METALLICA "BEYOND MAGNETIC"

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.")

ANTHRAX "WORSHIP MUSIC" (BELLADONNA'S RETURN)

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.

LEMMY - 49% MF, 51% SON OF A BITCH

The Lemmy documentary is finally out on DVD and BluRay. Lemmy: 49% Motherfucker, 51% Son Of A Bitch covers his early life, his days in Hawkwind and of course Motorhead, as well as his status as an icon, his fixation with nazi memorabilia, his love of rockabilly and early rock and roll, and the many women he has had trysts with.

You know me, I really only care about the music, and this film is a great argument for Lemmy and Motorhead's incredible influence. James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, Robert Trujilio, Jason Newstead, Dave Grohl, Henry Rollins, Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, Slash, Mike Inez, Mick Jones of The Clash, Peter Hook of Joy Division, Lars Fredericksen of Rancid and many others gave testimonials to the band's impact. I definitely believe that heavy metal would be different had Motorhead not existed. But, Lars Fredericksen and Rollins and members of The Damned point out, his influence extended well beyond metal into punk rock as well.

I have to say, I find his nazi stuff collection off-putting. He says that he's the farthest thing from a nazi, using the fact that he's had eight black girlfriends as proof.  I don't know that that's a really great argument, and I'd really like to know why he is so into that stuff, but on the other hand, Lemmy doesn't really need to explain himself to anyone.

I haven't gotten around to watching the extras - what I really want to see is Metallica's set of Motorhead covers as "The Lemmys" for Lemmy's 50th birthday.

REVIEW: LIVING COLOUR AT MEXICALI LIVE

For the second night in a row, I went to Mexicali Live in Teaneck, New Jersey to see one of my favorite bands.  This time it was Living Colour. I've seen them at The Ritz, The Beacon Theater, Shea Stadium (opening for The Rolling Stones), Central Park Summerstage (where they are playing this weekend), Roseland and The Academy, to name a few venues of the top of my head. Tonight was kind of a weird one: Mexicali is sort of a restraunt, LC were playing the early show, and people were still at their tables.  Frontman Corey Glover wasn't happy about it. Understandably: but I was worried that he'd have an attitude about it and that it would effect the show.

Luckily, that didn't happen.  Although he voiced his sort of discomfort about the show throughout the night, seemingly blaming it on guitarist Vernon Reid, he still gave a great performance, if not the best one I've ever seen. I've always thought of him as a star, and he performs like one. The thing about Corey is that he could have just as easily joined another more commercial band, and been just as happy.  Whereas Vernon Reid is so avant-garde with his playing, I could just as easily see him playing a guitar through a computer on the ground floor of an art museum that receives grants from David Bowie. It is almost surprising that he has ended up being in a band as popular as Living Colour, he could have ended up doing Phillip Glass type stuff. So it is a weird combination of two very different guys in the band. (That said, Vernon could also play guitar for Dionne Warwick or someone real mainstream also). The other guys, bassist Doug Wimbush and drummer Will Calhoun, could play any kind of music, but like Vernon, left to their own devices they could be doing Knitting Factory art stuff. All that being the case, I think Vernon, Doug and Will are happy to play thier music and get paid for it, even if they aren't playing huge rooms. This is all my perception of the band.

Anyway, they were great. It wasn't the best Living Colour show I've seen (Will was having drum pedal issues) but they were great, and after a slow start, the crowd got into it. Maybe half the crowd were familiar with the new album, The Chair In The Doorway, which came out last year. It has definitely been growing on me. The song "Bless Those" holds up to anything they've ever done.  Check out a video below of them performing it in 2008, before The Chair was released (on this version, Doug took most of the lead vocals, but now Corey sings it). They played a bunch of other new songs, but of course the best reaction was the oldre songs, "Cult of Personality," their cover of Talking Heads' "Memories Can't Wait," "Love Rears It's Ugly Head," "Go Away," "Middle Man" and "Type." They also did the lovely "Solace Of You" by request for a couple who had it played at their wedding. Another nice moment: Doug Wimbush calling out original bassist Muzz Skillings who was in the audience. Nice moments aside, I wish  I could go to Central Park this weekend, I bet it will be a way better show, and when they are on thier game, Living Colour is hard to beat.