PEARL JAM 20: THE SOUNDTRACK

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)

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.

GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD

Martin Scorsese's George Harrison documentary, Living In The Material World, has been in the making for a long time. It was worth the wait.  The first half seemed like watching The Beatles Anthology documentary from a George-centric view, but there were some great scenes.  I'd never seen the footage of an older, wiser George in the '70s, watching video of The Beatles performing.  Also, there was a great story of John Lennon and George Harrison visiting Stu Sutcliffe's girlfriend Astrid (who was interviewed for the special) after Stu died.  She took some photos of them in the area where Stu did his paintings. I'd never seen those photos before, they were incredible.  The second half covered the Beatles breakup and the years after.  There was a lot about All Things Must Pass, and from there it concentrated more on his relationships with Monty Python's troupe, his friendship with Ravi Shankar, and his life at home.  Which is fine, I didn't like many of his albums between All Things Must Pass and Cloud 9. I wish the doc  talked more about Cloud 9, which was the album that introduced him as a solo artist to a younger generation (myself included).  I would have loved to see Jeff Lynne talk more about the making of that album... and also George's final record, Brainwashed.

I wish there was more Traveling Wilburys footage - pretty much everything here is the same footage included on the DVD that comes with the recent Traveling Wilburys collection that compiled both of their albums. And speaking of them, it would have been great if they got Bob Dylan in this doc (especially since Scorsese did a wonderful Dylan doc, No Direction Home).

But I really loved watching it. The interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were great.  It was cool to see Tom Petty talking about him, and the interviews with Olivia Harrison, Dhani Harrison, Eric Clapton added a lot to the picture of George.

If you missed it, I think it comes out on DVD (with extra footage) in six months, and it is still airing on HBO - if you want to see it, check out HBO.com and search for George Harrison.

TOO MUCH HENDRIX? NO SUCH THING. WINTERLAND ROCKS!

A couple of months ago, I was driving a friend home in my car and playing the then-recently released Jimi Hendrix collection Valleys Of Neptune. I explained that it was a brand new release with (sort of) previously unreleased recordings.  He asked, "where do they keep finding this stuff?"  It's a good point -- for a guy whose career lasted about four years, there are a hell of a lot of Jimi Hendrix releases out there. And given the fact that in the past two decades, the catalog has resided at Warner Brothers, MCA, Universal and now Sony (with some live stuff licensed to Rykodisc, and the Band Of Gypsys album on Capitol), things can get confusing.

That said, the recently released Winterland box set is something you should have if you're interested in hearing some amazing live performances by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.  Recorded during a six show stand at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom in October of 1968, this was the Experience at the peak of their powers.  There's such swagger to their performance, Jimi sounds really into it, and it sounds as if he is not yet tired of playing any of these songs.  Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell are tight as hell. The band is incredible, and they all know it.  Playing distorted guitar at that point in time was still a relatively new thing, and it was probably even considered a political act, an act of liberation.  There's a lot of improvisation going on, and that was still probably relatively new in rock and roll and popular music.

The box set is 4 CDs. The first three feature full shows, and the fourth has spare tracks from some of the other shows, plus a cool interview with Jimi.  And you may wonder if you really need four more live versions of "Purple Haze."  You may, you may not.  But some of his songs that show up multiple times on the box - like "Are You Experienced?" and "Red House" have varying lengths at the different shows, and it's interesting to hear his different takes on the same song from one day to the next.  The "Are You Experienced?" versions are definite highlights here - on one, he has a flautist (Virgo Gonslaves from opening act The Buddy Miles Express) as he does on the album version. The other has no flute. "Little Wing" is amazing.  "Manic Depression" kicks ass, as does "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)."  The instrumental cover of Cream's "Sunshine Of Your Love"  is great, as is the cover of of Nordic rockers Hansson and Carlsson's "Tax Free."

For those of you who want a taste of this without having to go all in on a box set, there is a single CD version of this, but I'm a box set fan, and Sony Legacy (who provided me with a review copy) did a great job with this box, I would definitely have purchased it, and I recommend it highly.

PARTIAL REVIEW OF BEN HARPER AT TERMINAL 5: AWESOME

First off: the reason why this is a partial review, and the reason why I barely posted anything in September, is because I was on the "disabled list." I'm out of the hospital, feeling better, but don't have the energy for a full show in a general admission venue. But I figured seeing some of the show was better than none.

Of course, that turned out to be true. Ben Harper, back with Relentless7, was rocking tonight. Ben and the 7 are better than ever.  The last time I saw them, it still felt like a new project.  Now, with two albums and a lot of touring behind them, they're a really tight unit.

They opened with "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" which was excellent, and then kicked into "Glory and Consequence" which went into a cover of Pearl Jam's "Jeremy." Much of the show (at least the part that I saw) was material from Ben's albums with The Innocent Criminals, which is a change from the last tour, where he played mostly new material, and only played a few older songs. But R7 did great takes on the older stuff like "Faded" and "Diamonds On The Inside."  But their own material was great too - "Don't Give Up On Me Now" and "Rock and Roll Is Free" from his excellent new album Give Til It's Gone, and "Number With No Name" from White Lies For Dark Times are even better live than on the record.  I left the show during a long version of "Lay There And Hate Me."  Apparently, after that, Charlie Sexton sat in with the band for a few songs, but if anyone was at the show and wants to tell me what I missed, please hit me in the comments section.  I wish I could have stayed for the whole thing.

As much as I'd love to see Ben back with The Innocent Criminals, I've got to say that he and R7 have turned into a really great band.  I hope Ben works with both bands in the future (and of course I'd love to see him do more with his other group, Fistful Of Mercy).

I'd love to have been able to have gotten better pictures from the show, but my requests to the publicist for a photo pass went unanswered- even though I paid for tickets, and it would have cost nothing.  But you can see the fine work of No Expiration's official photographer (aka my wife): check out her photos from recent concert by  Tom Morello, Steve Earle and The Drive-By Truckers.

THE NIGHTWATCHMAN'S NEW RELEASES

Last month, I wrote about The Nightwatchman's solo(ish) acoustic(ish) concert at City Winery in New York City.  I've been listening to his two latest releases (The Union Town EP and World Wide Rebel Songs), both before that show and since.  I think that Tom Morello is finally coming into his own as a solo artist.

Saying that Tom has "come into his own" does sound a bit weird.  He's one of the most innovative and influential electric guitarists of the past two decades, and Rage Against The Machine was one of the best bands to come out of the amazing '90s Lollapalooza era. He "came into his own" a long time ago. Audioslave may not have quite reached Rage's heights, but had lots of incredible songs over their three album run.  And Street Sweeper Social Club has a lot of potential, and already have a fistful of great jams.

But when he started performing and recording songs as The Nighwatchman, he did so to prevent people from coming to see a "Tom Morello" show. He's more in the lane of artists like Springsteen and Earle than of Rage's peers.

When Tom did his first Nightwatchman album, One Man Revolution, in 2007, lots of the songs were pretty dry.  It reminded me a bit of Springsteen's The Ghost Of Tom Joad, which I know was a big influence on Mr. Morello. Both guys were really influenced by Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger.  The first few performances I ever saw by any artist were by Pete, and the thing about him is that, as political as he is, he wants you to sing along, and maybe have a good time while thinking about the world. Tom had one great sing-along on his first album, "The Road I Must Travel," but the rest of album wasn't as engaging (although there were definitely some great songs).  I felt like the album would appeal mainly to Tom's existing loyal fans, but I don't think that was his intent.

I think World Wide Rebel Songs actually may help him find a different audience, and may not just have him preaching to the converted.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think a lot of Faux News loyalists will start listening to Tom and have their minds opened.  I'm saying that his two latest release makes him a more credible solo artist, regardless of his prior discography.

My favorite Nightwatchman song ever is probably "Save The Hammer For The Man," a duet and co-write with the great Ben Harper. I'd love to see these guys do more together.  "World Wide Rebel Songs" is a great sing-along.  He gets his Tom Waits on on "Facing Mount Kenya."  And, here is maybe the best compliment  I could give him: when I listen to "Stray Bullets," I can hear the late, great Joe Strummer singing it.

The bonus track on the album is the title track to the EP, released a few months earlier, "Union Town." It's another of his best songs, and the first time he's really combined his Nightwatchman persona with his electric guitar wizardry.  He's said that playing an electric version of "The Ghost Of Tom Joad" on stage with Bruce Springsteen made him realize that he could combine the two.  But he's not always about the electric guitar on this EP: his rollicking version of "Solidarity Forever" is a piano and acoustic guitar driven tune. He takes out the electric for an incredible version of "Which Side Are You On?" and his "This Land Is Your Land" is the most rocking I've ever heard (and of course, includes the "banned" lyrics).    It closes with a solo live version of "Union Song" from One Man Revolution recorded at the Wisconsin protests earlier this year. The original version is pretty great, but this is the definitive one for me.

I imagine the next thing Tom will do will be a new Street Sweeper album, which I'm also looking forward to.  But I also think that The Nightwatchman will get more and more powerful in the years to come.  Given the state of the nation, I don't think Tom's running out of ideas, or great music, any time soon.

GILLIAN WELCH - THE HARROW AND THE HARVEST

Gillian Welch recently released her first album in eight years, The Harrow & The Harvest. Or, I should say their last album. Even though Gillian's name is on the cover, it's Gillian and long-time partner and collaborator David Rawlings pictured on the cover, and they are the only two musicians on the album. This is Gillian's first album in eight years, although the two of them released an album under the name The David Rawlings Machine two years ago. All this background just makes the point that these two make an incredible team.

Even if you're not familiar with their music, when you hear them sing and play together, they sound so seamless, it's almost as if they have one voice.  No one else sounds quite like them.

The new album reminds me of their early stuff like Revival and Time (The Revelator). Very old-timey, very ominous.  Dark.  I remember when I first heard Gillian/David's music, I didn't know who wrote their songs, and I kind of thought they were doing old "traditional" songs. Nope, they write their songs, it's just that they sound that timeless.  That's how it is on this album also.

I like this album a lot, and I'm not the only one.  One of my favorite music writers, Syvie Simmons of Mojo Magazine gave the album a 5 stars "instant classic" review.  It's not an album that will get a lot of hype, but it's definitely rewarding (and hopefully will land in lots of critics "top albums" lists at the end of the year).