THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS AT THE PRUDENTIAL CENTER IN NEWARK 05/04/12

photo credit: Maria Ives 

There was nowhere I’d rather have been Friday night. It’s no exaggeration that Adam Yauch had a big impact on my life, and going to a Red Hot Chili Peppers show at the Prudential Center in Newark was just what I needed, after having written an obit for the man at my day job. I wrote about the show for work, but here's my more personal take. 

They were unbelievable.  Three weeks ago at their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Flea mentioned that he gets on his knees and prays before every show and is thankful that he gets to do it.  Cynics may not believe that… but I’m not a cynic.  And if you see him perform, you know that playing means everything to him.  It was 110% evident at the show. Most of the set was songs that he’s played hundreds of times, and yet he plays all of them as if the world depends on it. He's grateful for the opportunity to do what he does, and that point was most likely hammered home for him Friday following Yauch's passing. The man was everyone's mind, there was no way of getting around it. They were playing  Beastie Boys records over the P.A. during the night, and just one song into the set (they opened with the best song from I'm With You, "Monarchy of Roses"), Flea busted out Yauch's bassline for "Gratitude" (appropriately enough).  

After two more amazing songs ("Around The World" and "Otherside") Anthony Kiedis mentioned Yauch ("We lost a good man today, the world lost a lot of beauty!"). 

After a few more songs ("Charlie" and "Dani California") Flea asked Anthony, "What does it say on your shirt?" to which Anthony replied "'MCA!'" Later in the show, the band did an instrumental jam on the B-Boys' "So Whatcha Want"(you can see a bootleggy version of it on YouTube here - but by the way, you can buy legal downloads of every show on the Chili Peppers tour on their website and I will surely download this one, it's a show I'll never forget).

photo credit: Maria Ives 

The show would have been great no matter what was going on in the world.  So many songs shook the room, even some of the mellow ones, like "Dani California," "The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie," "Californication," and "Under The Bridge."

I think it might have been the first time I've seen them play "Sir Psycho Sexy," which I thought was awesome.  It's like if Billy Preston joined The Beatles and they lasted a little longer, they might have done a song like that. It was so great live. The thing is, not many frontmen could deliver those lyrics way Kiedis does.  Is he the best singer in the world?  I don't know, but he is surely one of the best frontmen I've ever seen.  I'm pretty sure this show was also the first time I saw them do their jumpy cover of Robert Johnson's "They're Red Hot."  Even though it clocks in at under two minutes, I love it. It's a good reminder that you can be respectful of the blues without being too reverent, and that the blues was dance music at one point.

Of course, the building damn near exploded with energy when they did their cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" and of course "Give It Away." During the latter, I tweeted that I felt that that song is so funky, it's on the level of George Clinton, Sly & The Family Stone and James Brown. I realize that kind of talk could get me killed in some places, but I really believe it.  I have lots of records by all three of those guys.  Flea is one of the funkiest bassists ever, but Chad Smith is the secret sauce that makes their songs arena anthems.  I think he's kind of underrated.

I was wondering how good they'd be live, post-John Frusciante. Although John wasn't a founding member, when he joined, he really brought the band to a new level (Flea mentioned at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that "our musical bond changed my life forever").  How do you follow that up?  How do you replace someone like that? The first time John left, they ultimately filled the guitar spot with Dave Navarro - a great guitarist, but it didn't really work. The first few times I saw the Chili Peppers was with Dave: great shows, but when John returned, it was a totally different thing.  It wasn't a supergroup, it was a band.

So, I wondered, when John quit again, would it be time for the band to hang it up?  I'm glad to report the answer is a big HELL NO. I guess it helps that new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer was brought into the fold by John in the first place.  They met when Josh's group, Bicycle Thief, opened on the Californication tour. Josh played on lots of John's solo albums, they had a band together called Ataxia, and then John brought Josh on as an extra guitarist/keyboardist on the Stadium Arcadium tour.

photo credit: Maria Ives 

So, anyway, he was incredible. I was bummed that John left the band, but that's not criticism of Josh at all, and they are as legit as ever with him onboard.  He's proud to be there, proud to play those songs.  Some people may question the fact that he's in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - at the age of 33 he's the youngest inductee ever, and he's only played on one album.  And yeah, he was probably included because of pressure from the band's very powerful management. But as I said, I'm not a cynic. Having seen this concert, I'll take it as a vote of confidence in the future of this band, which I think will last for years to come.  If I'm With You was their Mother's Milk (i.e. their first album with a new guitarist), then maybe the next one can be their Bloodsugarsexmagik (i.e. their second with that guitarist... and Bloodsugarsexmagik is, in my mind, their greatest work).

I do have one issue with the band's live performance.  Why no songs from the Hillel Slovak era?  It's the only thing I take issue with.  But that said, there's always next tour.  And as long as this band is touring, I'll be showing up and rocking out.

ROCK HALL INDUCTIONS: THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS

The current lineup w/ ex-drummers Jack Irons & Cliff Martinez
photo courtesy of WNCX in Cleveland 

I was fortunate enough to have attended this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.  See my full report for CBS Local Digital here.

One of the highlights for me was the induction of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, a band I've been a fan of for more than two decades.

I was curious which members of the band would be inducted, and who would show up.  There are basically two classic lineups: first, Anthony Kiedis, Flea, drummer Jack Irons and the late Hillel Slovak on guitar. And second, the most popular lineup, Anthony, Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante, who quit the band for the second time a few years back. All six of those guys got in.

But I was wondering about the lineup from their first album: Anthony, Flea, drummer Cliff Martinez (who recently scored the film Drive) and guitarist Jack Sherman. Plus, guitarist Dave Navarro, who replaced Frusciante the first time he left, and Josh Klinghoffer, who is in the band now. Oddly, Martinez was inducted but Sherman wasn't.  If their 1984 self-titled debut is considered to be such a milestone in the band's career, why wouldn't everyone from the album be inducted?  I think the answer lies in that Martinez left under good terms, while Sherman was fired, and I think he later sued the band. The thing is, management shouldn't be deciding who is included, they shouldn't be able to re-write that history.

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

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!

THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - A BEGINNER'S GUIDE

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.

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - "I'M WITH YOU"

I read that Flea had been listening to a lot of Rolling Stones records while working on the new Red Hot Chili Peppers album, I'm With You (and Rolling Stone's review cited this fact also).  I would think that this was equal parts musical inspiration and "how did they do it?"

In other words: Mick and Keith have pretty much led the band since they took over the reigns from Brian Jones. But losing Jones was still a big deal, a big transition, for the band. After that, losing Mick Taylor was a big deal too.  But of course, The Rolling Stones have endured a number of key member changes.  So the question for the Red Hot Chili Peppers is: is new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer their Ron Wood -- the guy born to be a member of the group -- or is he their next Dave Navarro (i.e. guy who just isn't the right fit)?

(By the way, NO disrespect to Navarro, the album he did with RHCP, One Hot Minute, had some good songs, but it didn't quite work).

I've been listening to this album for a while, and I'm still having a hard time deciding.  I think it's a stronger album than say, One Hot Minute, but I'm not sure how many songs people will want to hear from this album when the Peppers are on tour in two or three years from now.  "Monarchy Of Roses" is a great opener, and would have been a way better first single than "The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie" which just sounds too much like past Chili ballads.  I do think Josh Klinghoffer fits in pretty well.  He's definitely different from John Frusciante - he's less guitar hero guy and more about textures (which is kind of what he added as an extra touring member of the band a few years ago).

A ballad that sounds different from prior mellow tunes is "Brendan's Death Song," about a late friend of the band.  I think it's pretty powerful, Anthony Kiedis sounds like he's haunted by memories of people he's lost. It's not mellow depression, but real sadness, and it's soulful.  I also like the more upbeat, piano-driven "Happiness Loves Company."  Frusciante added keyboards to the mix, but he was definitely a guitar guy first.  I get the feeling that Josh Klinghoffer is ok playing anything, as long as it fits the song.

I guess I just wish that the songs here were more memorable.  I'm surprised that some of these got past Rick Rubin, who usually won't let a band hit the studio until the songs are tight enough.

But the Chili Peppers is one of my favorite bands ever, and I'm loyal.  I'll look at I'm With You as Josh Klinghoffer's Mother's Milk - his intro to the group, and hopefully they have something like a Bloodsugarsexmagik or Californication left in them... or at least another By The Way. For now, I'm looking forward to seeing this version of the band live, and seeing how the new songs hold up to the classics in concert.  I think maybe the band would have benefitted from actually doing some shows with Josh before making the record.

THE BIG LEBOWSKI SOUNDTRACK

The other night I watched The Big Lebowski for maybe the 50th time.  I lent out my DVD, so I bought it on iTunes so I always have it on my computer. It's a perfect film on every level: it's fun, funny, holds up to repeated viewings, has a great story, it's quotable, the acting is great. Even Tara Reid shines.

But it struck me how great the music is. The Coen Brothers definitely know their music (further proof of that is O Brother Where Art Thou). The often use T-Bone Burnett to be music supervisor, and he did an incredible job here.

Bob Dylan's "The Man In Me" which opens the film sets the tone perfectly.  Kenny Rogers & The First Edition "Just Dropped In" during the freakout sequence: genius. The Gipsy Kings cover of "Hotel California" during Jesus' bowling scene: awesome. Especially given that The Dude hates The (fuckin') Eagles. Also the choice of fairly obscure artists: Captain Beefheart, Moondog and Meredith Monk is cool.

The Dude's music choices make sense: he loves Creedence Clearwater Revival. He's listening to Elvis Costello at the doctor.  But sometimes he just listens to tapes of bowling.

The movie rocks even more with its choice of cameo actors. Aimee Mann as the nihilist who cuts off her toe. Flea, another nihilist with a ridiculous accent.  Jimmie Dale Gilmore as Smokey, did he really step over the line? Jeff Bridges as The Dude is just perfect, and he's a rocker in his own right (he actually releases his second album tomorrow. It's produced by... wait for it... T-Bone Burnett).

I've often talked of my respect for music supervisors who do their job really well.  So, I have to tip my hat to the Coens and T-Bone for this one.

THOM YORKE'S OTHER BAND IS CALLED ATOMS FOR PEACE

In September, I wrote about Thom Yorke's sideproject. Up until now, he's been calling the band "?????" Well, he just wrote on Radiohead's "Dead Air Space" that they are going to be called Atoms For Peace. They are doing a bunch of gigs (which will be impossible to get tickets for) and then Coachella. He didn't mention doing any new music with them, but I know he is working on a Radiohead record, and of course Flea is working on a new Red Hot Chili Peppers record.

BEST OF THE '00s: RADIOHEAD

OK, I'm with the critics on this one. There's some things that bug me about Radiohead: singer Thom Yorke's pretentiousness mainly. He whines too much, "we're not 'rock'" as if "rock" is a dirty word. He seems incapable of enjoying himself. To quote Larry Flick, Thom have a Yoo-Hoo. You make Michael Stipe look like Jim Carey.


And yet, the band's music is so adventurous I respect it, and some of it is so undeniably great. Kid A was really a daring album, I don't love all of it, but it definitely had some great moments. For all their "we're not a guitar band, we want to experiment, blah blah blah" songs like "Knives Out" and "Optimistic" would be great no matter what instrument you play it on.

I have to admit, I mainly slept on Amnesiac, and definitely didn't pay Hail To The Thief much mind.  I wanted to love Hail, as it was a direct attack on bush II, but the thing is, if you are going to make a rebellious record like that, you should make it accessible. Wouldn't it be cooler there was a huge anthem like "Just" or "Airbag" that bashed an evil administration?  A left field album that ultra-liberals stroke their chins to, it just doesn't have the same effect. If you're going to rage against the machine, as it were, then rage. 

Back to the music: In Rainbows is probably my favorite Radiohead album of the decade, and the music got sort of overshadowed by the delivery of it. Yeah, the announced it eight days before it came out, let fans choose thier own price, put it out on their own, etc. and that was all great. (I actually didn't think that they thought out their plan as well as, say, Trent Reznor did for the last few Nine Inch Nails records), but the fact is, it was a great record.

I'm curious to hear what Thom Yorke does next: I guess he may be working with Flea on a new project, which I think would be great for him.  But it will be interesting (in theory) to hear where Radiohead goes next.

More Best Of The '00s: Bob Dylan
Willie Nelson
Aimee Mann
Jeff Tweedy
David Johansen
Levon Helm
The Beatles
Jim James
U2
Steve Earle
Ben Harper
Alicia Keys
Norah Jones
Trent Reznor

BAD NEWS: NME REPORTS FRUSCIANTE QUIT RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS

Few posts in the history of No Expiration have bummed me out as much as this one: NME reports that John Frusciante has quit The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Again. The first time was in 1992, after the release of the band's all-time classic, BloodSugarSexMagik as they were about to headline the second Lollapalooza tour. They did that tour with a guitarist named Arik Marshall who didn't last past the tour (he went on to play in Macy Gray's band). After that, they got a guy named Jesse Tobias, who didn't last long at all (no shows, no released recordings) (he went on to play for Alanis Morissette and Morrissey). After that was former Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, who they actually recorded an album (1995's One Hot Minute, not a bad album but it paled in comparassion to the Frusciante-era albums). Navarro wasn't into the band, and quit, and it looked like that was it for the band. During that time, Frusciante was a huge drug addict and this has been well documented. But he got healthy and rejoined the Chili Peppers rejuvinating everyone involved, and they put out the classic 1999 album Californication, the really good 2002 By The Way and the still good 2006 double album Stadium Arcadium.

Frusciante wasn't the band's original guitarist - he replaced the late Hillel Slovak - but I think they made their best music with him (with all due respect). NME reports that Frusciante is being replaced by Josh Klinghoffer, who collaborated with Frusciante on lots of his solo projects, and even toured as an extra musician with the Chili Peppers on their last tour. So, at least he is a friend of the band, it seems more organic than their process last time. Josh has also played with PJ Harvey, Beck and Gnarls Barkley, among others.

I wonder when the band will start working on their next record: that's going to be a tough one for sure.

FLEA PLAYING WITH BRYAN FERRY

Apparently, Flea is going to be playing on Bryan Ferry's next album, which will also include Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead. Of course, Flea recently played in Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke's backing band on a few shows, and supposedly they will be working together next year on a new Thom album and tour. (Flea also plays on Slash's upcoming album.)

More than any of this stuff, I'm looking forward to a new Red Hot Chili Peppers album, which hopefully will come out next year. The Peppers are performing at the Neil Young tribute concert in January, and will probably also perform if they get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (which they should).

I'm not a big Ferry fan, but wasn't he supposed to be doing a new album with Roxy Music? I remember reading that he took a break to do a solo album made up of Dylan covers, and then he toured for that, now he's making another solo album. I guess the Roxy Music reunion is over.

JAY-Z, WILL AND JADA PINKETT SMITH SIGN ON TO CO-PRODUCE FELA!

Fela! opens next Monday, so I'm not sure how Jay-Z, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have just now signed on as producers for the show. But anything that brings more attention to the show - and the life of it's subject, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, is a good thing. Probably like a lot of other rock fans, I got into Fela through Flea, who brings him up a lot. His music is hard to explain, it's very political but also very funky, and all of his songs seem to take up a full side of a LP record. It's like jazz: I'm not an expert, but I enjoy listening to it. I am actually really curious to see this show, although I tend to avoid Broadway.

SLASH'S ALBUM SOUNDS PRETTY COOL

In September, I wrote about how Dave Grohl is playing on Slash's upcoming solo album. Also guesting on the album: Flea, Chris Cornell, most of Guns N' Roses (other than Axl, obviously), Iggy Pop, Cypress Hill, Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, Meat Loaf and Adam Levine of Maroon 5. And Fergie. And Nicole Scherzinger, the girl who (allegedly) actually sings for the Pussycat Dolls. This should be a cool album, Slash deserves it after having to deal with Axl and then the guy from Stone Temple Pilots.

THOM YORKE FORMS BACKING BAND INCLUDING FLEA

Thom Yorke of Radiohead is going to do a few solo gigs to perform songs from his solo album The Eraser, and interestingly, Flea is going to be playing bass. I am a big fan of Flea... who else can jam with Metallica, Thom Yorke, Patti Smith and Young MC?

ROCK HALL ANNOUNCES PRESENTERS FOR THIS YEAR'S INDUCTION CEREMONY.

This year's list of presenters includes Flea (Metallica), Eminem (Run-D.M.C.), Jimmy Page (Jeff Beck), Ron Wood (Bobby Womack), Smokey Robinson (Little Anthony & The Imperials), Paul Schaffer (Spooner Oldham) and Garry Tallent and Max Weinberg of The E Street Band (Bill Black and D.J. Fontana of Elvis Presley's band). They haven't come up with a presenter for Wanda Jackson yet. 

I think Flea is a weird choice for Metallica: it seems like he's just paying them back for performing at his Silverlake Conservatory benefit concert last year. I know The Red Hot Chili Peppers signed to Metallica's management a few years ago because they respected the way Metallica has handled their career; on the other hand, I thought that Flea was always kind of anti-metal and macho stuff. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of Flea and the Chili Peppers, I just think it's a weird choice.  I would have gone with Dave Grohl, or Jerry Cantrell or someone a bit more metal. 

Eminem was sort of obvious for Run-D.M.C., but I would have gone with LL Cool J or Chuck D or The Beastie Boys or Q-Tip or Mos Def. But I know Eminem is a huge hip-hop fan, he'll probably come up with a cool speech. 

Jimmy Page is a great choice for Jeff Beck: I think it would be bad-ass if they reprised "Beck's Bolero" with John Paul Jones on bass and Zak Starkey on drums (filling in for Keith Moon). What would be even cooler would be if Ron Wood and Rod Stewart did they honors for Jeff, but I guess Rod would worry that that would only fuel the Faces rumors even more. 

Max and Gary were a good choice: I guess there's a chance that Bruce Springsteen will show up and the trio will do some Elvis covers. Anyway, the ceremony will air live on Fuse on April 4, I look forward to seeing it. 

THE FACES REUNION: IT'S OFF

Despite lots of hype about a Faces reunion tour and album, and the fact that Flea's name was being thrown around as the bass player, Billboard says that a rep for Rod Stewart says that there are no plans for a reunion in 2009, and a rep for Flea says he knows nothing about it. What a bummer. 

FLEA TO JOIN THE FACES

According to the NME, The Faces' reunion really is on, and they are going to be using Flea as their bass player. Of course, their original bass player was the late Ronnie Lane, who quit the band towards the end of their run, and was replaced by Tetsu Yamauchi. I don't know why they aren't going to use him, but Flea is a cool choice. It's weird though: he sort of comes from the anti-blues-rock, anti-rock star punk scene, so it's interesting that he would play in a blues rock band of huge rock stars (Rod Stewart and Ron Wood). Still, I'm looking forward to seeing The Faces, and having Flea only makes it a cooler situation. 

ISN'T IT ABOUT TIME JOHN FRUSCIANTE RELEASED A NEW SOLO ALBUM?

John Frusciante released six solo albums in less than a year during his time off between The Red Hot Chili Peppers' By The Way and Stadium Arcadium albums. But nothing since, which sort of made me worry about the guy. From all accounts, he really doesn't do anything other than make music, and when he's not doing that, it means trouble. But he's just announced that he has a new record on the way, The Empryean, due out on January 20. According to Billboard, Flea will be guesting on it, as will Johnny Marr of The Smiths and Modest Mouse. I don't love all of John's solo work - some of it is barely listenable (but he's admitted as much about some of his early solo records) but I'm glad that he's still working, and I'll definitely check it out.

FLEA GETS SCHOOLED

I'm a huge fan of Flea and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. I was surprised to read that he enrolled at the University of Southern California at Los Angeles to study music theory, music composition and jazz trumpet, all things one would figure he already was pretty solid on. But good for him: he has enough punk and funk in him to prevent him from turning into the Yngwie of the bass. I'm bummed that the Chilis won't do anything for a while, but I guess they need the break.

METALLICA JAM WITH FLEA

This week, Metallica played a benefit concert to raise money for the Silverlake Conservatory Of Music, which is a non-profit founded by Flea to provide music lessons from great teachers at a reasonable price, making music lessons accessible to kids even if they aren't from rich families.

The gig was at a pretty small place with pretty high priced tickets, but lots of money was raised for a good cause. Metallica pretty much played older stuff, plus "Fuel." Flea jammed with them on one song, and he picked a classic - and one they don't do much - "Fight Fire With Fire." As usual, Metallica has posted the song for download ($10 for mp3, a bit more for FLAC) at thier download website LiveMetallica.com. Yes, all the money will also go to the Conservatory. Last year, Metallica did Neil Young 's annual Bridge School Benefit Concert, and posted those sets as well - which were pretty interesting, they included covers of Rare Earth's "I Just Want To Celebrate," Nazareth's "Please Don't Judas Me," Garbage's "Only Happy When It Rains," The Dire Straits' "Brothers In Arms" and Blue Oyster Cult's "Veteran Of The Psychic Wars."

People have long bitched about Metallica's Napster fight from a few years back, but offering fans live concert recordings for $10 is a cool deal (especially when the money goes to charities when appropriate).