album of 2011, and I know a lot of other people feel the same way.

It got me listening to what is probably the band's best album, Among The Living, which was released in 1987, the year I graduated from high school, a time when I was really into thrash metal. This album blew my mind. As everyone knows, they were part of the "Big 4" of thrash metal, along with Metallica (the album was actually dedicated to the then-recently departed Cliff Burton), Slayer and Megadeth. But those other bands were from the west coast, Anthrax definitely brought a lot of east coast flavor and culture. I wasn't familiar with hardcore punk at the time, but the New York's hardcore scene was definitely an influence on the group, as was hip-hop music, which was exploding in New York at the time, and in my opinion (I know, I'm old) was much cooler back then.

They seemed really different from other metal bands: they kind of had more of a sense of humor (as seen in their "NOT" mascot), they dressed differently (Run-DMC style training jackets, boarder shorts) and had really cool lyrical influences that I definitely related to: comic books (I knew that Scott Ian was a bit fan of Frank Miller's Batman Returns) and Stephen King. There were also songs with some kind of consciousness to them: "Indians," like Iron Maiden's "Run To The Hills" was about how Native Americans got screwed over. As I mentioned, I didn't know much about punk rock at that time, so the idea of having a social consciousness in heavy music was a new concept to me. Also, "N.F.L." about the stupidity of John Belushi's death: not many metal bands sang about the real pitfalls of drug abuse like that. In "One World," they sang about "Russians - they're only people like us!" and "Americans: stop singing 'Hail To The Chief!'" A lot of the metal audience is more politically conservative today, I wonder how it would go over. But man, what a ballsy move. Even "Imitation of Life" really resonated with me. It was about phony people, and it also ripped on hair metal bands (even though years later, Anthrax would agree to open some shows for motley crue).

The above is all well and good, but when I listened to the album, it still sounded so great, so powerful, and that's what matters. I'm not always the biggest fan of Joey Belladonna's voice (I prefer John Bush, who replaced him), but I had to admit, he sounded great on last year's Worship Music, and he's perfect on Among The Living. The other thing that separated Anthrax from the other Big 4 bands was that their singers didn't sing, they were shouters. Which is fine. But Belladonna gave Anthrax a connection to other metal legends with great singers, like Maiden and Judas Priest.

I always felt that Anthrax didn't ever really get their due, but they have achieved a kind of legendary status. This album explains why. By the way, I was listening to the 2009 expanded reissue, not a bad package. The liner notes by metal fan/comedian Brian Posehn make it worth the price of admission. The bonus tracks really don't. But the bonus disc is the "home video" (as they called it back then) Oidivnikufesin (N.F.V.) on DVD, which is cool.

TIE FOR #11 - THE BEASTIE BOYS "HOT SAUCE COMMITTEE PART TWO"

2012-01-01T23:33:00.001-05:00

I was so happy to hear that The Beastie Boys will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. What makes that more amazing is the fact that they are still putting out great records, as evidenced by Hot Sauce Committee Part Two. Unfortunately, the album didn't get much attention. A lot of that is because they couldn't do too much promotion, since Adam Yauch is still battling cancer. But you really wouldn't have guessed that by listening to the album.

It's a straight up hip-hop record. There's no instrumental funk jams (which they probably got out of their system last time, on the instrumental album The Mix-Up). There's no hardcore punk, or hard rock jams.

That's a risky move for a bunch of guys in their mid to late 40s. The current commercial hip-hop community probably aren't paying attention to them (although they get respect from the people who have a sense of history... and the fact that Nas guests on "Too Many Rappers" doesn't hurt either). The production doesn't sound like it has an ear to 2011, or even 2001. It's kind of timeless: on one hand, it sounds like old-school electro hip-hop. On the other hand, it's very futuristic, but not in the Black Eyed Peas Euro-rave-Blade Runner way. They don't work with outside producers - they produce the tracks themselves. Not many other hip-hop acts produce their own albums.

One thing that hasn't changed is that they still make great videos. There's a half hour video "Fight For Your Right Revisited" (which is based on the banger "Make Some Noise") and also a Spike Jonze directed clip starring action figures for "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win." You can catch them here. But as for the album itself, it's a great one. I'm sure some people will say that they aren't "relevant to the hip-hop community" anymore. But shit, I'm 40+, I don't care about "relevant" I care about "great," and this is a great album.

TIE FOR #11 - CHARLES BRADLEY "NO TIME FOR DREAMING"

2012-01-01T22:59:00.001-05:00

Charles Bradley's debut album No Time For Dreaming has a great story behind it. First of all, he's over 60 years old... probably one of the oldest people to release a debut. He spent much of his childhood in the streets, his life was changed when he saw James Brown in concert in 1962. He started singing after that, but didn't get his big break until recently, courtesy of Daptone Records (home of Ms. Sharon Jones). You can read his whole bio at his website.

As I often say, context is great, but how's the music? Well, on No Time For Dreaming, the music is great. Daptone Records kind of fetishize the soul music of the '60s, but can you blame them? It was a great era. Mr. Bradley is perfect for the label: he isn't just a James Brown disciple, he also has a lot of Otis Redding in his voice as well.

The album's main single, "The World Is Going Up In Flames," is a song for 2011 (or 2012), and it would have worked equally as well in 1962. But there's lots of other great songs on the album.

The backing band on the album is phenomenal, and I have to give a lot of credit to the label for signing Mr. Bradley, and really getting behind him. This is a soul album. It's not R&B, and it doesn't make any references to hip-hop. Which makes it a tough sell in 2011 and 2012. If you put some of these songs on a playlist of Stax songs from the '60s, they would fit in. It's not just the sound, it's the songs. If you love soul music, check this album out.

TIE FOR #11 - "THE LOST NOTEBOOKS OF HANK WILLIAMS"

2011-12-31T20:40:00.000-05:00

I usually don't include compilation albums on my year-end best-ofs, but I'll make an exception for The Lost Notebooks Of Hank Williams. The album started out as a Bob Dylan project: he was given some "lost" notebooks with lyrics that Hank Williams never put to music. Bob ended up doing one song, "The Love That Faded," which is excellent.

So, it went from being a Bob album to a tribute of sorts... with a number of big name artists creating new songs out of Williams lyrics. The lineup features Alan Jackson, Norah Jones, Jack White, Lucinda Williams, Vince Gill with Rodney Crowell, Patty Loveless, Levon Helm, Holly Williams (with her father, Hank Williams Jr. on backing vocals), Jakob Dylan, Sheryl Crow and Merle Haggard.

I imagine that these days, people are more likely to download individual tracks rather than buy compilations. In this case, it's worth it to pick up the whole thing. First of all, the entire album is great. Rock fans may not be hip to, say, Alan Jackson, but his song "You've Been Lonesome Too" is excellent. On the flipside, mainstream country fans may not be too interested in (Nashville resident) Jack White. But his song "You Know That I Know" is also amazing. Hank's granddaughter Holly has a great voice... and hearing Hank Jr.'s backing vocals almost made me forget about his insane comments on Fox News about The President.

Besides all of that, the CD includes extensive liner notes about Hank, and gives the history of the notebooks that provided the source material for the record.

Hank Williams is surely one of the greatest songwriters of all time, in any genre. This album gives us some of his lost lyrics, which is a gift. And if the inclusion of any of these artists turns their fanbases on to Hank's music, that's an even greater one. So big props to producer Mary Martin: I'm sure this was a really long project, but I'm glad it's out.

TIE FOR #11 - COMMON "THE DREAMER/THE BELIEVER"

2011-12-31T18:58:00.000-05:00

Common released his latest LP, The Dreamer/The Believer in the last days of 2011, making it difficult to evaluate against other albums that I've been listening to for weeks or months. But there were at least two songs that I've been listening to for a while: "Blue Sky" and "Ghetto Dreams," the latter featuring Nas. They are both great songs, especially "Ghetto Dreams": hearing two of the greatest MCs of our era on one song is definitely a treat.

The entire LP is produced by No ID. And other than Nas, there are only two guest appearances: John Legend and Maya Angelou. No ID worked with Common on his early recordings; he's also the guy who introduced Kanye West to production. Common and No ID work together really well, and it was a great idea to have him do the entire album. These days, most hip-hop albums are more like compilations with different producers, different guest stars. The artist whose name is on the LP cover is a common thread throughout the songs. The Dreamer/The Believer feels like an album.

One song that's getting a lot of attention is "Sweet," a song which he has said is about younger hip-hop artists, including Drake. I'm not part of the hip-hop community, but when I saw Drake's Sprite commercial, where he raps "Last name 'ever,' first name 'greatest,'" I had to laugh and wonder if the guy had every single Eric B & Rakim LP. Or any Eric B & Rakim LP. Does he know who Rakim is? Or KRS-One, Guru, Black Thought, Nas... or Common? I realize that Common risks looking "old" or out of touch by doing a record like "Sweet," but he's a man, and it needed to be said.

Anyway, back to music. I hope Common and No ID do the next album together. I think The Dreamer/The Believer is a great album, but his greatest is yet to come.

TIE FOR #11 - JIMMY CLIFF "SACRED FIRE EP"

2011-12-31T17:45:00.000-05:00

Having Tim Armstrong of Rancid produce Jimmy Cliff was a stroke of genius. Mr. Cliff's full length LP comes out next year, but the Sacred Fire EP is a preview of what it will be like (except that most of the album will be new songs, and there are three covers on this EP).

Tim is a huge fan of The Clash (and signed Joe Strummer to his Hellcat Records label in the '90s) so it's no surprise that the EP includes a cover of "Guns of Brixton," originally sung by The Clash's bassist/reggae fanatic Paul Simonon (the song also references The Harder They Come, the classic film that Cliff starred in). It's a perfect song for Jimmy to cover.

Another cover is Rancid's "Ruby Soho," one of the band's ska-influenced tunes. It's a song about being on the road, so it's something that the 70-something legend can relate to. Also covered: Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," which I bet Dylan has heard and probably loves.

There's one original, "Ship Is Sailing," and that's the one that makes me most optimistic about the LP coming out next year.

I can tell you from first hand experience that Jimmy is still vital and passionate. I filmed this performance that he did at the SiriusXM Studios a few weeks ago. I never even knew that he played guitar. He came and performed a solo acoustic set for us while being interviewed by The Joint's boss, Pat McKay. It was one of the highlights of my career and life to be in the room during this performance.

TIE FOR #11: WILLIAM ELLIOTT WHITMORE "FIELD SONGS"

2011-12-31T17:32:00.000-05:00

I first heard singer/songwriter William Elliott Whitmore a few months ago, when I saw him open for Chris Cornell. I was knocked out and wrote about him. He's put out a number of albums, and his latest one came out a few weeks after the show. Field Songs is one of the best albums of 2011, and you should check it out.

The photo on the cover was taken in 1947, and these songs could have been written back then. The whole record is just Whitmore singing and playing acoustic guitar or banjo. But it never sounds like a folk revival, it sounds like a working class guy telling the stories that he's seen with the instruments he has at hand. If I had five minutes with Bruce Springsteen, I'd ask him if he's heard this album: he should check it out, especially before doing another solo acoustic record. This is the album that I wish Devils & Dust was. I liked Devils & Dust, and I liked the songs, but I feel like he was going for something like this. I wish Bob Dylan had heard of him: he would have been perfect for The Lost Notebooks Of Hank Williams LP that came out earlier this year.

It's sparse, hard and beautiful, and certainly one of the best things I have heard this year. Big props to Anti- Records (also home to Tom Waits) for having the balls to put this out.

T-BONE BURNETT - "THE PRODUCER"

2011-12-29T20:45:00.000-05:00

Musician Joseph Henry Burnett is more well known as T-Bone Burnett, but I've been calling him "Him Again." He has produced so many of my favorite albums of recent years, including Gregg Allman's Low Country Blues, Steve Earle's I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive, Willie Nelson's Country Music, and the Robert Plant/Alison Krauss collaboration, Raising Sand, as well as the soundtracks to O Brother, Where Art Thou, The Big Lebowski and Crazy Heart.

A neat new compilation that I bought at Starbucks (but I don't believe it's exclusive to the chain) collects lots of the cool music he has produced over the years. T-Bone himself writes about all the songs, which is really cool. The collection does a good job of hitting many of his recent high points, although it omits the Willie album. Still, definitely worth getting, particularly if you don't have a lot of these records.

BEST OF 2011 - #1 - SOCIAL DISTORTION "HARD TIMES AND NURSERY RHYMES"

2011-12-27T22:43:00.000-05:00

So far, I haven't seen Social Distortion's Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes on anyone else's "best of 2011" lists, and what a shame that is. But: your loss, rock critics and bloggers!

And that's the story of Social Distortion in a nutshell. Because the thing is, even though they've never really fit into a radio format (or tried to), they were never critics' darlings, and are a bit too scary for the mainstream, they sell out all their shows. The audience really don't care what punk bands are "in," or what's the latest trend in pop culture. These people see Social D whenever they come to town and they wear their fandom on their sleeves. Many times on tattooed sleeves.

This is an incredible album. I raved about it when it first came out. Maybe a little less angry than the earlier ones (maybe). But it's filled with great punk rock anthems that a younger guy couldn't have written: they are songs written from someone with experience. He's seen it all, and still isn't interested in toning it down, or lightening up, or pandering in any other way, to appeal to anyone. And thank god for that.

Get the album. Trust me. But I'll name names: "California (Hustle and Flow)" is classic, so is "Sweet and Lowdown." But my favorite song on the album is "Far Side Of Nowhere," which sounds like Bruce Springsteen was subbing in for Michael Stipe at a R.E.M. session. I'm not sure Mike Ness would appreciate the R.E.M. comparison, but that's what it made me think of. On any planet that makes sense, this would have been the #1 hit of the summer.

Whenever I've told anyone that this would be my #1 LP of 2011, they were sort of surprised, but only because they hadn't heard the album. Which is their loss, and my ongoing mission. It should be yours too. Listen to this album. Tell people about it. When I listen to it, I feel good to be alive. I don't know many other albums that you can say that about these days.

BEST OF 2011 - #2 - FOO FIGHTERS "WASTING LIGHT"

2011-12-27T22:28:00.001-05:00

I loved Foo Fighters' Wasting Light the minute I heard it and I said so. Dave Grohl and the boys have never made a bad album, but this is certainly one of their best, if not their absolute best. Considering that the guy has nothing to prove, and has probably lived out all of his rock and roll dreams, it would almost be understandable if he just coasted. But I'm glad he hasn't done that: and as a lifelong rock fan, I think he knows that sinking feeling you get when an artist that you love lets you down. I doubt he gets too caught up in what people think of him, but I know he doesn't want to put out a lame album. The fact that this comes twenty years after Nirvana's Nevermind (and features Nirvana's Krist Novoselic on two songs, and it is produced by Nevermind's Butch Vig) just shows that Dave has been really vital for a really long time.

I do think that sometimes the Foo Fighters albums get a "pass" because people like the band so much. Which is nice. But in this case, it isn't necessary, and that's even nicer.

BEST OF 2011 - #3 - TOM WAITS "BAD AS ME"

2011-12-27T22:13:00.001-05:00

I recently wrote about Tom Waits' latest, Bad As Me. I was knocked out by the album when I first heard it, and I still feel the same way. It's unbelievable. I read one review of the album in Uncut, where the reviewer wrote that it's the first album where he kind of combines all of his personas. The guy also said it was like he recorded a greatest hits album, except that it was all new songs. I like that. If you're a long time reader of No Expiration, you know that I love the idea of artists with decades under their belts doing vital, important work. Tom Waits is the perfect example of that. But I'm not digging the album because I want to, it's because I have no choice. It really is a stellar album. I mean, I wanted to like Lour Reed and Metallica's Lulu, but there's only so much you can force yourself!

I love the more "rock" songs on the album, like "Chicago" and "Satisfied." But the ballads are just beautiful. "Last Leaf" and "New Year's Eve" could have been on his earliest albums and held up to such classics as "Ol' 55" and "Jersey Girl."

There's lots of great people on the album: Keith Richards, Flea, Les Claypool and David Hildago of Los Lobos, but they are all performing in service to the man. They all know it's an honor to be there, even Keith.

I've never seen Tom Waits perform. He's one of the only living artists who I haven't seen in concert yet (along with Los Lobos). I'd love to see him in 2012, hopefully it will happen!

BEST OF 2011 - #5 - GARY CLARK JR. "THE BRIGHT LIGHTS EP"

2011-12-27T22:00:00.001-05:00

One thing that the Grammys got wrong this year, in my mind, was their nominees for Best New Artist. No disrespect to anyone else, but for me, Gary Clark Jr. is the rookie of the year, hands down. There's only four songs on The Bright Lights EP, but to me he blows any of the other nominees out of the water.

I was in the studio when he performed at SiriusXM earlier this year. Amazing. He's a blues artist, but he transcends the genre, the way Stevie Ray Vaughan did. To me, he makes blues sound menacing, the way PJ Harvey did on her first few albums. And he makes blues sound fresh, the way The White Stripes did.

I wrote about him this summer, when the EP was just available on iTunes. You can get the CD now, and his full length is coming out next year. I can't wait to hear it. He does solo acoustic stuff, solo electric stuff, full band stuff. He doesn't just do blues, he can also sing R&B. I know that Questlove from The Roots is a big fan, hopefully that will get him some exposure, because he's an artist that people need to hear.

BEST OF 2011 - #4 - THE BLACK KEYS "EL CAMINO"

2011-12-27T21:29:00.001-05:00

The Black Keys are becoming one of my favorite bands. Last year their amazing album Brothers was my #7 album of the year, and this year El Camino does a bit better: it's #5 on my list.

The Black Keys, famously, are a guitar/singer + drummer duo from the midwest. So it was never any surprise that they were compared to that other band fitting that description. The bands are as different as, um, black and white (ha ha). Both groups may have a fair obsession with vintage songs, sounds, equipment, etc. but the Black Keys aren't as strict with their limitations. Working with Danger Mouse, who produced 2008's Attack and Release and the song "Tighten Up" from Brothers, gives them a bit more of a modern sheen. On this album, he seems a bit more of a band member (in fact, he received co-writing credits), making the Keys a temporary trio.

I’ve read that The Black Keys were inspired by The Clash on their new album, El Camino. I get it: like The Clash, they take lots of American music forms and deliver them in short, smart powerful punches with no fat on them. But there’s a lot of other influences going on here: definitely Led Zeppelin, and I’d even add ZZ Top for their crunchy, bluesy, boogie swagger. I don't have all of their albums, but I would say that this album is a bit less blues and a bit more '70s rock and funk.

I have been listening to the album a lot lately, and at one point I tweeted, “I love how @theblackkeys somehow tricked indie kids into listening to cool music.” As I mentioned when I wrote about them last year, they don't relate to most of today's indie rock any more than I do. I know that they are now popular enough to play arenas, and I hope to catch them in 2012.

BEST OF 2011 - #9 - PJ HARVEY "LET ENGLAND SHAKE"

2011-12-27T21:13:00.000-05:00

Most of the albums that I've been writing about as my favorite 10 albums of 2011 are pretty enjoyable. That's not really the case with PJ Harvey's Let England Shake. It's an album haunted by the ghosts of war, specifically those from England from World War I.

And yet somehow it seems very much of it's time, 2011. I'm not British, but it seems to capture the uneasiness of our time, the angst people are feeling.

When I first heard the album, I wrote that I don't always like Ms. Harvey's albums. But it's always interesting to see what she'll do next. She never lets herself be a prisoner of her past, and she always challenges herself. I think that's one of the reasons why she gets so much respect: Let England Shake won Britain's prestigious Mercury Music Prize (she's the first artist to win it twice, the first time being for Stories From City, Stories From The Sea). It was also named album of the year in UK magazines Mojo and Uncut (it came in towards the bottom of Rolling Stone's top 50).

When PJ Harvey first hit the scene with Dry in 1992, she reminded me a bit of Kurt Cobain. To think that she has evolved so much since then is stunning, and I can't wait to hear what she'll do next.

BEST OF 2011 - #6 - GREGG ALLMAN "LOW COUNTRY BLUES"

2011-12-26T20:15:00.000-05:00

Gregg Allman is one of the great blues singers still walking the earth. He just needs to have good material. Happily, he decided to work with T-Bone Burnett for his new solo album, Low Country Blues.

People who aren't familiar with the guy may wonder why he even needs to make a solo album, since he is the leader of The Allman Brothers Band. The difference is that the Allmans are a jazz-influenced blues band, and are the gold standard in improvisational rock music (what is now known as "jam band" music). But Gregg is mainly interested in singing blues and soul, and seems happy to keep the length of his songs under five minutes. While I love the Allmans, and they've undeniably had a huge influence on rock music, I also love to hear Gregg belting out blues tunes without all the jamming that is sometimes part of the Allmans music.

It's not the most innovative record of the year, and I don't care. And I don't see it on many (or any) "Best of 2011" type lists... again, I don't care. It seems that the main "heritage" artists being celebrated this year are Paul Simon for his excellent So Beautiful Or So What, and Robbie Robertson for his great How To Become Clairvoyant. But this album needs to be recognized. Gregg's last solo album, released in 1997, was called Searching For Simplicity. But this one could just as easily have gotten that title. And sometimes what I want to hear is simplicity. Especially when it sounds as soulful as this.

BEST OF 2011 - #7 - ADELE "21"

2011-12-26T18:56:00.000-05:00

Even if I had spent 2011 in a coma and didn't have any context about the effect that Adele's 21 had, I'd still dig the album. But the fact that it got people excited about actually buying music again (she sold over 13 million copies worldwide), the fact that the first single "Rolling In The Deep" just seemed to dominate the airwaves and yet never got old, and yes, the fact that she seems to be such an unlikely star... all of that makes me enjoy it even more. And lots of other people enjoy it also: Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly named it their album of the year, VH1 named "Rolling In The Deep" the best song on their Top 40 Videos of 2011 (I was a "pundit" on the show, and was happy to comment on that song). And of course, Adele has a bunch of Grammy(R) nominations, and as a voter, I know I'll be voting for her a couple of times this year.

But like I said, the album holds up without any of that knowledge. Rick Rubin exec-produced the record and did a great job doing what he does: making sure the material is good enough, getting a sound that isn't too fancy and adorned, and then he gets out of the way. Adele is a great singer, she's very soulful (although some contrarians try to come up with ways to deny that simple fact). "Rolling In The Deep" and "Someone Like You" have already reached iconic status (Saturday Night Live based a skit around "Someone Like You") but I actually think "Rumor Has It" is her greatest moment. Of course, she's only 21 as the album's title says, and I'm sure she has many more great moments. For now, I hope her voice recovers in time for her to perform at the Grammys, which will surely be a great night for this very talented young lady.

BEST OF 2011 - #8 - STEVE EARLE "I'LL NEVER GET OUT OF THIS WORLD ALIVE"

2011-12-26T18:20:00.002-05:00

Steve Earle's I'll Never Get Out Of The World Alive is a great album that I felt didn't get enough attention in 2011. I'm a huge fan of Steve's but I didn't really enjoy his last album, 2009's Townes. This LP was produced by T-Bone Burnett, who is currently on an incredible streak of working with great artists (including the Elton John/Leon Russell, Robert Plant/Allison Krauss collabs, and albums by Jakob Dylan, John Mellencamp and B.B. King).

I feel like Steve always has relevant things to say, and one of my favorite songs on this album is "Little Emperor," about our last President. In this era of Obama bashing, it's worth mentioning that, for all of his failings, he's way better than what we had for eight years before he took office.

This album saw Steve return to the rock band format after doing two solo albums. And the tour also saw him using a band for the first time in years. I was fortunate enough to catch the show at Tarrytown Music Hall, and it was incredible. See a bunch of amazing photos from the show, shot by my lovely wife, here. And while I'm writing about Steve, I should mention his weekly SiriusXM show on Outlaw Country, read more about it here.

BEST OF 2011 - #10 - THE ROOTS "undun"

2011-12-26T17:06:00.000-05:00

I've heard people describe The Roots' undun as kind of being their Kid A or Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I don't quite agree with that: it's not as difficult to get into as Kid A, and it doesn't mark a radically new direction like YHF. Although it does have it's very different elements: the second track (the first real song on the album) "Sleep," sounds unlike what The Roots have done before. And the LP ends with a suite of very interesting songs, starting with Sufjan Stevens' "Redford." It's not The Roots covering the song, it's actually a recording by Mr. Stevens. Odd choice. It then goes into "Possibility (2nd Movement)," "Will To Power (3rd Movement)" and "Finality (4th Movement)." The last three parts are instrumental and veer from classical to jazz. You would have no idea that they were from a Roots album if someone played them for you cold.

According to the band, undun is "an existential re-telling of the short life of one Redford Stephens (1974-1999). Through the use of emotives and Redford’s internal dialogues the album seeks to illustrate the intersection of free will and prescribed destiny as it plays out ‘on the corner’. Utilizing a reverse narrative arc, the album begins as the listener finds Redford disoriented–postmortem–and attempting to make sense of his former life. As he moves through its pivotal moments he begins to deconstruct all that has led to his (and our own) coming undun." As a middle class white guy who grew up in, and lives in, the suburbs, I don't feel like I can address the subject matter (and the last thing I'd want to do is be a clueless white guy trying to address how things play out "on the corner").

What I do know is that there are great songs on the album: I especially dig "Kool On" (featuring Greg Porn and Truck North), "The OtherSide" (featuring Bilal and Greg Porn) and "Stomp" (featuring, yes, Greg Porn).

I like that the band doesn't bother with big name producers or huge celeb guest MCs, there's a real consistency on the album. But I don't understand why they use other MCs (like Greg Porn, Truck North and Big K.R.I.T.) when they have the guy who is probably the best out there right now, Black Thought.

Of course, I kind of always root for The Roots: they're one of my favorite groups, and their last album How I Got Over was one of my favorite LPs of last year. (I prefer that one to undun, but I still obviously think highly of undun). And I definitely enjoyed Questlove's "snark that can no longer be tweeted about": his decision to cover Fishbone's "Lyin' Ass Bitch" when Michele Bachman was on the Jimmy Fallon show. I actually wasn't totally comfortable with the "bitch" part, I thought that Joan Jett's "Little Liar" would have been a more appropriate choice. But funny as hell and on point, nonetheless.

Anyway, this was a really ambitious album (but also is shorter than 40 minutes, making it digestible) and I think they deserve credit for doing it.

TOMORROW ON THE MORNING JOLT: REISSUES!

2011-12-20T23:26:00.000-05:00

Need any last minute gifts for the discerning rock fan in your life? Well, tune in to SiriusXM OutQ's Morning Jolt with Larry Flick tomorrow at 9 am; we'll be discussing some great reissues that have come out in the past few months that will make great gifts. (Don't have a SiriusXM subscription? Go here to learn how to try SiriusXM on a trial basis).

First off is the newly released Jimi Hendrix box set, Winterland. I wrote about this a few months ago: the box set is drawn from six concerts Jimi played at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom over three nights in October of 1968. It's certainly not where I'd recommend a new fan starts, but it is an incredible collection nonetheless. There's also a single CD version for those not looking to go the 4 CD box set route.

We're also going to talk about recently reissued Pink Floyd catalog. You can get the entire catalog as a box set for about $180, or get the albums individually. There's also expanded versions of two of their greatest albums, Dark Side Of The Moon and Wish You Were Here.

Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band recently reissued their two classic live albums, Live Bullet and Nine Tonight. I recently kind of "discovered" the greatness of Bob Seger and I wrote about it earlier tonight.

Earlier this year, I wrote about the first five Queen albums which had recently been reissued. The rest of their albums have since been reissued and I'll talk about those also.

By the way, I'll be in the studio next week as well, talking about my favorite albums of 2011. It wasn't a great year for music, but it was a good one, and I'm having a hard time narrowing it down.

MY BOB SEGER AWAKENING

2011-12-20T23:10:00.000-05:00

For some reason, I never got into Bob Seger when I was younger, I don't really know why. I didn't mind him, but I didn't really "get" him. In 2004, when I was covering the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony the year he got in, I was struck by Kid Rock's speech about him. I have always liked Kid Rock's taste in music - I generally like what he likes (although I don't dislike the same things that he does, we don't agree on Radiohead). Anyway, I picked up both of Bob's greatest hits albums and was knocked out by how many great songs that he's written.

Earlier this year, he reissued his two live albums, both classics: 1976's Live Bullet and 1981's Nine Tonight. It really pointed out just how great The Silver Bullet Band were, they were probably as tight as, say, The E Street Band or The Heartbreakers.

Full disclosure: I got these CDs from the label, but if I didn't, and someone played them for me, I'd buy them. They are great, great live rock and roll records that you really need to hear. The difference in the albums is that the band (two guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and sax) got smoothed out a bit by Nine Tonight and they added female backing singers, and by that point, they started having hits with mellower songs that kind of laid the foundation for classic rockers making "adult contemporary" music (like "Against The Wind," "You'll Accomp'ny Me"). When I was younger, these songs didn't do anything for me. Some things you just grow into, I guess.

Nine Tonight has one of my favorite songs ever, "Rock and Roll Never Forgets," which I definitely prefer to "That Old Time Rock and Roll." "Rock and Roll Never Forgets," it could almost be about me. It still rings true when I hear it, and I never get tired of it. I feel like I owe Bob something for writing it.

By the way, Bob has also just released Ultimate Hits, a 2 CD set, which is a great place to start out, but I definitely recommend the live albums.

THE PINK FLOYD REISSUES - THE FINAL WORD ON FLOYD

2011-12-20T22:44:00.001-05:00

A couple of years ago, EMI Records orchestrated what was probably the biggest reissue campaign ever: putting out the remastered Beatles catalog. This year, they're rolling out the remastered Pink Floyd catalog. They are very good at this kind of thing.

Floyd's catalog has been reissued before, but this is the first time it is being remastered (I think). If you want Pink Floyd's albums, straight up with no bonus tracks, buy the new reissues. You can actually buy the entire catalog of studio albums (but not live albums) for about $180 via the Discovery box set. (Full disclosure: I got all of the reissues from the label, but not as the box set, just as individual CDs.)

The sound is incredible and with Pink Floyd, fidelity is important. If you have these versions, you won't ever need anything else, unless you want to dive deeper with expanded editions.

So far, two of their albums have been expanded in two different forms, which is how it's done these days (see recent reissues by U2, Nirvana and The Rolling Stones). The albums that have been expanded have "Experience" (2 CD sets with a disc of extras) and "Immersion" versions (much more lavish editions).

I bought a copy of the "Experience" version of 1973's Dark Side of The Moon for $25. The second disc is a live concert recorded at The Empire Pool in Wembley in 1974, and features the band performing Dark Side from start to finish. It was cool to hear them reproduce the album in a more raw form - they had not yet become a completely slick stadium band. The "Immersion" version costs over $100 and has lots of extras that I didn't really want: DVD-audio, Blu-Ray audio, 5.1 remixes, surround sound remixes. There are some video and audio elements that I was interested in, but not enough to spend the extra $75, given how many other reissues I've gotten this season.

I also bought a copy of the "Experience" version of 1975's Wish You Were Here for $25. The second disc features a bunch of extras: a live version of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (parts 1 -6)," as well as "Raving and Drooling" and "You've Got To Be Crazy," songs which ended up morphing into tunes from their next album, Animals. But my favorite extra is an alternate version of the title track featuring jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli.

Honestly, when I first heard about this reissue campaign, I was kind of ambivalent about the prospect of a Pink Floyd reissue containing any extras. Their classic albums seem so perfect that I wouldn't change a thing. And Floyd's mystique is such that, I don't want to see anything more than what they reveal. On the other hand, the live Dark Side is pretty awesome, as are some of the Wish You Were Here extras. I know that next year, they are going to do expanded editions of The Wall, and I'm curious what the extras will be. I've heard that they may also be doing an expanded Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, and I guess if there's unreleased Syd Barrett material, it would be cool to hear it.

TOM WAITS - "BAD AS ME"

2011-12-17T09:36:00.000-05:00

Tom Waits is amazing. And so is his latest album, Bad As Me. I'm a big fan of Tom's most recent records, the ones he's done since signing to Epitaph Records' Anti- label. My favorite Waits album is 1999's Mule Variations. That's pretty much when I got into him. I was kind of prompted to check out his music because of his association with one of my favorite bands, Primus (he does guest vocals on "Tommy The Cat"). From Mule Variations, I went back and investigated his Elektra and Island years. Wow, what a body of work. He kind of gets weirder as he gets older, which is the opposite of most artists. But his songs always pack a punch.

Anyway, Bad As Me is just classic. It seems to touch on all the different phases of his career. The opening track, "Chicago," fits in with his music from the past decade or so, it sounds like it could have been on Mule Variations. "Hell Broke Luce" reminds me of his most bizarre era, the early '90s when he did Bone Machine and The Black Rider. But some of the ballads, like "New Year's Eve" has that boozy, last-call sound from his earliest records. But despite the stylistic diversity, the album still feels like it has a real continuity, it has a real flow to it.

There are so many great songs here: I love "Chicago" and "New Year's Eve." "Talking At The Same Time" is awesome, Tom sings in that otherworldly falsetto. You never know what year it is when you hear a Tom Waits song, but when he sings, "Well, the dog is in the kitchen/and the war drags on/The trees wait by the freeway/all the money is gone," well, what feels more 2011 than that?

My two favorite moments come toward the end of the album. I love "Satisfied," which is kind of a 60-something's answer to "Satisfaction." When he sings, "Now Mr. Jagger, Mr. Richards, I will scratch where I've been itching," it's cool, punk rock and defiant. Upping the cool ante, though, is the fact that Keith Richards is playing guitar on the song. (Les Claypool from Primus is playing bass on the track: how many artists could get members of those bands on one album, much less one song?). The next song is my other favorite, and it also features Mr. Richards. "Last Leaf" holds up with any of his ballads, "Ol' 55," "Jersey Girl," whatever you want to name. Keith is the perfect foil for Tom on this song and this album. In fact, I'm thinking that if Mr. Jagger doesn't get a Stones tour together, Keith should join Tom's touring band.

TOMORROW NIGHT ON VH1: TOP 40 VIDEOS OF 2011

2011-12-13T22:40:00.000-05:00

For the third year in a row, VH1 invited me to be a pundit on their year end video countdown. As I've mentioned, I worked at VH1 for years, had a great time there, and kept relationships there. Back then, I would occasionally be asked to be interviewed for a show, and I am totally flattered that they still think to call me up for these shows.

I can't say much about what artists I talked about. Last year, they posted most of the top 40 before the show aired. This year, they are being much more secretive. They do mention that Adele, Pitbull and Bruno Mars are in the countdown, so I feel comfortable putting a picture of Adele's 21 album in this post. I have no idea what order the videos came in - they don't tell you that. But hey, we know who's year this was! Back in June, I said that Adele would be one of the big music stories of the year. I think she is a great soul singer, and so many people really react to her. I'm happy for her success.

Anyway, the show airs tomorrow night on VH1 at 7 pm, I'm sure it will be rebroadcast a few times before the end of the year. It should be fun. By the way, I'll be Tweeting throughout the show. I'm @noexpiration and the hashtag is #VH1Top40.

TOMORROW ON THE MORNING JOLT: REISSUES! U2, NIRVANA, ROLLING STONES, BEACH BOYS, JETHRO TULL

2011-12-13T22:13:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow morning I'll be on SiriusXM OutQ's The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick talking about one of my favorite subjects: box sets and reissues. It's that time of year, they make great gifts!

I've written a lot about U2 lately, and I've also written about the Achtung Baby album and the reissue. It blew me away when I first heard it in 1991, and I've never gotten tired of it. The super deluxe version of the box set has lots of great extras (although I balked at the $400+ uber box set, which has the same music, but does have magnets, stickers, Bono shades, etc. Cute, but for me, not worth the money. Really, all you need is the album itself, but I really wanted some of the extras.

I've written about the Nirvana Nevermind reissue. Well, a lot has been said about the album lately. It really was a game changer for music. Yeah, it led to a lot of bands deciding that they had to pretend to be angst ridden, but what are you gonna do? You can't blame all the hair metal bands on Van Halen, and you can't blame the grunge fakers on Nirvana. I bought the super deluxe version of this also. Again, for the extras, including a live recording and also Butch Vig's original mixes of the album. But you'd do fine with the deluxe version. Or really, just the original, it's so powerful and still holds up today.

I've also written about The Rolling Stones Some Girls reissue. I've mentioned that it's probably my favorite Stones album, and that the outtakes are so good, I think they're better than the Stones' next album, Emotional Rescue. And they're better than most band's albums too. When Ronnie Wood joined the band, it just worked. It was while the band were still powerful and had their swagger. I like a lot of what they've done since Some Girls, but nothing came close to matching this LP. I love Tattoo You and I really like Steel Wheels and A Bigger Bang, none of them come are in their neighborhood.

Jon Moskowitz (@JonMoskow) from the blog Vivoscene was nice enough to do a guest review of The Beach Boys' Smile. I don't really get the album, and I Tweeted a request for someone to guest review it for me, and Jon (who I met at a social media seminar hosted by Sree Sreenivasan aka @sree) said he'd do it. It turns out, he doesn't really get the album either. It's not any anti-Beach Boys bias though: we both enjoy Pet Sounds.

Finally, Jethro Tull's Aqualung. People kind of make fun of Jethro Tull, but if you think of them in the context of the time, wow, how different they must have sounded. Fortunately for them, classic rock radio has played their records for decades. But that can be a double edged sword. Songs like "Aqualung" and "Locomotive Breath" and "Cross-Eyed Mary" can lose their edge after years of repetition and being played back to back with lots of the soft rockers that classic rock radio plays so much of. But this is a pretty awesome album.

THE BEACH BOYS - SMILE (guest review)

2011-12-13T21:31:00.001-05:00

Well, the music press, and Beach Boys fans, have gone crazy over the release of Smile. It's not so much a "reissue" as a work of art that laid unfinished for decades, that Brian Wilson finally decided to finish.

It took me a long time to come around to The Beach Boys. I always loved their singles, but never bought their albums. I guess what changed it was when I covered a Brian Wilson tribute concert for a job, Matthew Sweet performed (he did a great "Sail On Sailor" as a duet with Darius Rucker). I interviewed Matthew the next day, which was exciting as I'm a huge fan. He couldn't believe that I wasn't a huge fan. I think that that led me to Pet Sounds, and then I took the band much more seriously. You can't beat "God Only Knows." So I was intrigued to hear this Smile album, this great lost album that I'd read so much about over the years.

Well, I've listened to it a few times, and I don't really get it. I don't want to say it isn't good, I just don't get it. And it does have "Good Vibrations," one of the best pop songs ever, not to mention "Heroes and Villains" and "Surf's Up." So I Tweeted (I'm @noexpiration) a request for someone else to write about Smile for me. Luckily Jon Moskowitz (@jonmoskow) was paying attention and offered to do the deed. Jon writes for the blog Vivoscene, which you should check out. And, it turns out, he doesn't totally get Smile either. So, here's his review:

Until the release of The Pet Sounds Sessions box set in 1997, I never had much time for The Beach Boys. I liked “I Get Around,” “Help Me Rhonda,” and “Surf City” (this last in an ironic way, due to its ludicrous falsetto chorus of “Two girls for ev-er-y boooooy!”), but not much else. Once I heard the stereo mix of Pet Sounds, however, I started to realize what all the fuss was about. That mix, and the session tapes that accompanied it, made me appreciate the brilliance of Brian Wilson’s melodic gift. When it was announced that Smile—the legendary, unfinished follow-up to Pet Sounds—would be given the same box set treatment, I anticipated a similarly revelatory experience. After all, Smile, according to the legend, was even better than Pet Sounds.

Well, yes and no. Mostly no. One of the strengths of Pet Sounds is the way its musical adventurousness is anchored by the professional craftsmanship of its lyrics. “Wouldn't It Be Nice” may sound like music from Mars, but the words are pure teenage yearning, as earthbound as you can get. “God Only Knows” is Wilson's outstanding spiritual statement, but it can also be enjoyed as a simple (if breathtakingly beautiful) love song. With the possible exception of “Good Vibrations,” the songs from Smile don’t have this advantage. Mike Love may have gotten a lot of stick over the years for objecting to Van Dyke Parks’ obscure lyrics, but it’s not hard to sympathize with him when confronted with lines like “Who rang the iron horse?” or “The crow cries undercover the cornfield” from “Cabin Essence.” As the careers of everyone from Little Richard to Michael Stipe prove, pop song lyrics don’t have to make sense—but they do have to deliver an emotional punch. Parks’ lyrics fail on this count. When sung to one of the most beautiful melodies Brian Wilson ever wrote, a line like the infamous “columnated ruins domino,” from “Surf’s Up,” is not just dumb—it’s almost an insult to the music.

But it’s not just the lyrics that are a problem here. Wilson famously called Smile his “teenage symphony to God,” and it shows in the songwriting, which strives for a symphonic effect by stringing together short “movements” in often unrelated musical styles. This pastiche technique works well on “Good Vibrations,” but less so everywhere else. “Heroes and Villains” goes from surf pop to barbershop quartet to piano ballad and doo-wop before finishing off with a one-two punch of cowboy ballad harmonica and English music hall trombone. It’s like a clip reel from The Lawrence Welk Show. “Do You Like Worms (Roll Plymouth Rock)” has a spooky rinky-dink piano section, a Hawaiian guitar interlude and vocal break that sounds like the awful “ooga chaka” song from that dancing baby video back in the ‘90s.* It’s all a bit precious—the kind of twee psychedelic experimentation that ruined a lot of music on both sides of the Atlantic in the mid-‘60s.

After listening to The Smile Sessions, it’s hard to see how the finished album could have ever lived up to the hype it has accumulated over the years. Though it seems almost sacrilegious not to love this music, I don’t think Smile would have been the earthquake its fans dream about. Maybe The Smile Sessions is not the story of Brian Wilson at the height of his creative powers, but a snapshot of the moment when his creativity started to ripen and rot.

* - A search of the internets tells me that this song is Blue Swede’s mid-‘70s cover of B.J. Thomas’s “Hooked On A Feeling.”

THE FACES - A BEGINNER'S GUIDE

2011-12-13T21:02:00.000-05:00

I've thought that The Faces have been overlooked by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for years, I'm glad that they are finally getting in. They've kind of been overshadowed by singer Rod Stewart's solo career: he's been in the Hall of Fame for over a decade. With all due respect to Rod's solo career (his early LPs, recorded while he was in The Faces, were incredible), I prefer The Faces.

It's too bad that Rod hasn't participated in their recent reunion shows: guitarist Ronnie Wood (already a Hall of Famer as a member of The Rolling Stones), drummer Kenny Jones (who is a former member of The Who, but wasn't inducted with them) and keyboardist Ian McLagan have been doing concerts with Glen Matlock of The Sex Pistols on bass, and Mick Hucknall of Simply Red singing. (Original bassist/singer Ronnie Lane passed away in 1997.)

The Faces are being inducted along with their precursors, The Small Faces, which featured Jones, McLagan and Lane along with the late singer/guitarist Steve Marriott. Honestly, I'm not that familiar with The Small Faces, if anyone would like to contribute something about them to my blog, please let me know in the comments. My understanding is that their best album is 1968's Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake. But I love The Faces, and here's my primer:

The Compilation: The Best Of Faces: Good Boys... When They're Asleep. It's got their one big hit, "Stay With Me," but some other great performances: their cover of Bob Dylan's "Wicked Messenger," "Sweet Lady Mary," "Had Me A Real Good Time," and "Ooh La La" (sung by Ronnie Lane).

The Classic Album: 1971's A Nod Is As Good As A Wink... To A Dead Horse. It's just a blast. It has some of Rod's best vocal performances ever (including the aforementioned "Stay With Me") and yet Ronnie Lane's "Last Orders Please" is still a highlight.

The Box Set: Five Guys Walk Into A Bar... is a hell of a lot of fun. It has almost everything you'd want, including lots of great covers (part of the magic of Rod and Ronnie Wood is that they know when to write a song, and when to do someone else's). John Lennon's "Jealous Guy," Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed," The Temptations' "(I Know) I'm Losing You" as well as the band's take on solo tunes by Rod ("Maggie May") and Ronnie Wood ("I Can Feel The Fire").

GUNS N ROSES - A BEGINNER'S GUIDE

2011-12-09T22:42:00.001-05:00

In the next few weeks and months, I hope to have a number of guest bloggers give their testimonials about Guns N Roses. Earlier this week, Guitar World Senior Editor Rich Beinstock wrote about his hopes that the band's original lineup will reunite for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

I've heard people complain a bit about Guns because (a) they are getting in before other hard rock bands who have been eligible for years, like KISS and Motorhead and (b) they are essentially getting in for one album, Appetite For Destruction.

I think many of the guys in the band might agree with (a). As for (b), my beginner's guide to GNR is this:

Get Appetite For Destruction.

It's just one of the greatest albums ever.

After that, you're probably in good shape with Greatest Hits, which includes the best songs from the Lies EP, the Use Your Illusion LPs , with a few of their later covers thrown in. Lies itself is pretty good (minus the hateful lyrics of "One In A Million" and "I Used To Love Her") and the Illusion LPs have a lot of good songs.

As for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony: my prediction is that W. Axl Rose will perform with his current lineup of Guns N Roses, while Slash and Duff McKagan put together a band that will probably include Izzy Stradlin' or Gilby Clarke (or both), Steven Adler or Matt Sorum (or both) and a singer (perhaps Myles Kennedy from Slash's band). And the Slash/Duff band will perform as well. But of course Axl/Slash/Duff/Izzy/Steven would just rule.

THE BEASTIE BOYS - A BEGINNER'S GUIDE

2011-12-08T22:42:00.001-05:00

How did The Beastie Boys react to the news that they're being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? They haven't really said much. On one hand, they don't seem to take this kind of thing seriously. On the other, it has to feel pretty good to be acknowledged. Along with the Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five and Run-D.M.C., they are the only hip-hop artist to be inducted thus far. And they are the only band with roots in hardcore punk to be inducted. Add to that, the fact that Adam Yauch has been battling cancer... well, that has to add some weight to this. I hope he's doing well, and I hope they show up and perform. I'd guess they'd do a hardcore tune, at least one hip-hop tune, one of their hard rockers and an instrumental funk jam. How many other bands have so many modes? So there's a lot of great stuff in the long line of LPs.

The Compilation: the 2 CD set Sounds Of Science has almost all of their modes: hardcore punk, their days as a Run-D.M.C. style Def Jam group, the Paul's Boutique era, their hard rock stuff, instrumental funk and even their country phase (which was very brief). It has hits, album tracks and rare stuff too. And great liner notes by the band. If that's too much for you, go for the single CD Solid Gold Hits.

The Classic Album(s): They had a lot of game changers. First, their debut full length, 1986's Licensed To Ill on Def Jam. It has lots of douchey anthems like "Fight For Your Right" and "Brass Monkey," but on the other hand, it was pretty groundbreaking and has lots of amazing tracks. They completely flipped the script and risked everything by leaving Def Jam, Rush Management and producer Rick Rubin for L.A., Capitol Records and The Dust Brothers for 1989's Paul's Boutique. At the album tanked at the time. Now: it is considered a classic. After that, they picked up their instruments again for another classic, 1992's Check Your Head. This sort of mapped out the rest of their career, which they'd split between straight up hip-hop, hard rock tunes with Adam Horowitz on the mic, hard core punk tunes with Mike D shouting, and instrumental funk jams.

After that, they still released great albums but nothing as groundbreaking. Still, 1994's Ill Communication is amazing, 1998's Hello Nasty is great. I think 2004's To The 5 Boroughs is totally underrated, and ditto for this year's Hot Sauce Committee Part 2. I also dig their instrumental album, 2007's The Mix-Up. And, although they weren't at their best as a hardcore band, the 1994 compilation Some Old Bullshit is still solid, plus it has their legendary prank call "Cookie Puss."

GUEST POST: RICHARD BIENSTOCK ON GUNS N ROSES AND THE ROCK AND ROLL HALLL OF FAME

2011-12-08T22:16:00.001-05:00

I was Richard Beinstock's counselor at sleep away camp a million years ago. Imagine my surprise when I bumped into him at a screening of a Cheap Trick concert DVD and realized that he is Senior Editor of Guitar World magazine! I asked him what he thought about Guns N Roses' upcoming induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here's what he said.

I can’t say that I followed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ballot too closely this time around; like any Annual Big Music Event from the Grammys on down, its impact and sense of import in the music world seems only to cool year over year, beyond any bands/managers/label people/media/music geeks/etc. who might have a stake in the whole deal. But come on—Guns N’ Roses! Whether or not you care about this kind of thing at all, who doesn’t want to see this go down?

So Gn’R—while at the end of the day their glory run was relatively short, and their catalog of output relatively slim, the question of whether the band would make the cut was always a no-brainer. Because fuck it, they made what very well might be the greatest hard rock album ever. Top 5 at least, IMO, and the beauty here is that millions of others likely feel the same. So case closed.

So now they’re in, and thus begins the real speculation. Because as much as a Rock Hall induction is considered an honor, in this case it also comes off as something of a dare. Everybody wants this reunion. Everybody’s talked about this reunion. Everybody in the band has been asked about this reunion for something like 15 years now. So it stands to reason that whoever snags this reunion is the proverbial shit. Even if they didn’t deserve inclusion, if I were Jann I’d throw ‘em in just for the potential glory of being the Dude That Made It Happen.

Which bears asking: Beyond all the wondering about Will They Or Won’t They, maybe the question is, Why Would They Do It For, Of All Places, The Rock Hall? No amount of guarantee, no promises of bazillion-dollar tour grosses, no mega-manager muscle, has been able to bring the five originals to the table all these years. So how does the Hall of Fame turn out to be the big man with enough pull to make it happen?

First, some history…or, actually, not. Without delving into the filthy minutiae, let’s just agree that a reunion comes down to Axl Rose capitulating to stand onstage next to Slash, the man he’s pinned as a cancer and more or less blamed for every bad thing that’s ever happened to him. There may likely be no love lost in the opposite direction, but Slash is, at least outwardly, a fairly reasonable and relaxed adult, and would likely take the plunge. As for the others, Steven Adler’s been praying for this day to come since he wrapped up his drum tracks on “Civil War”; Duff McKagan, like Slash, is a sensible man and still has a relationship, if somewhat tenuous, with Rose; Izzy Stradlin', for all his time spent laying low, releasing killer, Keef-y albums without bothering to tell anyone, and doing whatever other cool-ass things Izzy does, has still managed to find the time to jam with Slash on his 2010 solo disc and pop up beside Axl at a few Guns gigs. So the connections are there. But if the promises of renewed fame and fortune haven’t led them to pull the trigger, why should jamming awkwardly through a few old tunes in front of a stuffy room of suits do it? The answer is it shouldn’t. But the weird thing about the Hall of Fame is that it often does. Hell if I know why.

So assuming Axl does indeed play ball, who’s on that stage with him? Duff and Slash for sure. Izzy (or at least a “Where’s Izzy? sign), a hesitant yes. Gilby Clarke? 30/70. Any latter day exes? No. Dizzy Reed? 80/20. Fortus/Bumble/Ferrer/Stinson/Ashba/Pitman? No …unless Axl works in some weird stipulation whereby the current Guns incarnation has to get airtime as well.

That leaves the drum chair, where the likely scenario is a split, with Adler and Matt Sorum each taking a spin for their own songs. Which, while fanwise, everyone loves the former and is lukewarm about the latter, is probably as it should be. The interesting thing there will be what happens the proverbial day after, when the contracts are signed and tour announcements are made. Adler would be the hopeful choice, though the more stable Sorum the likely winner. Only time will tell whether it would be harder for Adler to survive a reunion tour or the prospect of being left out of a reunion tour. Either way, I’m pulling for him, the band and the Rock Hall to make Cleveland for, at least one night, every music fans’ Paradise City.

One last game-changing scenario:
Axl shows up really, really late…meaning not at all. The four original instrumentalists are on site, and Rose is the lone hold out under the assumption that, hey, Guns N’ Roses still exists, and if you wanna see the band perform, then the band, as it is now, performs. This is where the Rock Hall can still use its muscle to make true magic happen. I’m talking “Welcome to the Jungle” … featuring Mick Jagger! “Paradise City”…. guest vox Bono! “You’re Crazy” … with Bruce! “One in a Million” … sung by Adele!

Let’s just hope the pairings don’t go so well that they decide to wring a whole album’s worth of material out of the thing…

THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - A BEGINNER'S GUIDE

2011-12-07T22:49:00.001-05:00

I was really excited to hear that The Red Hot Chili Peppers are one of the artists being inducted into the Rock and Roll of Fame in 2012. I've been a fan for over twenty years: I was turned on to them in about 1989 when they released Mother's Milk. I have gotten every album since on release day (if not earlier), and I picked up all of their earlier albums too. The band has been though so much -- death, addiction, near implosion -- but somehow their music makes me feel good to be alive.

In the next few weeks, I hope to have a guest blogger write a real life testimonial about the band. But I thought I'd give a quick primer on the group. I'm curious which members will be part of the induction. Obviously singer Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea. I'm sure the guys from their most successful lineup, drummer Chad Smith and guitarist John Frusciante. And I kind of figure that original members -- the late guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Jack Irons (who later joined Pearl Jam) - may get in. But I wonder if Dave Navarro, who was in the band for one album (1995's well titled One Hot Minute) will be included. Or their newest member, guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, who is on their new album, I'm With You. (The Chili Peppers are managed by the same company that manages Metallica -- and when Metallica were inducted, bassist Robert Trujilio was included, even though he had only played on one album, Death Magnetic). Anyway, if you're just looking to get into the band, here are my recommendations:

The Compilations: the band's career took off when they signed to Warner Brothers Records for their 1991 LP, Bloodsugarsexmagik. 2003's Greatest Hits covers the WB era, which is mainly the Kiedis/Flea/Smith/Frusciante lineup. It has their most well known material. But if you're interested in their early stuff, which they recorded for EMI, check out 1992's What Hits!?, which mostly features the Kiedis/Flea/Irons/Slovak lineup (as well as some tunes from Mother's Milk, which was Smith and Frusciante's first album with the band). They have yet to release any kind of career spanning collection, nor do they have any box sets.

The Classic Album(s): 1991's Bloodsugarsexmagik. I'm going to do a "#20yrslater" post on that album soon, it is such an incredible record. I'm sure the guys in the band think it is their best, it's certainly the album that made them stars, and it also made people take them more seriously. I think the aforementioned What Hits!? does a great job of covering the Slovak/Irons era, but the best single LP from that time is 1987's Uplift Mofo Party Plan. Another classic is the group's reunion album with Frusciante, 1999's Californication.

But honestly, I have a hard time not liking anything by them. I also love Freaky Styley, Mother's Milk, By The Way and even the album with Navarro, One Hot Minute.

DEAR BONO: I APOLOGIZE (SORT OF)

2011-12-05T15:05:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I had a post called "Dear Bono: Shut up." I was kind of bummed about a quote of his cited to UK publication The Sun where, in an interview about the 20th anniversary of U2's Achtung Baby, he said, "We've been on the verge of irrelevance for the last 20 years, dodged, ducked, dived, made some great work, I hope, along the way – and the occasional faux pas."

I had a problem with that statement, as U2's music from the past twenty years means a lot to me, up to and especially including "Moment Of Surrender" from their latest album, No Line On The Horizon.

But in a cover story with British magazine Q, Bono had a similar quote (maybe The Sun nicked it?). The rest of the quote says "Lots of people have U2 albums -- why they would want another one is a reasonable question. I don't know if it's possible for us to make something current that is meaningful, not just to our audience but to the times we live in. But that's kind of the job for me and I'm not ready to give it up. I think it's unlikely that we'll pull it off, but then, so has the last 20 years been unlikely."

For some reason, I feel a little less annoyed by seeing his quote in this context. I can understand wanting to transcend the fanbase to do something that resonates with everyone. On the other hand, if Bruce Springsteen retired because he'll (probably) never match the reach of Born In The U.S.A., we would never have gotten The Rising, We Shall Overcome or Magic. Or look at Bob Dylan: he doesn't care at all what the larger culture likes or doesn't. If he did, and retired because he didn't have any more songs like "Blowin' In The Wind" or "Like A Rolling Stone" or "The Times They Are A' Changin'" or "Hurricane" or "Subterranean Homesick Blues" in him, we would never have gotten Time Out Of Mind or "Love and Theft" or Modern Times or "Things Have Changed" or Together Through Life. What a shame that would have been.

In the Q feature, the band touch on the different albums they are working on, and I really look forward to hearing what they do with Danger Mouse. Based on the stuff that he has done with The Black Keys, I think he has to potential to craft a great, funky album around some cool songs. Of course, U2 has to come with the songs. Hopefully DM will be able to tell them to return to the drawing board if the songs don't measure up. I have faith that they've got at least another great album in them. And what is U2 about, if not faith?

P.S. Q put together a great Achtung tribute, Ahk-toong Bay-Bi. It was available with the magazine in Europe, and is available to buy on iTunes. With artists like Nine Inch Nails, Garbage, Depeche Mode, Patti Smith, Damien Rice and Jack White, it's really worth a listen.

THE ROLLING STONES - SOME GIRLS (reissue review)

2011-12-04T11:41:00.001-05:00

The Rolling Stones released Some Girls in 1978 when I was nine years old. I don't think I was aware of the concept that a band was releasing a new album, but I did associate certain artists with certain songs, I just had no idea if they were new or old.

But I do remember hearing "Miss You," "Beast Of Burden" and "Shattered" all over the place. Years later, when I started really getting into the Stones, learning their history and buying their old albums (this was around '89, when they hit the road for the first time in years for Steel Wheels) I picked up Some Girls and was knocked out by how great it was. This may be sacrilegious to say, but it quickly became my favorite Stones album. I realize that most hardcore fans choose albums from the Brian Jones or Mick Taylor eras. Of course I love albums from both of those eras, and there are no bad albums from either era, but this is my favorite.

If you didn't know better, you would have thought that Ronnie Wood was created in a lab to join The Stones. In the history of rock, has there ever been a replacement in a major band that just fit so perfectly?

I don't think I knew too much of the context when I first got the album though. I just knew that there were three incredible singles, but in between them were a group of songs that were just as good, or better. I knew that this came out during the punk rock era, and they seemed to nod at this without trying too hard, on songs like "Lies," "Respectable" and "When The Whip Comes Down." Their soul roots were acknowledged with their cover of The Temptations' "Just My Imagination." They nodded at their country influences (and made fun of them more than a bit) on "Far Away Eyes." "Miss You" and "Shattered" were funky as hell, and "Beast Of Burden" is one of their best pop songs ever. Also on this album is one of my favorite Keith Richards-sung Stones tunes, "Before They Make Me Run" ("see my taillights fading, there's not a dry eye in the house"). On my Rolling Stones iPod mix, every song on this album is included. (That mix is nearly 11 hours long, but still.)

I just bought the deluxe (not super-deluxe) version of the album. It comes with a second disc of stuff that didn't make the album. Often times, this kind of thing is a curiosity, but disc 2 of Some Girls is its own great album. I think I prefer it to their next album, Emotional Rescue! "Claudine" is a great vintage rocker. "No Spare Parts" (featuring newly recorded parts by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood) is a lovely country-ish song. There's actually a lot of country on disc two, including Keith singing a classic song, "We Had It All," and also a cover of Hank Williams' "You Win Again."

The super-deluxe version also contains a DVD of a live concert from the tour, but not the CD version. So, I decided to get the deluxe version, and pick up the DVD/CD version of Some Girls - Live In Texas '78, which you can get separately (and buying both was still less expensive than the super-deluxe version). I have a lot of great live recordings by the Stones, but this might be the best one. So, if you love the Stones, particularly the Ronnie Wood era, I'd recommend doing what I did: get the deluxe version, and get the DVD/CD (or BlueRay/CD) combo of Some Girls Live.

#20YRSAGO: NIRVANA - NEVERMIND (+ boxset review!)

2011-11-27T20:51:00.001-05:00

A lot of incredible albums came out in 1991 (hence my series of "#20yrsago" posts), but none had the game changing impact of Nirvana's Nevermind.

I remember hearing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" for the first time. I was driving my car on the Meadowbrook Parkway in Long Island while I was in college. I ejected whatever cassette I was listening to, and my radio was set to 92.7 FM (it was either WLIR or WDRE). I heard the guitar first. Why are they playing a band as heavy as Metallica? Of course, when I heard the singer, he sounded nothing like Metallica or anyone else. Who was this? I soon found out.

I got Nevermind when it first came out. Obviously it is a classic album. I loved "Lounge Act," I thought it sounded like The Smithereens (I later read that they were, in fact, an influence). At some point, I found Kurt Cobain a bit too precious and annoying (wearing a "corporate magazines still suck" shirt while doing a corporate magazine cover was cute, but complaining about Pearl Jam bugged me), and I stopped listening to them for a bit. That was dumb of me. They are one of the greatest bands ever, and Nevermind is an incredible album. I'm sure Dylan said some things about other artists that I like, it would never make me stop listening to his music.

There's lots of stories about Nirvana's concrete impact (the oft-told stories of hair metal bands hearing Nirvana and realizing that their day was done) and how they didn't care about their new-found status (famously turning down opening slots on tours by U2 and Guns N Roses/Metallica). My story is this: I was DJing at a great rock and roll bar called Fezziwigs, owned by two great guys, ex-hippies who performed at the bar as an acoustic duo. Almost all of their repertoire was '60s and '70s songs, but they threw in Dire Straits and Traveling Wilburys songs as well. They didn't always "get" the music I played, but Nirvana was the only band they ever paid me to NOT play. $5 extra per night, just as long as they didn't have to hear "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Sometimes I would have to sacrifice the extra fiver, other nights I played "Lounge Act" instead.

Anyway. I've been listening to the super-deluxe box set lately, and I'm stunned by how great it is. Why did I buy the super deluxe version, instead of the just the deluxe one? Well, one reason is that it comes with a live concert recording from the era, and a DVD of the same concert. You could buy that DVD/CD package separately. There are tons of B-sides and bonus tracks, many of which come with the deluxe version. I was kind of attracted to the super-delxue by the idea of the Butch Vig's original mixes. Butch Vig, of course, produced Nevermind, and went on to be a famous producer, as well as the drummer of the band Garbage. But this was one of his first big major label projects, and I guess the label didn't like his mixes, so they hired Andy Wallace to mix it instead. So, it's cool to hear Butch's original vision for the album. Also included are "boombox demos": literally, the band performing and recording themselves on a cassette deck on a boombox. It's interesting to hear them in that raw of a format, but I don't think I'll listen to that too often. Finally, there are some early demos of the songs that pre-date Dave Grohl joining the band: they feature Chad Channing on drums.

Nevermind is an album that I have a complicated relationship with, but it's certainly one of the greatest and most important albums released in my lifetime, and I'm grateful for it. It helped to wipe out a lot of crap bands (of course, it inspired a movement of those crap bands pretending to be Nirvana, instead of pretending to be Van Halen). It also sort of brought a system of ethics to bands who come from the underground and end up in the mainstream. Stone Gossard basically admitted as much in Pearl Jam 20. The idea of Kurt Cobain giving a public beatdown over something that smells like a sell-out helped to keep the band on their best behavior. For a time, it felt like most of pop music felt the same way. Maybe a lot of us (including some of Kurt's bandmates, friends and fans) have outgrown that rigid ethic, but you know that people are probably influenced by Kurt's personality as much as they are by his songs.

GOD BLESS OZZY OSBOURNE - DOCUMENTARY REVIEW

2011-11-27T05:24:00.001-05:00

I finally caught the Ozzy Osbourne documentary, God Bless Ozzy Osbourne. I imagine some people would be skeptical about how deep this doc would go, given that it is "presented" by Jack Osbourne, who is one of the producers (and Sharon Osbourne is the executive producer).

I think they did a good job: this isn't a fluff piece or a marketing tool. Jack, his siblings and his half siblings have lots of justified issues with their rock star dad, and they all vent quite a bit (even Aimee, who famously declined to have any involvement with The Osbournes show on MTV). While the film makes no bones about his incredible musical impact, it also doesn't flinch from his tragic flaws, and there are many. It was difficult to watch Sharon discuss some of their more violent moments (and there are pictures of her with the bruises to prove it). It was heartbreaking to watch Jack and Ozzy (separately) discuss an argument that became a turning point for Ozzy. Ozzy yelled at Jack, saying he's given him everything he ever asked for, and Jack countered with the point that he wanted a father. There are stories from the other children detailing the forgotten birthdays (in one scene, Ozzy struggles to remember what year his first child was born in), the drug and alcohol abuses and more. The story seems to end well: according to the narrative, Ozzy has been clean and sober for five years at the time of the filming. I really hope that that is true. I can say that when I saw Ozzy in concert a year ago, he seemed to be in great shape and he sounded better than he had the last time I'd seen him, nearly a decade earlier. As I've mentioned in an earlier post, I'd love to see him when he tours with Black Sabbath in 2012.

I thought that a more well-rounded story would have included more of Sharon's involvement. I realize that the story is about Ozzy, but like her or not, he most likely would not have had a solo career without her. Her love, determination and toughness probably has as much to do with his post-Sabbath success as anything he's done. Even the part where Ozzy talks about Ozzfest (which Sharon started when Lollapalooza wouldn't book Ozzy) is just a bonus feature. On the other hand, The Osbournes seems to be referred to as something that happened to the family, not something executive produced by Sharon. If the show gave a negative impression of Ozzy, or exploited his illnesses or weaknesses for laughs... well, there's no acknowledgement that maybe they shouldn't have been doing it.

The doc spends a bit of time on the story of Sabbath and on Ozzy's first guitarist, the late Randy Rhoads. Henry Rollins, Metallica's Robert Trujilio (Ozzy's former bassist) and even Sir Paul McCartney weigh in on Sabbath and Ozzy's impact. Geezer Butler, Bill Ward and Tony Iommi are all interviewed. I think that a lot of the footage here could be re-used for a full-on Black Sabbath documentary, which could tell their story and show their impact. Sort of like a combination of The Beatles Anthology and Rush Beyond The Lighted Stage. I realize that there are legal and emotional issues there, but what a great story that would be.

SUPERHEAVY = MICK JAGGER + DAVE STEWART + DAMIEN MARLEY + JOSS STONE + (NOT ENOUGH) A.R. RAHMAN

2011-11-25T20:46:00.001-05:00

When I heard that Dave Stewart had put together a "supergroup" with Mick Jagger, Damian Marley, Joss Stone and A.R. Rahman, I was intrigued. Of course, it could be a trainwreck, but it could be cool. Stewart, of course, has worked on some good records, both as a member of The Eurythmics, but also producing other artists like Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers ("Don't Come Around Here No More"), Mick Jagger ("Old Habits Die Hard") and Stevie Nicks ("Secret Love").

But Superheavy doesn't really work for me, although it does have it's moments. I know that the idea was to have all of these cultures coming together, but in many places it comes off as very mainstream rock with tinges of reggae and Indian music. I would have been curious to hear it if A.R. Rahman produced more of the songs. It sounds like he sort of just added some touches to the songs, but he is an Oscar winning musician who is one of the hugest stars in India. I would rather have heard an album co-produced by Stewart and Rahman.

Still, if they ever do another album I would check it out, the record shows lots of potential.

#20YRSAGO: U2 - ACHTUNG BABY (+ boxset review!)

2011-11-25T09:45:00.001-05:00

The first post in my #20yrsago series -- celebrating some classic albums that came out in (or around) 1991 - was Chris Whitley's debut Living With The Law. Now, I'm going to write about an LP that is a little more well known (but both albums have involvement from Daniel Lanois, so there is a common thread).

I don't know that my mind has ever been as blown as it was when I first turned on U2's Achtung Baby. Yeah, I've been knocked out by many artists the first time I heard them... but by an artist who I had been following for years? I have never been so surprised by a group's "new direction" as I was when I put Achtung Baby into my CD player.

This was, of course, before the web, and I don't think that I knew too much about what U2's "new direction" would be like. In the years since, The Edge has often talked about performing encores on U2's last '80s tour with opener B.B. King and then going back to his dressing room and listening to KMFDM. But I didn't know about any of that at the time.

There were hints. On the 12" of Rattle and Hum's "When Love Comes To Town," their collab with B.B. (a song which marked the peak of their explorations into American roots music), the B-side was a cover of Patti Smith's "Dancing Barefoot" as if to remind us of their post punk roots.

But the next new release by the band was a cover of Cole Porter's "Night and Day," from the Red Hot & Blue collection, the first CD compiled by the Red Hot organization. I saw the video on MTV. U2 still looked like their Joshua Tree selves - Bono with no shades, no makeup, long hair, The Edge with long hair and the doo-rag. But they didn't really sound like U2. It was darker, funkier, and synth-ier. It reminded me a bit of Depeche Mode.

Then, a few weeks before Achtung Baby came out, I picked up the "cassingle" (how '90s) of "The Fly." Their graphic sensibility seemed totally different from what it used to be. And the song: a funky guitar riff, Bono duetting with himself (one voice featured a very disco-ish falsetto, although I guess that could be The Edge), and Larry Mullen's drums seemingly garnished by samples. This was *not* "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For."

I picked up the album from Tower Records on Old Country Road in Long Island on release day (of course), November 19, 1991, I went right back to my dorm at Hofstra University and listened to it. And I looked at it. These guys were U2? U2's album covers used to have a a focal point, they were clear, somber, sober, stark and organized. I remember being shocked just by Achtung Baby's cover. Bono with eyeliner? Adam Clayton smiling? The band partying? Lots of small images. Some of them with bright colors. What the hell!

And then I put it in the CD player. It's not an exaggeration to say I thought something was wrong with my stereo. I didn't have much "industrial" music in my collection, and when I heard the guitar and distorted drums at the beginning of "Zoo Station," I thought I'd blown something in my speakers.

But I listened to the whole thing, and I couldn't believe it. Every song was incredible. I heard in "Until The End of The World" and "Even Better Than The Real Thing" songs that didn't remind me of U2 at all. They created a new U2 sound. I heard in "Mysterious Ways" a song that could pack the floor at my occasional gig DJing at a bar. "Zoo Station" and "The Fly" were nasty, funky and fun. And "Love Is Blindness" was more of a blues song than their collaboration with B.B. King. They gambled everything on this album - it could have been a Spinal Tap level disaster - and instead hit the jackpot. I can't think of anything that any major artist has done that's been as surprising at this. Maybe Bob Dylan going electric. Maybe - maybe - The Beastie Boys picking up their instruments. Achtung Baby may be U2's finest moment. I never get tired of it, and I still get excited when I hear the first few seconds to "Zoo Station."

So, anyway, there's a huge reissue program around it. You can buy a reissue of the album as-is (I don't really see the point of that, as it hasn't been remastered, nor does it need to be). You can buy a 2 CD version, which includes a bunch of B-sides ("Night And Day," the great non-album track "Lady With The Spinning Head," covers of The Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" and Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son"), a bunch of remixes and some songs I'd never heard before ("Blow Your House Down" and "Where Did It All Go Wrong?"). That's a satisfying package.

But I had to go for the "Super Deluxe" version, which lists for over $100. Like Achtung Baby, it's a bit over the top and gives me a lot of things I don't really need. The folder filled with prints of images from the Achtung Baby cover is cool, but not super necessary. A not-remastered Zooropa doesn't add anything to the experience of listening to that album - which I think is classic in its own right, and should get it's own enhanced reissue. There are two discs of remixes, which is a bit much. But the B-sides disc has some stuff that I didn't have and wanted. A real highlight is "Everybody Loves A Winner" (featuring Maria McKee of Lone Justice, who also sings on "Fortunate Son") which isn't on the 2 CD version. But what sold me was the disc of "Baby" Achtung Baby songs - the demos. It's really interesting to hear how much they changed (especially Bono's lyrics) between the demo stage and the final versions. The "Super Deluxe" version also includes 4 DVDs: one is Zoo TV Live From Sydney, which I already have on DVD. But I did want From The Sky Down, a documentary on Achtung Baby by Davis Guggenheim, who directed It Might Get Loud (which also featured The Edge) and An Inconvenient Truth. Another disc features the videos from the era, and another has "bonus material," including the Zoo TV documentary, an MTV Rockumentary and some other stuff.

I never really considered the $400+ "Uber Deluxe" version, which includes the same 6 CDs and 4 DVDs as the "Super Deluxe," but comes in a Achtung themed file cabinet-looking thing, has a couple of vinyl singles (nice touch), a copy of Propaganda (the semi-endorsed U2 fanzine from the era), plus badges, stickers and a replica of Bono's "Fly" shades. ("Band members sold separately," the Amazon listing offers helpfully). Sounds fun to have, but only if you have the money for it, and the room to keep it in.

Still, no matter what version you get, make sure you at least have one version of Achtung Baby in your collection.

LOU REED. METALLICA. LULU. WTF?

2011-11-24T21:44:00.001-05:00

Gitmo, meet your new soundtrack!

I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way (other than the fact that I'm against torture). But Lou Reed's unlikely double album collaboration with Metallica, Lulu, is one of the most abrasive albums I've ever heard, and one of the most difficult to sit through. I really admire the totally uncompromising spirit of the album: it is about as uncommercial as anything I've heard from a major artist in recent memory.

There's something admirable about a band like Metallica doing something so totally challenging to themselves and their audience (and Metallica must know that fans wouldn't like the idea of them collaborating with Lou Reed, and they'd like it less after hearing it).

That said, I don't really think I'll listen to this album too much. If I could go five years back in time and play Lulu for someone, they'd probably think that it was a Saturday Night Live skit making fun of what would happen if Lou Reed and Metallica did an album together.

In the years since Lou's classic 1989 LP New York, he's adopted a sort of atonal talking style of doing his vocals, and that's what he does here. I'm a huge fan of his music, and I even like some of his post-New York stuff. I liked his collaboration with his Velvet Underground bandmate, John Cale, Songs for 'Drella. Magic & Loss is an incredible album, but only if you're in a certain mood. But New York is the last Lou album that I just reach for because I want to listen to it again. Of course, he has a lot of great albums, and all the Velvet Underground LPs are incredible. A lot of Lou's influences are avant-garde, outsider music. But he's also influenced by doo-wop and Dion. I'd love to see him to something you can sort of sing along to, and I thought this album might be that chance. But I again, I respect that he doesn't care what I, or anyone else, wanted with this album.

Metallica definitely do a solid job, but there's only so much they can do with this material. I like the opener, "Brandenburg Gate," and also "Iced Honey," but that's kind of it. I wouldn't mind seeing them do those songs in concert, with or without Lou.

I find myself wondering why Metallica agreed to this. They definitely worked surprisingly well with Lou at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25 anniversary concert in New York a few years back, they did a great version of "Sweet Jane." They must have been surprised to have been asked by Lou to do a record, and I'm sure it appealed to Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett (although James Hetfield is a fan of dark outsider music by the likes of Nick Cave and Tom Waits so it makes sense that Lou's music would appeal to him as well). Still, Lulu makes St. Anger sound like "The Black Album," and they have to have realized that this would probably be the lowest selling album in their catalog. But I guess they wanted to do something different and challenge themselves, and that's admirable.

I imagine that their next album will be much tighter, shorter and accessible. In fact, I've heard that they will play "The Black Album" in its entirety at a European festival this summer. Well, if this album sends them in a more song-oriented direction, I'll be grateful for Lulu.

R.E.M.'s LAST GIFT

2011-11-15T22:24:00.001-05:00

Allow me to add some personal context to this post. I had a bad day, to quote the R.E.M. song. I heard that a dear friend of mine passed away after a long battle with cancer. I was leaving the office early anyway, to go to yet another follow up appointment with a doctor (some readers know that I barely posted in September due to a hospital stay - I'm better now).

The CD playing in my car was Neil Young & Crazy Horse's classic Ragged Glory. It blew my mind when it came out in 1990, I love it to this day, but it wasn't hitting the spot. And my late friend hated to curse, so I wasn't in the mood for "Fuckin' Up." This is rare for me, but I just shut off the stereo and listened to the sounds of my car. Most of what I had on me - Fugazi, Bad Brains, Soundgarden, the I'm Not There soundtrack, Raekwon - wasn't appealing to me at that moment.

I started humming something, and I realized it was one of the new R.E.M. songs. One of their final ones, "We All Go Back To Where We Belong." I couldn't really remember the words, other than the chorus. I wanted R.E.M. So, I stopped at a big box retailer and picked up the new R.E.M. best of, Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage: 1982-2011, because I needed that music NOW. It was a pretty old school moment. Go to the (record) store to pick up the music you need to hear at that moment.

Most fans would prefer disc 1, as the collection is in chronological order and disc 1 features their earliest material from their I.R.S. Records era. But I needed disc 2, the Automatic For The People/ New Adventures In Hi-Fi stuff. However, I started right with track 18, "We All Go Back To Where We Belong." The horns that sound like they were arranged by Bacharach. Michael Stipe's lyrics, unusually clear. The song sounds like it is about the end of a relationship with a lover, but you can't help but to feel that it's about the band. Looked at from a wider point of view, it's about something that's ending. Sometimes you can fight it. Sometimes you just have to accept it. It doesn't exactly fit the situation, but it comes close enough.

The other two new songs are pretty good, and of course the rest of the two CD is filled with classics (mostly). But I'm glad they were able to add one last classic to their long list of them. I'm grateful that they gave me the experience of hearing the right song at the right time and making me feel just a little bit better.

TOMORROW ON THE MORNING JOLT: GILLIAN, FLORENCE, IMELDA

2011-11-15T21:54:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow on SiriusXM OutQ's The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick I'm bringing in some of my favorite albums of 2011, but the theme is that all of these records feature lead vocals by women.

Gillian Welch's The Harrow and The Harvest is definitely one of my favorites of the year. I'm not the only one who feels that way: Mojo magazine gave it a five out of five star rating. Whenever I listen to it, I find it odd that it's just her name on the cover: it seems that her and her partner David Rawlings are equally vital to the music.

Florence + The Machine's Ceremonials is an "epic" album. That word gets overused these days, but everything -- the songs, the performances, the arrangements -- it's a work of art.

Imelda May's Mayhem came out in Europe last year, but in the U.S. this year. She is really talented: a great singer, very charismatic, great sense of style, and she writes great songs. You may have heard her singing on Jeff Beck's recent albums Emotion & Commotion and Rock & Roll Party. In fact, if *I* wanted to have a rock and roll party, I'd never be able to afford Jeff Beck, but one day if I'm pretty successful, I might call on Imelda May and her great band to rock my party!

Other records I hope we'll get to: Shelby Lynne's Revelation Road, Allison Moorer's Crows (which actually came out last year), Joss Stone's LP4 and The Tedeschi Trucks Band's Revelator. (That band features married couple Derek Trucks of The Allman Brothers Band and singer-songwriter Susan Tedeschi.) And maybe I'll give another shout out to The Make Out, who have one of my favorite songs of 2011, "I Don't Want Anyone Who Wants Me."

IMELDA MAY - "MAYHEM"

2011-11-15T20:59:00.001-05:00

Imelda May is a singer who deserves your attention. I first became aware of her via her collaborations with Jeff Beck. They performed together at the 2010 Grammy Awards. I thought that people may have thought that she wasn't singing live - I believe she was singing over a track of her own voice. That wasn't because she can't sing "live": they were paying tribute to Les Paul and Mary Ford. Les pioneered multi-track recording, and would double track Mary's singing on their records. Imelda's performance was a reference to that, which may have gone over people's heads.

Anyway, Imelda is a really good singer, totally influenced by early rockabilly and blues. With that combo and her cool voice and presence, you almost can't go wrong.

I think she's popular in her native Ireland. Interesting that Ireland has such a great appreciation for these incredible American styles of music (remember The Commitments?). I think Americans may find her a bit too similar to Gwen Stefani, which would be a shame. There definitely are things the ladies have in common, but where I think Gwen sees everything through a '80s new wave lens (no disrespect) Imelda probably goes straight to the source (that said, she does a killer rockabilly cover of "Tainted Love").

Her album is kind of stylized, in the way a White Stripes or Mighty Mighty Bosstones or Stray Cats album is. The instrumentation kind of defines the music (her excellent backing band consists of guitar, upright bass, drums and trumpet). But like the aforementioned groups, it's not a novelty: the album is good because the songs and the performances are. I don't know that there's a smash single there - and I think a band like this needs one to "break" in America - but I think if enough people are exposed to this record, they'll dig it. There are a lot of different tones, she's good at rockers ("Mayhem"), mid-tempo tunes ("Bury My Troubles") and ballads ("Kentish Town Waltz").

If I was a music exec at HBO (I think I'd be a good choice for a gig like that!) I'd be figuring out ways to get Imelda and her kick-ass band performing on Boardwalk Empire, True Blood, hell, even Bill Maher's show. Maybe every other show too (other than Game of Thrones). But don't wait for anyone else to push her music on you: pick up a song or two on iTunes, I think you'll thank me for it!

FLORENCE + THE MACHINE "CEREMONIALS"

2011-11-15T20:15:00.001-05:00

Other than Adele's 21 and Kanye West + Jay-Z's Watch The Throne, I can't think of any album that's been as eagerly anticipated by the 25 and over audience as Florence + The Machine's Ceremonials. And I can't imagine that anyone is disappointed by it. My only "problem" with the album is that when I listen to it on my iPod (yes, I listen to full albums on my iPod, it's not all about the mixes) is that when I get to "What The Water Gave Me" I keep hitting repeat. I'm not a musician, but I feel jealous of the guy playing bass on the track (Mark Saunders, he's not a member of the band). Actually it sounds like it would be a blast to be doing anything on this song. Tom Monger, the Machine's harp player is always probably having a great time. The song is like a perfect combination of PJ Harvey's mystique and U2's swinging for the fences. That may not be the most creative way of putting it - I know they have been compared to both artists.

But Florence sings like a feral force of nature. If Storm from The X-Men was a British singer, I imagine she'd sound something like Florence Welch. I have actually been around Ms. Welch twice (I was one of the camera people on this video, shot just days after their incredible performance on the MTV VMAs) and it is hard to imagine her wanting to headline arenas. On the other hand, she has a great sense of high drama that plays so well to the bleachers. And, like Adele, she may not have a choice: Florence + The Machine may get so popular off of this album, they may have to start hitting the bigger venues.

I can't think of many singers since Annie Lennox who have been able to mix "art rock" (for lack of a better term) with soul music. Florence was great when she sang as a part of a tribute to Aretha Franklin at the Grammys last year, and on songs like "Lover, Lover" and "No Light, No Light" show that she is as soulful as anyone.

Other than U2 and PJ Harvey, the other artist who the band (and it *is* a band) reminds me of is Arcade Fire. I don't know of that many bands that swing for the fences and raise the roof, with such interesting and not-typical rock arrangements as these two bands. I happen to think Florence + The Machine write catchier songs though.

I don't spend too much time on No Expiration writing about and recommending really new artists. Consider this an occasional exception to that. This is worth your time. Check Ceremonials out.

DEAR BONO: SHUT UP.

2011-11-12T15:04:00.001-05:00

Dear Bono:

First off, let me get this out of the way. I'm not a hater or a U2 detractor. In fact, I have every U2 album. I went to see you guys on the Unforgettable Fire tour in April of 1985 and it blew my mind. I've seen every tour since. I've stuck with you and also the band through everything. Lemons on the Popmart tour. The Million Dollar Hotel. Spider-Man. Your well intended collaboration with Jay-Z and Rihanna. Everything. Your music has always meant so much to me.

I've always respected the fact that you and the band have try to use your position to make the world a better place. Your reach may exceed your grasp, but still you try, and I love that. I don't mind that you have no problems with enjoying the spoils of your success, either. And I don't think that it makes you a hypocrite when you talk about working to eliminate extreme poverty. I've always been interested to hear what you have to say. I've always read interviews with you, and have been honored to interview U2 twice.

But some of the stuff you've been saying lately is ridiculous and insulting, and I'm calling you on it right now.

Apparently you told The Sun that "We've been on the verge of irrelevance for the last 20 years, dodged, ducked, dived, made some great work, I hope, along the way – and the occasional faux pas." I'll argue the point that a lot of the music you've made in the past 20 years holds up to your first ten. "Dirty Day," "Numb," "The Wanderer," "If God Will Send His Angels," "Gone," "Please," "Wake Up Dead Man," "Your Blue Room," "Staring at The Sun," "Beautiful Day," "In A Little While," "Stuck In A Moment," "Walk On," "Electrical Storm," "Vertigo," "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own," "All Because Of You." You created a second classic version of "One" with Mary J. Blige and brought "The Saints Are Coming" to a huge audience via your powerful collaboration with Green Day. U2's past 20 years have been more relevant than most bands at their peak.

This quote stings: "Whether we can play music for small speakers of the radio or clubs or where people are living right now, remains to be seen, we have to go to that place again if we are to survive." Yeah, I know you want to be played on the radio. What terrestrial radio channels play new music from a band that's been around for more than 20 years? Terrestrial radio is completely ageist. And of the bands they support, how many are actually good? Bono, what do you mean by "clubs and places where people are living right now?" Are people who don't go to clubs anymore not "living"? Are they worth writing songs for? Your fans who went to see you on the Unforgettable Fire tour, the Joshua Tree tour, the Achtung Baby tour... and even the Popmart tour. They're not "living right now?" They're working, and raising families and trying to make their way in the world. Are they really less important than people who pay tons of money to hear David Guetta or Deadmau5 spin records? (I'm not done - click below to see the whole letter.)

Bono, one of things that I've always respected about you is that you don't subscribe to the idea that the best music should be secret. To you, the fact that Patti Smith and Lou Reed and The Clash and The Ramones didn't headline Madison Square Garden was some cosmic error (and by the way, no one ever doubted their "relevance," even though the radio mostly ignored all of them). It was an error to be corrected, and you tried to correct it by bringing their music to huge audiences. It worked. I got into Patti after hearing your cover of "Dancing Barefoot." U2 citing The Velvet Underground as an influence is one of the reasons why I became interested in their music. Thanks for that.

You embraced being the biggest band in the world, and you did it on your terms. I remember reading an interview where you said you wished that Pearl Jam and Radiohead wouldn't be afraid of mass popularity, or something to that effect. I agreed. But now, I would say you could afford to learn a thing or two from them (especially Pearl Jam). Backspacer and In Rainbows are among each band's finest works. Both bands sell out arenas (if not stadiums), and their new music means a hell of a lot to their fans. I realize part of being U2 for the past 25 years has meant being THE biggest band in the world. But why don't you take a(nother) page from Bruce Springsteen's book: don't worry about being the biggest. Being the best should be enough, everything else will take care of itself. Speaking of The Man, does the fact that The Rising had less radio singles than Born In The U.S.A. make it somehow not relevant? Not to the thousands of people who sing along to "The Rising" or "Lonesome Day" or weep to "You're Missing" or "My City Of Ruins" at his shows.

If you say that No Line On The Horizon isn't your best effort, I'll agree. That said, it has some incredible songs, especially "Moment Of Surrender." When I first listened to that song it stopped me in my tracks. A younger man or woman simply could not write that song. Would young people want to listen to it? I don't know. All I know is that I listened to it over and over. As I did when I first heard "Wire." And "Exit" And "Zoo Station." And "Dirty Day." I was surprised that Lars Ulrich from Metallica cited it as the best song of the decade in Rolling Stone, and that he reacted to the song in a similar way as me. I live in a small house and Lars owns several very large ones. Yet we were both moved by that song. You're still relevant Bono. You're acting childish to suggest otherwise, just because Z100 won't play your songs.

Here's your challenge, my friend. It isn't to get your songs on playlists of radio stations that play Lady Gaga, the Black Eyed Peas, Ke$ha and Katy Perry. It's to write records that matter. Allow me to name a few: the aforementioned Backspacer, In Rainbows and The Rising. I'll add some more to that list: Bruce's Magic. Bob Dylan's Together Through Life. The Roots' How I Got Over. Elvis Costello's Momofuku. Mavis Staples' You Are Not Alone. Tom Waits' Bad As Me. Joe Strummer's "Coma Girl." Public Enemy's "Harder Than You Think." R.E.M.'s Accelerate.

You're in uncharted territory, Bono. No band has meant so much for so long. There weren't really high hopes for The Ramones' albums in the last few years of their career. When The Rolling Stones or The Who release an album, they aren't met with the expectations that U2 has to live up to. How many other bands were promoting new singles as they were being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? What other artists played new music at the Hall of Fame's 25th anniversary concert?

One last thought, Bono. A couple of years ago, I had the great honor of interviewing Tom Petty. I told him that my wife and I had seen him and The Heartbreakers in concert a few months earlier, and we were surprised by how many young kids were there. I asked him if he had noticed that, and how he explained it. He grinned and said "Because we don't pander to them." (Also, the show was affordable for young people.) Make good music, and people of all ages will dig it.

Little Steven says that it's never unpatriotic to question your government, and it's in that spirit that I'm calling you to task for your quotes. It's because the band has meant so much to me.

P.S. The photo above was taken by my good friend and fellow long-time U2 fan Ashmi Elizabeth Dang. Everything she does is interesting, so follow her on Twitter.

NUTTIN' BUT LOVE - R.I.P. HEAVY D

2011-11-12T10:28:00.001-05:00

Like everyone else who loves hip-hop, I was sad to hear that Heavy D passed away earlier this week. By now, lots of tributes been written (and Tweeted) about the man. Here's my take.

Like LL Cool J, Heavy was one of the first hip-hop acts to be able to adapt with the times. When tastes and styles changed, he rolled with it. Actually, I would argue that once the New Jack Swing thing started happening, that's when Heavy really came into his own. When R&B and hip-hop blended, and it was cool to rap about love and talk about the ladies, that's where "The Overweight Lover" really found his sweet spot (this is my take, a hip-hop historian may disagree).

I'm sure his biggest hit was "Now That We Found Love." So take a look at that song: more than a sample, it was a hip-hop update of a soul classic by The O'Jays. Reggae group Third World also had a hit cover of the song, and Heavy brought a little of that flavor as well: his super fast style was definitely influenced by Jamaican music, and I'm sure he would agree. So: a reggae-influenced hip-hop/R&B track... and he combines that with house music. Not many artists could combine house with hip-hop... it a ballsy move, and he was man enough to try it. This combination could have been gimmicky in the hands of a lesser artist, but Heavy D & The Boyz (and producer Teddy Riley) came up with a huge pop hit. Twenty years later, that song can pack a dance floor in ten seconds or less. It's a timeless classic, period. And P.S. it probably introduced a few kids to The O'Jays and Third World. Heavy always had a good sense of music history.

I don't want to make it seem like he's just about one big hit, though. And it's important to point out that although he did a lot of records about love, it didn't make him "soft." As if to remind people of that, around the time of 1991's Peaceful Journey (the album that featured "Now That We Found Love") he put out the single "You Can't See What I Can See," which sampled Flavor Flav at a time when Public Enemy was the most feared band in the land. It's an underrated classic: if you thought he was soft, that record smacked the taste out of your mouth.

Peaceful Journey also included the mind-blowing MC showcase "Don't Curse." Produced by Pete Rock, (and featuring one of the funkiest samples ever: Booker T & The MGs' "Hip-Hug Her") it featured Heavy D along with Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, Grand Puba, C.L. Smooth and a very young Q-Tip. Heavy led some of the best MCs of that era in a curse-free classic that never got preachy or corny.

Lots of hip-hop heads cite The Notorious B.I.G. as one of the greatest MCs of all time. Heavy paved the way for him. Yes, as a large man in hip-hop, but beyond that, Biggie was definitely influenced by his style ("It was all a dream, I used to read Word Up! magazine/Salt N Pepa and Heavy D all up in the limousine!" was the first line from one of his early hits, "Juicy"). And beyond that, Heavy is the guy who put Sean Combs on the hip-hop map. The mogul himself recently tweeted: "Heavy D is the person who gave me my 1st chance in the music industry. He got me my internship at Uptown. He Believed when no one else did." Say what you want about Diddy, but he's the guy who gave Biggie his first chance, so think about the implications of that...

It takes a guy confident in his masculinity to be able to do things that aren't macho, especially in a genre like hip-hop (and I'd say the same about metal and punk rock). Rapping about love, using R&B singers and incorporating house music were definitely not par for the course back in '91. Heavy D broke down boundaries in music and left a great catalog of songs (besides the ones that I mentioned, "Nuttin' But Love," "Mr. Big Stuff," "Is It Good To You," and by the way, he must be one of the only MCs to work with both Michael ("Jam") and Janet Jackson ("Alright [remix]"). He's gone too soon, but he'll not be forgotten. Rest in peace Heavy D.

THE BLACK SABBATH REUNION: IT'S ON

2011-11-11T21:31:00.001-05:00

As everyone knows by now, Black Sabbath announced that they're putting out their first new studio album with the original lineup - Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward - since 1978's Never Say Die! The album is going to be produced by Rick Rubin, who has been trying to get the band back together forever, and of course they are going to tour also.

Over the summer, I wrote about my thoughts on the rumors of a Sabbath reunion that were circulating at the time. I recalled something Geezer said in an interview I did with him for the liner notes of The Black Box. He wasn't sure at that time if they'd ever work together again. But he was happy that they reunited, that they'd done some incredible reunion shows, and most of all that they were friends again. He hoped that they'd work together again, but if they didn't, he was happy with the way things were ending. However, they did do a few more tours after that. Then when Tony and Geezer reunited with the second version of Sabbath - with Ronnie James Dio and Vinnie Appice - and called themselves Heaven & Hell, Ozzy went back to his solo career. But I was with Geezer: I was happy that Sabbath had reunited with their original lineup, done some great shows, and it seemed like the world acknowledged their influence. They were all together at their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (even though they didn't perform) and I thought that that was a great way to end the story.

The last time I saw Sabbath was on the Ozzfest in 2001, and it wasn't that great. Tony, Geezer and Bill were awesome, but Ozzy's voice was dying before the first song was over. It bummed me out, and I didn't go to see Sabbath or Ozzy after that for a long time. But last year, I got tickets to an Ozzy concert (on his 62nd birthday!) and he was great, and his voice sounded powerful. I have to say, I'm excited at the prospect of (maybe) seeing the band one more time. I have to have faith here: if the band are rehearsing and they feel that they're good enough to live up to their legacy, I'm willing to check them out. Also, I've been hearing that they may headline a tour that would include Judas Priest and Motorhead as well. Rob Halford always sounds great, and Lemmy is like the Willie Nelson of metal, Motorhead is always on the road, and never let anyone down. I thought the early Ozzfests were cool, where they paired Ozzy or Sabbath with much younger bands - but right now, I think Sabbath/Priest/Motorhead is the right tour for all involved.

As for the record: I know Rick Rubin has tried to reunite Sabbath in the studio in the past, and I think he's also attempted to produce an Ozzy record as well, and it hasn't worked out. Well, here's hoping it works out well this time. I don't expect the band to make a classic on the level of Black Sabbath, Paranoid, Master Of Reality, Vol. 4, Sabotage or Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. But hopefully they'll come up with some stuff as cool as Technical Ecstasy or (especially) Never Say Die.

MY JOE STRUMMER STORY

2011-11-04T04:34:00.001-04:00

Ifeel really fortunate to have had the chance to interview Joe Strummer. In thespring of 2002, I had been working at VH1 for just a few months. I was hired asa “music expert” kind of guy. Which was odd, as it was a period where thechannel was really moving away from music. My boss at the time saw which waythe wind was blowing, so to speak, and while he appreciated my passionfor music, he was more worried about ratings, and rightfully so. Yet he didhire me – and happily for me, while working there I learned a ton about videoproduction.

Iremember seeing the listing in The Village Voice for Strummer's multi-night stand at Brooklyn’s ArtsAt St. Ann’s, and thinking "Man, it would becool to cover that." And then thinking, "Not happening." JoeStrummer – iconic leader of punk rock legends The Clash, defunct since the‘80s? Exactly the type of thing I’doften pitched, only to be turned down. I really liked his 1999 comeback album, Rock Art & The X-Ray Style, and histhen-current album, Global A-Go-Go, butI knew that a mainstream organization couldn’t or wouldn't really support it too much (thisissue is central to a documentary about Strummer’s last tour, Let’s Rock Again).

Anyway,I was shocked and grateful when the boss asked me to cover one of the shows. Iremember before the interview, shooting b-roll of the huge lights that wereshining where the Twin Towers used to be. It was a weird time. Standing in the haunting glow of that shrine to an event which changed the world – therewas definitely an electricity in the air.

Bythis time, I had done lots of interviews, but Joe Strummer was one of the fewartists who I both (a) really wanted to speak with and (b) had to admit I felta bit intimidated by. You just always got the sense that he didn't suffer foolslightly. But my attitude as an interviewer was, if anyone can do this, I can.Anyway, Joe was really, really cool. Kind of humble in a way. Super passionateabout music, not really at all. He loved his backing band, TheMescaleros. He felt they deserved more credit. Off camera, he told me he wished he could pay the band more, because they were so great. I was surprised that he offered that info (and I hope that he's not mad that I'm writing about it). I told him thatthey were all in his band because they wanted to be there, and because it wasan honor to play with him. I remember feeling nervous about saying that. Now, I’m really glad that I did. I said that he kept the music alive by putting out music that still mattered, and that I would want to see him play "Tony Adams," "Yalla Yalla" and "Johnny Appleseed" at every concert, not just The Clash songs. He thanked me for that. He felt people generally weren't aspassionate about music as they used to be: he asked why people weren't riotingover artists like Kylie Minogue, he just felt that most "pop" musicwas so awful.

During the interview I asked him about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - word was The Clash were going to be on the ballot that year, and of course they weregoing to get voted in. He kind of scoffed at the idea of performing with them,or even showing up. He didn't want to wear a suit, he felt it was a betrayal ofeverything he and the band stood for to show up at the Waldorf, of all places,in a tux, and play to rich music industry people. I told him that not everyone wears tuxes, and that no one would tellhim what to wear (not that I was in any position to tell him what the Rock Halldoes and doesn't do - but I'd been to a few induction ceremonies, and noteveryone wears suits or tuxes). I also pointed out that Talking Headsreunited for a few songs at their induction, and it sort of served as a nice"last page" in the band's story. At least it would be on TV (on VH1 in fact!) and all of the fans would have access to see it, if not access to attend the performance. Then, he started being like,"Hmmmmm..." But then he got a bit annoyed on the topic of the band:he pointed out that he'd been working with The Mescaleros for the past coupleof years, and the other guys weren't even making music (not totally true: MickJones produced The Libertines, but hadn't recorded any of his ownmusic). But none of those guys had called him and asked him to make music withthem, which seemed to annoy him.

Iremember my camera guy was also a huge Clash fan. We walked out of there dazedand amazed. I felt like Joe Strummer was radiating electricity, and I hadabsorbed at least a tiny bit of it. I had goose bumps. So, we start shootingthe show, which was great. I really did (and do) feel that some of Joe's songs, like "Tony Adams" and"Johnny Appleseed," stood proudly alongside The Clash classics - it'sa shame that more people weren't familiar with his solo material, he worked sohard on it, and was rightfully proud of it. But what radio stations would playJoe Strummer's solo material in 2001? (Again, check out the Let's RockAgain documentary.)

Themost shocking moment of the night was seeing this guy in the audience. Ithought to myself, "Is that Mick Jones?" I mean, in the audience.Not in some roped off V.I.P. area, he was just there. It was him. Not a lot ofpeople seemed to notice. I figured, I should probably try to get a quote out ofhim. But I made what I felt was a more moral choice. I didn't think the guywanted a camera in his face, it would certainly blow his cover. I decidedagainst it. Had my boss at the time found out about this, I could have gotten in trouble, but I went with my gut.

Afterthe show, people did start to notice that it was him and crowded around him. Hemade a beeline for the backstage door. I felt like, "That's nice, maybehe'll hang out with Joe." Potentially, I could have ruined that. It turnedout that they hung out for a little while. A few months later, Mick joined Joeand the band at a fundraiser concert in England. It was one of Joe Strummer'slast performances.

Afew weeks after that gig, Joe Strummer passed away unexpectedly. Bythen, he had heard the news that The Clash would be inducted into the Rock andRoll Hall of Fame, but the induction ceremony was still a few weeks away. I'dheard that Joe and Mick wanted to perform, but Paul Simonon didn't want to. Theweek of the ceremony, I got to interview Mick and Paul. I told Mick my story.He looked at me and nodded slightly. Not being a sentimental seeming guy, Ithink he appreciated what I'd done (or didn't do). I’m not putting too much weight on myactions, but I’m just glad I didn’t ruin anything.

I’vementioned the Let’s Rock Again doctwice here, but I also have to recommend another Strummer documentary, The Future Is Unwritten, which is abouthis whole life (where Rock is reallyabout his final tour). It really is inspiring. Yes, he may be gone, but withoutbeing too abstract, I think his spirit is still with us, and you can see it inevery “occupy” rally, and really whenever people stick up for those who areless fortunate. Tom Morello said it best in his speech about The Clash at theRock and Roll Hall of Fame induction: “In fact, the Clash aren’t really gone atall. Because whenever a band cares more about its fans than its bank account,the spirit of the Clash is there. Whenever a band plays as if every singleperson’s soul in the room is at stake, the spirit of the Clash is there.Whenever a stadium band, or a garage band, has the guts to put their beliefs onthe line to make a difference, the spirit of the Clash is there. And wheneverpeople take to the streets to stop an unjust war, the spirit of the Clash isdefinitely there.”

THE POWER OF JOE STRUMMER

2011-11-02T23:43:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow night, I make my return to The Busted Halo show on SiriusXM's Catholic Channel. It's been a while since I've been on the program. I'm definitely looking forward to it, it's always fun to talk about music with Father Dave.

Tomorrow I'll talk about the amazing music of Joe Strummer. I think about him a lot lately: I think he would have loved the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations and the other ones that it has inspired across the globe. But whatever your politics are, most people can get inspiration from the way that Joe always stuck up for the underdog. Whether or not I agree with the tea party, they feel that they're the underdogs!

I'm sure a lot of young (and not-so-young) people can relate to a song like "Career Opportunities." Ditto for "Clampdown." But while I was doing my research for the program, I listened to "Rock The Casbah," I hadn't really thought about that song (or video) for a long time. But when I watched the video on YouTube, I kind of forgot how it impacted me as a kid. First of all, it may have been the first time I saw a punk rock band. I was a big metal fan, and I thought of punk rock as sort of cartoony, I guess. I don't know that this video changed my mind, actually. But what did make an impact on me was the storyline: first, that it was about an orthodox jew and an arab looking guy hanging out and getting along. And second, because the thing that they bonded over was music. I haven't thought about this in a while, but I know that that made an impact on me.

Having just finalized the list of songs that I'm bringing to the show, I just realized that there was nothing from Joe's solo albums, and I feel bad about that. I know he took a lot of pride in the albums he made with his backing band, The Mescaleros, and rightfully so. So I'll take this opportunity to recommend Rock, Art and The X-Ray Style, Global A-Go-Go and Streetcore. Let me also recommend The Clash documentary Westway To The World, and the Strummer docs The Future Is Unwritten and Let's Rock Again.

I'll also take this opportunity to remind people about the incredible speeches that The Edge and Tom Morello made about Joe and The Clash when The Clash were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a few years ago. Watch The Edge's speech here, and read the transcript of Morello's here.

TOMORROW ON THE MORNING JOLT: POWER POP

2011-11-01T23:24:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry that I missed being on The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick last week, I had a family emergency. I'm back this week, and I'll be talking about some new power pop records.

First off is Matthew Sweet's new album Modern Art. Matthew's Girlfriend, Altered Beast and 100% Fun are among my favorite albums, but I haven't enjoyed many of his albums since then. I think he has to work with other artists: I enjoyed his album as a member of The Thorns and his collaborative albums with Susanna Hoffs. Modern Art is fine, but none of it really sticks with me.

Speaking of Ms. Hoffs, Matthew Sweet worked on the new Bangles album, Sweetheart Of The Sun. I've listened to it a bit, I think it's a solid album. It's not as good as Different Light or Everything, but it's good. I do think that The Bangles could still put out a classic. I wish that former bassist Michael Steele would rejoin the band: even though she wasn't a founding member, they feel off-balence to me without her. I know they would love her to return. I don't think she quit the band so much as she quit the country during the reign of bu$h 2. Come back Michael!

Adam Schlesinger has been busy lately: his main band, Fountains of Wayne returned with Sky Full Of Holes, their first album in four years, and the follow-up to their very underrated Traffic and Weather. "Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart" is a great single, but I don't know if it's as good as songs like "Stacy's Mom" or "Radiation Vibe." Adam's other band, Ivy, has just released it's first album in six years, All Hours. They are more of an electronic band, not so much "power pop," but because Adam is in the band, it has a very classic pop sensibility. One thing that took some of Adam's time in the past few years is his other band, Tinted Windows. That group, which features Taylor Hanson of Hanson on vocals, James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins and A Perfect Circle on guitar, and Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick on drums, sounds just like... Cheap Trick. They're great. Their 2009 self-titled debut is super underrated.

We'll also talk about the former members of Oasis: Noel and Liam Gallagher both have their own projects.

THE JAYHAWKS - MOCKINGBIRD TIME

2011-11-01T22:56:00.001-04:00

The Jayhawks are a band that I've always admired more than loved. I was in college when they released their breakthrough album, 1992's Hollywood Town Hall. I heard the single "Waiting For The Sun" all the time, and although they weren't where my head was at at the time, I knew they were a good group. 1995's Tomorrow The Green Grass was an album you had to be aware of if you were a music fan. These two albums, in my mind, had a lot to do with popularizing the "Americana" movement that I enjoy so much. But after Green Grass, singer/songwriter Mark Olson quit the band. Singer/songwriter Gary Louris kept the band going, but it was a different group without the co-leaders. There were certainly great songs after Olson left ("Stumbling Through The Dark" was great, "Save It For A Rainy Day" is one of the group's greatest moments and one of the best songs, maybe, ever). But the chemistry had changed.

So a couple of years ago when Olson and Louris got together as a duo, there were high hopes. Soon, they reactivated The Jayhawks and Mockingbird Time is the band's first album with both guys back in the fold. The album is good, but not great, and doesn't have anything as classic as the material on their early '90s records. On the other hand, the album gives the group new material to play in concert, which definitely holds up alongside the earlier stuff: the first single, "She Walks In So Many Ways" is one of the best songs of the year, and "Hide Your Colors," "Tiny Arrows" and "High Water Blues" are all great songs. Some of the songs (like the title track) just drag. But if this is more than a "reunion" album, and is actually a "reactivation" album, I think it's promising. The Jayhawks are the kind of band who could do their best album next year, they still have a knack for great hooks and beautiful harmonies.

MATTHEW SWEET - "MODERN ART" (WELL TITLED)

2011-10-31T21:52:00.000-04:00

Matthew Sweet's new album Modern Art is, as I mention above, well titled. It doesn't hit you immediately. I wonder if it is a reaction to his two recent albums with Susanna Hoffs: 2006's Under The Covers Vol. 1 (covers of '60s classics) and 2009's Under The Covers Vol. 2 (the '70s). Those albums were packed with instantly recognizable songs filled with hooks. Modern Art, on the other hand, is a bit more, well, abstract.

Matthew plays most of the instruments, with long time drummer Ric Menck accompanying him, and Dennis Taylor on lead guitar (he was a guitar tech for The Bangles: Matthew helped them on their latest album, Sweetheart Of The Sun). It's kind of like the set up he used to record Girlfriend, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. On his current tour, he is playing that entire album, and I guess the problem is, next to that album, I know I wouldn't want to hear too many songs from Modern Art. Still I'm a loyal fan of Matthew's, his music has meant the world to me over the years, and I'll give this one a few more listens.

TRUE BLOOD VOL. 3 (THE MUSIC)

2011-10-31T21:16:00.000-04:00

First off, I'll say that as a big fan of the True Blood series, I thought this past season (season 4) was bad. Really bad. Embarrassingly bad. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know I'm more likely to like things than to not like them. And I'm much more likely to write about things that I like than things that I don't like. But from the awful season premiere (when they went to fairy land, I thought that sleestaks were going to start running around) to the finale ("can you let us down, we're getting a bit crispy," Sookie breaking up with both vampire dudes in one of the cheesiest scenes I've ever sat through on any show), it was just bad. And taking Lafayette - one of the show's best characters, mainly because of his dislike/distrust of anything supernatural, and making him into a conduit for the ghost of an evil spirit... well, I guess it could have been a cool idea, but it came off corny as hell.

Of course, this is not a TV blog, it's a music blog, and right now, as I'm giving out candy to trick or treaters, I'm listening to the latest installment of the True Blood compilation series. And as annoyed as I am at the show's producer Alan Ball, I have to give it up -- again -- to music supervisor Gary Calamar. Last year, I wrote about the second CD in the series, and expressed serious admiration for True Blood's music team, and I still feel the same way. They come up with songs that fit the mood, regardless of era and genre (it's the same reason why I love the greatest radio station in the world, the Underground Garage).

The album has a number of new tracks, which I imagine were recorded specifically for the show. I don't know if you could say that being on True Blood is the adult equivalent of being on a Twilight soundtrack, but I guess it is comparable. Regardless, there are some really great tracks here. The opener combines stuff I love with stuff I don't: Karen Elson (whose debut, The Ghost Who Walks, was one of my favorite albums of 2010) covers Donovan (who I've never been a fan of) with "Season Of The Witch." Karen's ex-, Jack White produces and Donovan himself sings on the track.

The late Gil Scott-Heron covered Robert Johnson's "Me and The Devil." Obviously a classic, and Mr. Scott-Heron brought his own thing to it. I guess this is one of the last things he ever recorded.

Hipsters must be melting over the union of Neko Case and Nick Cave covering The Zombies' "She's Not There." But they should, it's pretty great, and I remember thinking that as it aired over the credits of one of this season's episodes.

PJ Harvey and Gordon Gano of The Violent Femmes' "Hittin' The Ground" is the title track from Gano's debut solo album from 2002. It's a really fun song, and PJ sounds like she's really getting her Patti Smith on. It's not a new song, but it's new to me, and probably is to a lot of other people.

And in a combo made in Americana heaven, Jakob Dylan and The Jayhawks' Gary Louris do "Gonna Be A Darkness," which they co-wrote. There are so many good songs here! A group called The Heavy cover Larua Nyro's "And When I Die," and there's a cool Blackroc song (Blackroc is The Black Keys in hip-hop mode) called "What You Do To Me." Then, there's some older songs, like Slim Harpo's "Te Ni Nee Ni Nu," Massive Attack featuring Hope Sandoval "Paradise Circus," and Siouxie & The Banshees' "Spellbound."

Here's hoping that the next season of True Blood makes up for this one, but I know that the music will always be on point.

GREAT BAND, GOOD DOC: PEARL JAM 20

2011-10-30T12:12:00.001-04:00

My wife and I had a little Pearl Jam film festival this weekend, watching Eddie Vedder's Water On The Road concert film, and also Pearl Jam 20, the documentary about the band by Cameron Crowe. I thought Cameron, a long time fan of the band, did a good job. It was really interesting to see Eddie, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament and Mike McCready talking about their entire history. Well, almost.

I kept getting hung up on the fact that none of the band's ex-drummers were mentioned until well after an hour into the film. First, Mike mentioned "Jack," referring to Jack Irons, and a few minutes later, Mike went into an explanation of the former drummers (Irons, Dave Krusen, Dave Abbruzzese and even interim drummer Matt Chamberlin). It really bothered me that none of them were interviewed for the doc. In contrast, in the recent Foo Fighters doc, the former members got to have their say, I felt that it hurt PJ20 that the drummers were almost an afterthought to the film (ironically, as Eddie Vedder at one point says that a drummer is a band's heart). Also, longtime keyboardist Boom Gaspar was the subject of a 5 minute extra, but there was no real explanation of why Vedder thought he should be in the band, or what the band thought of him joining. I was also interested in hearing more about the conflict in the band, when Eddie was touring in a van trying to be a "D.I.Y." as possible while the rest of the band traveled together in a bus. Mike McCready asks "Was he embarrassed by us?" I would have liked to have heard Eddie address that. There was definitely a time where he seemed to be chasing some weird indie-rock credibility that is kind of impossible for a band whose debut album sold ten million copies. It was obvious that it was creating tension with the rest of the band: especially as Jeff and Stone had been though so much with their former bands, Green River and Mother Love Bone.

At the core of the film is Stone's desire to run the band, and Eddie's increasing influence. McCready insinuated that Stone wasn't totally into having Jeff in Pearl Jam, Stone admitted to thinking of it as his band until Eddie Vedder took over. I imagine Stone calls the shots in Brad, but even in Brad, the singer Shawn Smith is kind of the main guy in the group. Stone has done a solo album - which was kind of ignored. I wonder how Stone made peace with the fact that he's better in a band, and a band needs a good frontman. Meanwhile, I would have liked to have heard more from Eddie about the importance of the other guys in the band, and how he interprets his influence in the group.

I realize that the band's manager Kelly Curtis was a co-producer, and the the goal of the film was to celebrate the band as it currently exists, not necessarily to be a comprehensive documentary, and Cameron Crowe is close with the band. Maybe a documentary like Metallica's Some Kind Of Monster went a bit too deep and provided too much information, but I feel like PJ20 didn't go far enough.

I did enjoy the doc. I loved seeing Jeff at home in Montana, and Eddie's story about meeting Jack Irons for the first time: Jack was playing in Joe Strummer's band, Eddie worked at the venue for a show where they met, Jack later introduced Eddie to Stone and Jeff. While telling the story, Eddie is looking a picture of he and Strummer from that show, and he muses, "It all really comes down to this picture." Of course I loved where the band talked about Neil Young's influence on them, not just musically, but career wise.

I remember in the early days of the band, I found myself annoyed at Eddie Vedder for his indie obsession, which I felt came from (among other things) Kurt Cobain slamming the band in the press. And while I've always loved Nirvana, Cobain's comments made me lose a bit of respect for him. It was fascinating to me that Stone admitted that Eddie's decisions sometimes didn't make sense to him at the time, and sometimes took a decade to make sense, but they were the right decisions. And also that Cobain's comments kept the band on their "best behavior" and keeps doing so to this day. I never thought of it that way. Those were great moments the really added weight to the doc.

I really enjoyed that Stone talked about the fans' belief in the band keeping the band alive even when they weren't sure about themselves. I never "moved on" from the band: I've been down since almost day one (I bought Ten the day it came out, because I loved the Temple Of The Dog album, which I bought because I was a Soundgarden fan, and to a lesser extent, Mother Love Bone). If my cheers, concert attendance, purchasing of their albums on release day, was a small part of the larger group of fans that never lost faith, I'm glad. I'm also glad that the band remain a relevant force to me to this day. I can't wait for the next album, and yes, I'm willing to forgive the flaws in this documentary.

EDDIE VEDDER - WATER ON THE ROAD

2011-10-30T10:39:00.000-04:00

I just watched the live concert film from Eddie Vedder's first big solo tour, Water On The Road. I caught this tour, and it was amazing. This film is a great snapshot of the tour, but it's more: there's great extra footage - backstage, at Eddie's home in Hawaii, scenes with fans - beautifully shot by directors Christoph Green and Brendan Canty. You might recognize Canty's name - he played drums in Fugazi. And he gets out from behind the camera to provide the most exciting part of the film: he gets on drums to back Eddie for a cover of "All Along The Watchtower" (it's actually in the bonus features).

But the entire film was great. I think Eddie put a lot of thought into the presentation of the show, and it paid off. Everything from the song selection to the stage set worked. The setlist drew from the Into The Wild soundtrack, with Pearl Jam tunes and Bob Dylan covers ("Watchtower," "Girl From The North Country," "Forever Young"). The set itself had a pretty cool look, with a sky blue background, a pair of wings, and towards the end of the show, Eddie and his guests Liam Finn and Sleater-Kinney alumni Corin Tucker are wearing lab coats and playing in dried ice during "Hard Sun."

My highlights included Eddie and Tucker, backstage, recording a cover of X's "Golden State," all the Into The Wild songs, Eddie at home doing Pearl Jam's new classic "Unthought Known" and the Dylan covers. I hope that Pearl Jam keep rocking for a long time, but I'm glad Eddie now has a parallel career that acknowledges PJ's legacy but isn't dependent on it. I feel that this film makes a good argument for that (and by the way, so did his last tour for Ukulele Songs, which I saw earlier this year).

TOMORROW ON THE MORNING JOLT: FUNK!

2011-10-18T22:24:00.000-04:00

Two weeks ago, I returned to SiriusXM OutQ's The Morning Jolt With Larry Flick after being on the disabled list for a while. Last week, I had to miss it again (for scheduling reasons, not heath ones). Tomorrow I'm back, and I'm bringing the funk.

Well, maybe not funk by the strictest definition of funk purists. But all the music I'm bringing in will be funky.

First up, is the Red Hot Chili Peppers' new album, I'm With You. I wrote about it recently, and I wish I liked it more than I do. That said, it has some great moments, like "Monarchy Of Roses" and "Brendan's Death Song." More importantly, the new lineup, featuring guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, does show a lot of potential.

Primus is one of my favorite bands, and I really dig their new album, Green Naugahyde, which I just wrote about. "Tragedy's A'Comin'" is one of my favorite songs of the year.

Fishbone is one of the most underrated bands of the past few decades. But I haven't enjoyed much of their new music since 1993's Give A Monkey A Brain... And He'll Swear He's The Center Of The Universe. They've just released The Crazy Glue EP. I like it. I'm really looking forward to the documentary about the band, Everyday Sunshine. Anything that gets them to a wider audience is cool with me!

When it comes to Lenny Kravitz, I'm a singles guy. I have his best-of, and I'm cool with that. But the songs I've heard from his new album, Black And White America (the title track and "Superlove") are pretty cool and very funky. I may have to check this one out a bit more.

I wrote about Trombone Shorty about a year ago, and now he's got a new album, For True. I recently filmed a performance by him at the SiriusXM studios, and he was great (see it here).

Sly Stone actually has a new album, but sadly, it's mostly his old hits re-recorded. There's no point to doing that: they were perfect the first time, and frankly Sly doesn't sound as good as he used to. There's a good new original song though, "Plain Jane."

I think that a lot of today's funk music is done by DJs, not bands, and David Guetta is one of the biggest DJs. I produced this shoot at The Electric Zoo festival in 2009 and I kind of "got" it. Although dance music isn't my thing as much as rock and roll, I get it.

I haven't written about Superheavy yet, but any band with Mick Jagger, A.R. Rahman, Damien Marley, Joss Stone and Dave Stewart is worth paying attention to. Also worth paying attention to is the Jay-Z/Kanye West album, Watch The Throne. So, if time allows, we'll discuss all of these albums tomorrow on the show!

PRIMUS - GREEN NAUGAHYDE

2011-10-18T21:37:00.000-04:00

Well, it's probably not going to get any new fans, but for this long time devotee, Primus' Green Naugahyde is like hearing from an old friend for the first time in a long time. I bet Primus' dedicated legion of fans are with me on this one.

A year and a half ago, I wrote about how longtime drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander has left the band again, replaced by the guy he originally replaced in the band, Jay Lane (who had been playing in Furthur, along with Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Phil Lesh). A couple of readers expressed concern about the band without Herb. But when I saw them last summer, they were amazing. Jay was the perfect pick.

The new album is great. The closest thing to a single on the album is "Tragedy's A'Comin'" It's quickly become one of my favorite Primus songs. Recently, I've noticed that there's a sort of common morality in the lyrics that Les Claypool writes for Primus. But because of his sort of cartoony voice, and his offbeat sense of humor, people sometimes miss it. But when I hear a song like "The Antipop" or "Year Of The Parrot" or even the little ditty "Seas Of Cheese" it's about how you shouldn't conform to peer pressure if you're in high school or college. Or to right wingers telling you it's unpatriotic to question the president (or, just a few years later, it's unpatriotic to not question the president). In "Tragedy's A'Comin'" Les sings that he "cannot step aside/No I cannot step aside there's no place to run and hide/No I cannot step aside damn my bastard pride." It's a protest song for the millennium. Protesting what? Take your pick. Top 40 radio. Lame spineless indie rock. Or the corporate takeover of almost everything.

And other songs protest other things: "Last Salmon Man" decries the damage we've done to the salmon's environment: "The river water diverts to other places/to nurture Central Valley seeds/the northern water that sloshes desert fairways fulfill So-Cal golfer's needs." "Eternal Consumption Engine" is about how we spend more than we make, and just buy stuff that's made in China. And "Moron TV" is kind of like "The Antipop."

I listen to this album, and like my other favorite Primus albums, I feel like... I'm with ya, Les. And again, I bet a lot of other fans feel that way. In some ways, they're everything I want from a band. I'm glad they're still doing it, and I can't wait to see their show, next time they come to town.

#20YRSAGO: CHRIS WHITLEY - LIVING WITH THE LAW

2011-10-15T23:53:00.000-04:00

I'd like to introduce a new series of posts that I'll be doing over the next few weeks. "#20YRSAGO" will celebrate the amazing music that came out in 1991 (I may stretch it a bit to include 1990 and 1992 as well).

I started to think about this, with all the attention being paid to the 20th anniversary of Pearl Jam's Ten and Nirvana's Nevermind. I remembered that The Red Hot Chili Peppers' Bloodsugarsexmagik came out the same day as Nevermind. And then I started thinking about all the amazing music that came out around that time.

All of those albums blew my mind in 1991. But Chris Whitley's debut, Living With The Law, had just as much of an impact on me.

I found out about him because I had tickets to see Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers on their Into The Great Wide Open tour, and Chris was the opening act. Usually, TP had well known artists opening for him. I'd seen him use 'til Tuesday, The Replacements and Lenny Kravitz as openers. But I'd never heard of this Chris Whitley guy. I saw Living With The Law, used, at a small record store, and I picked it up. I don't know that I've ever been so blown away by an artist upon first listen.

It was a dusty blues album, respectful of the past, but not bound to it. The guitar playing was great, but it was always in the service of the songs. The songs were perfect. And his voice was unlike anything I'd ever heard. A little like (who I was also discovering during that same time period) but he had his own story to tell. One listen to this album and I was sold. No hype, no one telling me about him, it was all about the music and nothing but.

When he opened for Tom Petty at Nassau Coliseum, he was a bit out of his element. He wasn't an arena guy. I saw him headline a club in NYC a few months later, and he was incredible. I'd seen him many times after that, with different backing bands, and sometimes solo. Sometimes he blew my mind, other times it was kind of disastrous. I had the privilege of interviewing him twice. It was super exciting and sad at the same time. You could tell he was on a dangerous path.

I love lots of Chris' albums, but none of them match Living With The Law in my mind. I'm glad he was around long enough to make those albums. But if he stopped after this one, he'd still be one of my favorite artists ever.

THE POWER OF THE CLASH

2011-10-15T23:10:00.000-04:00

Tonight, I saw the Brad Pitt film Moneyball, which was excellent. It was based on a true story about a guy named Billy Beane who was the general manager of the Oakland A's, and who worked with a young scout (played by Jonah Hill), and together, they changed the way baseball scouting and team building was done. This pertains to my blog because, although it wasn't discussed in the film, Billy Beane had posters of Joe Strummer and The Clash in his office.

I wonder if that was based on reality. If so, it would make sense to me. Beane didn't care about how he was perceived, he cared about... not just winning, but changing things. It doesn't surprise me that a guy like that would be influenced by The Clash. Not just their music, but their philosophy. They weren't afraid to shake things up, and neither was Beane (at least as portrayed in this film).

Anyway, it was a great detail that added power to the film, at least for me.

PETER GABRIEL - NEW BLOOD

2011-10-13T21:59:00.000-04:00

I just got Peter Gabriel's album, New Blood. Like his last one, Scratch My Back, it's orchestral, with no guitars and no drums. But where Scratch My Back featured him covering other artists, New Blood sees him reinterpreting his own music. I really thought I would like Scratch before it came out, and I was really disappointed with it. So I've been managing my expectations for his new album, but I'm sorry to say, it still falls short. I don't mind orchestral records either. I just can't get into this, I don't know why. And I like every one of his albums, from his first self-titled solo record though Up, and also Big Blue Ball. And of course his albums with Genesis. So, here's hoping that he gets away from orchestras on the next album, and gets bass monster Tony Levin back in the fold.

PEARL JAM 20: THE SOUNDTRACK

2011-10-11T22:58:00.000-04:00

I can't wait to see the Cameron Crowe-directed Pearl Jam documentary, Pearl Jam 20. But until it comes out on DVD, I'm digging the soundtrack, which was complied by Mr. Crowe, who also wrote the liner notes.

This is really a collection for the hardcore fans, it's not for beginners (although the film may turn on some new people, from what I've heard about it).

It's mostly a collection of live performances and demos. And considering that the band has released a live recording of every concert for the second half of their career, and released exhaustive extended editions of their first three albums, there's not a ton of stuff left that we haven't heard. BUT!

There's still a lot of great stuff here. Probably the highlight is their version of Mother Love Bone's "Crown Of Thorns" from their tenth anniversary show (which I have on the Pearl Jam's live recording of that concert). "Alive" from the Moore Theater in Seattle from 1990 isn't great quality sound, but it's one of their first shows, and it is worth listening to. "Black" from their legendary MTV Unplugged show is amazing (they need to release that as a CD already, although many fans - myself included - have that on an unauthorized bootleg, and the DVD came with the Ten Super Deluxe reissue). Their recent performance of "Just Breathe," accompanied by a string section, on Saturday Night Live was great (although it is very similar to the single version recorded at Austin City Limits that they've released).

My favorite parts included Temple Of The Dog's "Say Hello 2 Heaven" demo, the instrumental "Times Of Trouble" demo, Jeff Ament's acoustic demo of "Nothing As It Seems," Matt Cameron's demo "Need To Know" (which later became "The Fixer") and most of all, their performance of Neil Young's "Walk With Me" (from Le Noise) from last year's Bridge School Benefit Concert, with Neil on guitar and vocals.

What I'm really looking forward to from Pearl Jam are their live bootlegs from their recent 20th anniversary festival. And, of course, their next album. I'd say 20 years marks the halfway point for Pearl Jam, and there aren't many bands you can say that about.

ANTHRAX "WORSHIP MUSIC" (BELLADONNA'S RETURN)

2011-10-09T16:20:00.002-04:00

After years of figuring out who their next singer would be, Anthrax is back with Joey Belladonna on the mic. A couple of years ago, after they fired singer Dan Nelson (who they found on MySpace, they toured with him, supposedly recorded with him, but then fired him before releasing anything), they did a few gigs with Belladonna's replacement John Bush. At that time, I wrote a post saying that I was hoping John would rejoin the band permanently. That post has gotten a lot of traffic in recent months, so I guess other people were hoping the same. But anyway, against all odds, Joey Belladonna is back. I've got to say, I wasn't sure how their new album together, Worship Music, would be. It's actually really great. (Full disclosure: I got a complimentary copy of this album.)

Joey Belladonna sounds better than ever. One of my problems with him has always been that he sounds like he should be singing for another band. I felt that way even in high school, when they were one of my favorite bands. Then, I read in an interview in (I think) East Coast Rocker, Joey said he prefers bands like Journey and Kansas to thrash metal. Then it all made sense to me, and I was pissed that he was in a band that deserved a singer who was more committed to the music the band actually played. I was fine with it when Anthrax canned him (right after signing a million dollar deal with Elektra Records). But Joey sounds cooler on this album.

The music sounds contemporary, but not in a way that is alienating to long time fans and it doesn't seem like they are pandering at all. Which is why I think they're likely to get more young fans to pay attention. They're being themselves, and they come off like cool metal dudes with nothing to prove.

One of my favorite songs is "Fight 'Em 'Til You Can't" which offsets Joey's vocals with Scott Ian's. I'm not saying that this album is better than the early Anthrax albums, but I wish they did more of that back in the day. Another great song is "Judas Priest." If any metal band deserves a tribute, it's Judas Priest (although I'd say Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Motorhead are deserving candidates as well), and it's nice that comes during Priest's farewell tour.

I remember reading that Anthrax approached Corey Taylor of Slipknot and Stone Sour to join the band. I thought that would have been a weird choice, as he's already in two other bands (although I'd heard he tried out for Velvet Revolver). I thought a better choice would have been Phil Anselmo (from Pantera, Down, Superjoint Ritual and some other bands). I really thought they should have brought John Bush back. But I have to admit, there's a lot of nostalgic value around Joey, who sang during the band's glory days; their best albums featured Joey on the mic. And, I have to admit, he sounds pretty great on Worship Music.