Isorski's Musings

Concert Review - Ghost

2012-02-01T00:22:00.000-08:00

So, I made it back alive. And it's only 11:30 PM.

Caught Ghost tonight on the 11th show of its 13 Dates of Doom tour, the Swedish band's first ever tour of the U.S.

As I said in my CD review yesterday, I was turned on to this band by a colleague who loves the darkest crevices of metal.

But in this case his advice to check the band out was right on. I got the band's CD Opus Eponymous and was hooked right away. The fact that they had a super theatrical show complete with Peter Gabriel-esque singer in full costume and makeup just sort of shoved it over the cliff for me.

The band packed the Hawthorne Theater in Portland on a Tuesday night no less, and like with seeing Them Crooked Vultures at the Roseland, I imagine this is the smallest venue where I will ever see this band. They are on their way to big things.

Maybe it's the KISS-like mystique, or the catchy music or the Sabbath meets Genesis tunes, but this band has something special. They only played about 50 minutes - their whole CD plus an oddly gorgeous cover of Here Comes The Sun. And no encore. Certainly left us wanting more.

Part of the fun was bringing my friend Dave to the show and not telling him what he was going to see. I broke out the CD in the car on the way there and as expected he dug the music. But as the smoke filled the Theater, I turned to him and said, "Oh by the way, these guys are kind of theatrical."

Turned out to be the understatement of the year.

The band as expected was completely shrouded. There was a notable absence of front lights and no spotlights so for much of the show the band was backlit, meaning you could see their silhouettes but not their fronts. The amount of fog would have made Pink Floyd envious.

Interesting musical notes - there was for sure a backing vocal track a la Rush, because the singer was the only guy with a mic, yet the backing vocals from the CD were very present. Also, the whole band used Orange amps (see photos), which is a very cool deal. They also had a sweet tour bus - I mean nicer than I have seen at shows a couple of levels above this one. Someone is funding these guys to tour in comfort or they made a deal with...oh wait...

Anyway, it was certainly a show I will remember for a very long time, and was pretty much exactly as exciting as I expected. They head to San Francisco tomorrow and I wish I could see them again.

And actually, just today a U.S. tour was announced with Ghost, Mastondon and Opeth, so there will be another chance for you all to see these guys. Like KISS opening for Fleetwood Mac, I expect Ghost will steal the show on this tour.

The merch guy said this tour had exceeded everyone's expectations across the board and I think they can log the Portland show in with this assessment. The show was epic.

Sorry for the disjointed review - I am still buzzing from the show. Below are some of my terrible iPhone photos, plus a YouTube of Here Comes The Sun. Wow.

CD Review - Ghost - Opus Eponymous

2012-01-30T21:35:00.000-08:00

Now and again a band comes around that truly defies classification. Or at least goes so counter to what you expect that you are taken for a loop.

The Swedish group Ghost is one of those bands.

A colleague at work tried for literally weeks to get me to buy the band’s first (and only) album, Opus Eponymous and I resisted.

While I love this guy, his taste in music is far more hardcore than mine. Put it this way – I don’t have the new Disfigured Prostitute album but I am pretty sure he does.

I have told him a million times that I like melody with my metal. No screamo cookie monster stuff for me. Well, he must have been paying attention because Ghost is the most catchy devil music I have ever heard.

Yes – the band promotes itself as devil music, a la Mercyful Fate and the like. But I have to think it’s a ruse. The five-piece band dresses in black capes and cowls, with their faces obscured so you can’t see them. They don’t even have names – they are all called Faceless Ghouls in interviews and on promotional material.

The lead singer, Papa Emeritus, is like 70s-era Peter Gabriel from Hell. He wears religious vestments complete with huge bishop hat and his face painted with a black and white skull.

All of this raised the chuckle factor for me, but then I got a free offer for Spotify and really had no excuse but to stream up the Ghost album to pacify my friend. That was about a month and a half ago and now I own the album and will see the band tomorrow evening in Portland on its first ever U.S. tour.

If I were to publish a recipe for this band, I’d say blend 50 percent pure Black Sabbath with 25 percent Metallica, 15 percent Genesis, 5 percent Blue Oyster Cult and 5 percent Randy Rhodes-era Ozzy. Does that equal 100 percent? I dunno - math sucks.

The Sabbath and Metallica-infused dark riffage and speedy moments permeate the music, but it’s when they hit that prog-rock percentage that my ears really perk up.

The fifth track, Stand By Him, is a great example of this. Part-way through this very catchy rock song, the band busts into weird time signatures with spooky organ and Steve Hackett-esque hammer-ons and then goes into some very Metallica-inspired heaviness. The song winds its way back to the catchy chorus that sounds like a BOC outtake and ends with some great melodic guitar a la 70s Maiden. What the hell…

The closing instrumental number, Genesis (aptly named) sounds like an outtake from that band’s Foxtrot album. Ending a dark-assed CD like this with a gorgeous dual-acoustic passage is flipping genius.

Or take track two, Con Clavi Con Dio, which is pretty heavy overall but ends with dark-sounding Gregorian chants. Still, you feel like you know where the album is going at this point. Until track three, Ritual, starts up and sounds like 70s radio rock with chunky guitars and tasty arpeggios, giving way to the catchiest chorus I have ever heard promoting human sacrifice. I could not get it out of my head and had to look up the lyrics, which are “This chapel of ritual smells of dead human sacrifices from the altar bed.” Not Katy Perry-level pop but damn it’s just as catchy!

So – catchy music, kooky Devil lyrics, mysterious image, chameleon-like musical style. What’s not to like about Ghost? I will drop a full concert review if I make it back alive. Until then, here is a live version of Ritual from some sludge rock show in Europe. Enjoy!

Rush Photographer Andrew MacNaughtan Dies, Neil Peart Remembers

2012-01-30T13:09:00.000-08:00

Last week, Canadian photographer Andrew MacNaughtan passed away while on assignment with Rush. Reports said that he had a heart attack the day after the photo shoot.

MacNaughtan worked with Rush since the mid-80s around the Power Windows tour, and had become their quasi-exclusive photographer.

This morning drummer Neil Peart posted some thoughts on his website. I won't paraphrase here but suffice it to say that MacNaughtan helped Peart through his dark days of personal tragedy, and also introduced him to his current spouse.

As jarring it is when a famous and influential musician dies, it's equally sad when a key member of the 'camp' goes to shoot that great gig in the sky.

Check out MacNaughtan's work at http://www.andrewmacnaughtan.com/home.html.

New Neil Young & Crazy Horse Album Completed

2012-01-25T14:57:00.000-08:00

I have said it before and I'll say it again - Neil Young is at his best with Crazy Horse. This is when he rocks out the hardest, and improvises the most.

Neil seems to space out the Crazy Horse albums, like he needs to store up the energy to make them happen. But reports from Thrasher's Wheat, and confirmed by Rolling Stone, indicate that Neil and The Horse have finished recording a new album and are in the midst of another one.

Neil broke this news at the Slamdance Film Festival during a sit-down with Jonathan Demme, who has worked on various films with Neil including the recent Heart of Gold film. You can see a video of the conversation between Neil and Demme at Thrasher's Wheat.

Neil's stuff is always touch and go - you never know what you are going to get. His last album, Le Noise, was great - well, I liked it. But it got mixed reviews. I thought it was sonically really interesting and with Neil and just an electric, it was something he had never done before.

From Rolling Stone:

Neil Young is recording a new album with Crazy Horse, according to a post on Young's fansite Thrasher's Wheat – and now confirmed by Rolling Stone: "It's looking good," a representative for Young says. According to the fansite report, Young shared the news over the weekend at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, at an event with Jonathan Demme to promote their new movie Journeys. The audience "erupted in applause" when Young said that he was working with Crazy Horse again. Multiple fans subsequently posted on Crazy Horse drummer Ralph Molina's Facebook wall to ask if the news was true. His response: "Yes!"

Young began playing with the garage rock band in 1968 and they back him on many of his greatest albums, including Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Zuma, Rust Never Sleeps and Ragged Glory. Their last album was the 2003 rock opera Greendale, though it didn't feature guitarist Frank "Poncho" Sampedro. The band (including Poncho) toured with Young in 2003 and 2004 to support the disc, though they haven't played together since the tour ended March 21st, 2004 at the Mullins Center in Amherst, Massachusetts. This has been the longest time Young has gone without performing with the group since their formation, though Crazy Horse drummer Ralph Molina played with Young on his 2007 disc Chrome Dreams II and the first few legs of the supporting tour. He was replaced by drummer Chad Cromwell in the summer of 2008 for unknown reasons.

The full line-up of Crazy Horse hasn't backed Young on an album since Broken Arrow in 1996, though they did record an LP in 2000 called Toast that Neil opted to shelf. "It's great rock & roll, very moody, kind of jazzy," Young told Rolling Stone in 2008, who was then contemplating a release of the disc. "It's really dark. It's got everything that the best Crazy Horse albums have had. It won't be the most commercial Crazy Horse album ever out."

In that same interview, we asked Neil if he had any desire to work with Crazy Horse again. "I'm not thinking about that right now," he said. "We'll just see what happens. Something might happen. You never know. Or something else we don't even know about could happen, and that would be really good, rather than go back. But if the vibe's right to go back and grab what's back there and yank it into the future, that's a big job."

According to the report on Thrasher's Wheat, Young said that he's already recorded one album with Crazy Horse and another is in the works. It's unclear if Toast is the finished album. There's word of a spring release for the album, but don't get your hopes up too high. Things change very quickly in the world of Neil Young. Remember that 30-date Buffalo Springfield that was supposedly happening this year?

That last point is the truth, and you never know when Neil is going to have a whole, finished album in the can and then never put it out. Well, whatever happens, I will always have my favorite Neil Young & Crazy Horse album, Ragged Glory:

Book Review - Tony Iommi - Iron Man

2012-01-18T20:45:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning to post a review of Tony Iommi's autobiography Iron Man for a while now. I read it in November, right after Ace Frehley's book, which I did review. But the Iommi book got away from me.

Many people beat me to it, including my friend and co-worker Justin Norton, who reviewed the book for the Invisible Oranges website.

I also made the mistake of actually reading Justin's review, which sealed the deal that I would never write my own, because I agreed with 95 percent of his review and mine would be a copy.

So I asked Justin if I could just re-post his (lazy, I know), so I am doing so. But first let me say that I enjoyed the book and learned an awful lot about Iommi. The story about how he crafted the prosthetic fingertips after his factory injury is fascinating. In fact the detail in which he describes what he has to do to this day to keep his fingers in shape for playing is really amazing.

Overall the book is entertaining but a little dry. The stories of how they used to haze Bill Ward are pretty awesome. The Born Again era is well-documented, but the reunion with Dio is almost an afterthought despite the great success of those last few years.

Anyway, if you dig Sabbath, get the book. Oh and be ready to want to break out your old Sabbath LPs and really dig into them. I was inspired to do so and now feel that Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is my favorite Ozzy-era album by far.

Here is Justin's review, also posted at Invisible Oranges. Go there to read the comments - they are interesting.

Oh, and Thanks Justin for letting me steal your work.

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Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven and Hell With Black Sabbath By Tony Iommi (with T.J. Lammers)

“My role was to come up with the music, with the riffs,” Tony Iommi writes early on in his memoir Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven And Hell With Black Sabbath. “That probably stopped the others from writing music. If I didn’t come up with anything, we wouldn’t do anything.” Iommi says it in such a deadpan voice that you’d think he was talking about a day in a Birmingham plant rather than creating a genre of music that’s been around for nearly a half-century.

Considering how circumspect and low-key Iommi has been despite his achievements, it’s not a surprise that writing the building blocks of heavy metal seems like another day at work. Iron Man, co-written with T.J. Lammers, does a good job of telling Iommi’s story from Birmingham troublemaker and novice gangbanger to rock legend. Iommi’s bandmate Ozzy Osbourne has long been over-covered in print and on television; in the past two years there’s been an Ozzy autobiography, a book of humorous medical advice and a documentary helmed by his son, Jack. During Ozzy’s peak popularity in the early ’00s there were enough books on the Osbournes to fill a small shelf. Part of this is unsurprising; Ozzy’s antics and his public persona beg for stories and tabloid coverage. Meanwhile Iommi – the man who created the musical universe that propelled Ozzy to stardom – spoke through music. Who needs words when you wrote the riff for “Paranoid”?

Nonetheless, there’s been an unrelenting curiosity about Iommi’s past because time has proven him to be the cornerstone of metal. While Ozzy courts television cameras, Iommi hides behind sunglasses and often painfully generic interviews. Iron Man does a good job of answering questions. Iommi takes us back to his earliest years, when he played with also-rans like The Rockin’ Chevrolets and famously crafted part of a finger after an accident to continue playing guitar, all the way to recent passing of Ronnie James Dio.

Iommi found his muse with Sabbath; he quickly took to the road, and never stopped. The tour stories are hilarious and often horrifying; how Ozzy showed up for an early tour with just one shirt and a pair of jeans; how Iommi and one-time manager Patrick Meehan thought a wasted groupie was dead and considered throwing her off a balcony before she woke up, and how drummer Bill Ward was nearly killed when he was set on fire as a joke.

There are a number of interesting detours, including Iommi’s revelation that he experimented with astral projection but today can’t “leave his body”. Along the way there are worldwide travels; countless lines of cocaine – they really were snowblind – and musical partnerships with unlikely collaborators like Body Count’s Ernie C. Iron Man offers insights into many relationships, including Iommi’s close friendship with Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham. Iommi’s relationship with Lita Ford gets a bit of a brush off; perhaps he views it as insignificant in retrospect.

There are no huge revelations or exposés in Iron Man, and that’s what makes it a strong record of Iommi’s life. Despite fame, riches and influence, Iommi never views himself as more than a talented and determined English guy who wanted to make music. Iron Man is a story about the power of creativity paired with drive and, ultimately, about a life well-lived.

By Justin M. Norton

PS - Justin turned me on to the band Ghost and I will be reviewing their tremendous new album soon. And no, I won't be reading Justin's first!!!!

New 1970-Era Doors Tune Released

2012-01-12T08:15:00.000-08:00

It's always fun to have bands open the archives so fans and fanatics alike can enjoy outtakes, first mixes and even tunes that hit the cutting room floor. Witness the excitement over the recent 'new' Van Halen song that was really from the band's first demo in 1976.

The Doors have followed suit, releasing a song that was recorded during sessions for 1970's L.A. Woman album.

There are some real gems on L.A. Woman and I like it best out of all their albums, if not for the songs but for the sound. The older Doors albums sound great but also have that late 60s dated sound to my ears. Mainly due to keyboards and drums.

But much like the Abbey Road album (same year, almost), the mics, studio techniques and mixing technology finally hit a real sweet spot and the recordings shine and still sound modern. The drums sound punchy and Ray Manzarek's keyboards don't sound all hurdy-gurdy.

So anyway, the band is putting out a 40th anniversary issue of L.A. Woman and have dug up a new song called She Smells So Nice. It's a blues, a la Crawling King Snake and Been Down So Long, which are my least favorite songs on that album. But I know Morrison was really into singing the blues at that time so I am pretty sure the band humored him.

She Smells So Nice is a 'fast blues' shuffle. Morrison's vocals are distorted, which probably means this is a first take that they never went back and fixed. And now of course, they can't. It's cool to hear a new song, though. Check it out below. What do you think?

She Smells So Nice by The Doors Official

New Van Halen Single - Tattoo - Hear It Here

2012-01-10T08:55:00.000-08:00

Don't have much time to do more than post this for you to hear. It's Van Halen's new single, Tattoo. First impression is that Eddie's solo rocks, and overall the song sounds like something I could actually hear Sammy Hagar singing! But I don't know - I need to hear it more than once to make a fair assessment. What do you think?

Tony Iommi Has Cancer

2012-01-09T09:24:00.000-08:00

Reuters is reporting that Tony Iommi has been diagnosed with early stages of lymphoma.

Iommi's website also backs this up, saying "With the news that Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi has been diagnosed with the early stages of lymphoma, his bandmates would like everyone to send positive vibes to the guitarist at this time.

Iommi is currently working with his doctors to establish the best treatment plan--the “IRON MAN” of Rock & Roll remains upbeat and determined to make a full and successful recovery."

This is terrible news, and who can avoid thinking of Iommi's band mate Ronnie James Dio dying from cancer in May 2010. The difference is, Dio's cancer was not detected until it was well-along.

Rolling Stone posted an article this morning as well, saying:

Two months ago the original lineup of Black Sabbath announced plans to record their first album of new material since 1978's Never Say Die! with producer Rick Rubin. They had been working in Los Angeles, but Iommi's diagnosis has caused them to move recording over to England.

Black Sabbath are also scheduled to kick off a world tour May 18th in Moscow. It's unclear whether or not Iommi's treatment will have any impact on these plans. The group hasn't toured since 2005, though the Ronnie James Dio-led lineup of Black Sabbath toured extensively from 2007 through Dio's death from stomach cancer in 2010.

Cancer is a bitch and reared its head in a very personal way for me in 2010. I had three people close to me pass of it (plus of course Steve Jobs, a high-profile victim). Let's pull our prayers together not only for Iommi and all the other cancer sufferers, but that a CURE can be found and cancer can be made a footnote in history, like polio.

Van Halen Cafe Wha? Gig -- Exclusive Report and Photos

2012-01-08T14:18:00.000-08:00

A former housemate in San Francisco from many years ago was able to get into the Van Halen show last week and I spoke to him about it and with his permission am posting some of his photos and observations for you to enjoy.

Hi name is Vince Muraco, and he is Executive Chef at Andaz 5th Avenue in New York City. In fact, when I knew Vince in the mid 90s, he was attending California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, where at age 17 he was its youngest student ever.

He has a long, prestigious resume as a chef in California, Miami and New York, including Park Hyatts in SF and LA, Vix in Miami, Grove Isle Resort in Coconut Grove, Florida and as Executive Chef at Zimzala in Huntington Beach. Now in New York and soon to be married and a father to boot, Vince is making a name for himself at Andaz 5th Avenue.

He has always been a Van Halen fanatic, even back in the day when we shared a house with a bunch of other guys in the city. We needed to have seven or eight people in that house to make rent, and Vince was one of those guys. I was in a touring band and wasn't around much but when I was we'd sometimes talk Halen, and I'd borrow his red Strat, the only axe in the house with a whammy bar. Vince also had one of the first 5150 heads, which he still has!

So anyway, he was able to get into the show at literally the last second from a classic 'friend of a friend of a colleague' situation and was ushered into Cafe Wha? during the first song. He stood off to the side of the stage on Wolfgang's side. You can see that from some of the photos he has shared.

Vince told me the vibe in the venue was electric and even though it was mostly industry folks in attendance, people went totally nuts.

He said that while Dave couldn't really hit the high highs, he sounded great and was the same old Dave, telling stories and going on and on. He said the band was mugging behind him and Eddie looked at his watch a couple of times during the longer Dave intros but all in fun.

Wolfgang was solid but as with most people, Vince missed Michael Anthony's voice. Wolfgang and Eddie did sing backups, though. Alex was rock solid on the kit, playing the smallest drum set Vince had ever seen him play -- probably due to the tiny stage more than anything. And the happiest surprise was that Eddie seemed sober and was having fun and was on fire.

Vince told me he had been able to sit in on some Van Hagar sound checks a few years ago and Eddie would be tight and killer but by show time he'd be wasted and couldn't play. Not the case in New York.

As you'd expect (and with an only 45-minute set), it was over in a blur. As noted in other reports, despite Beautiful Girls and Unchained being on the setlist for the encore, the band only did one song, Ain't Talkin Bout Love

Vince hung out after the show, bumped knuckles with Wolfgang, who gave him a pick, and then made his way to Eddie's side and was able to grab a setlist (pictured) and one of Eddie's picks too. Gearheads will appreciate the photos of Eddie's rig.

Speaking of Eddie, Eddie Trunk (NYC DJ and host of VH1 That Metal Show) was there and Vince was able to shoot the bull for a second and give him his card. Jimmy Fallon and John McEnroe were also in attendance.

Enjoy Vince's photos, and for sure hit the Andaz 5th Avenue if you make it to NYC. Thanks Vince for your insights and photos! Next step - let's see how good the new album is.

Also, according to Eddie Trunk's website, the track listing for Van Halen's new studio album, A Different Kind Of Truth has been revealed via The Van Halen News Desk.

A Different Kind Of Truth's Track listing:

1. Tattoo
2. She’s The Woman
3. You and Your Blues
4. China Town
5. Blood and Fire
6. Bullethead
7. As Is
8. Honeybabysweetiedoll
9. The Trouble With Never
10. Outta Space
11. Stay Frosty
12. Big River
13. Beats Workin’

In other Van Halen news, MelodicRock.com is reporting that the Deluxe Edition CD will feature a bonus DVD featuring four brand new acoustic performance videos titled The Downtown Sessions.

Van Halen's A Different Kind Of Truth is due to be released on February 7th through Interscope Records.

Van Halen Rock NYC Club - Videos Included

2012-01-06T08:43:00.000-08:00

As predicted, Van Halen played a small club gig last night for 250 industry folks and journos. You can read all about it at RollingStone.com and I am sure a bunch of other music outlets. But here is the Cliff Notes version from what I read:

--Setlist was from the 70s Roth albums plus a 'new' song from the upcoming album, but the song is a re-working of a 70s-era tune that was never released
--They absolutely rocked and were super tight. Eddie was sober (yes!)
--Roth is still verbose
--Wolfgang is great on bass but everyone missed Michael Anthony and especially his vocals

Its great to hear that the band is tight as shit and Eddie seems together. I guess the proof in the pudding will be the new album. Does VH have any creative fire in its tank? We'll soon find out: the new album is out next month!

I am sure loads of clips from the gig last night will emerge. Here are a few already:

New song "She's A Woman" debuted:

Here is a cool one. Who knew Dave played guitar?

and this is the whole of Panama:

Sounds great guys!

By the way, here is the original Gene Simmons-produced demo of She's the Woman from 1976:

Here is the setlist according to ClassicRock.com:

1. You Really Got Me
2. Runnin’ With The Devil
3. Somebody Get Me A Doctor
4. Everybody Wants Some
5. She’s The Woman
6. Dance The Night Away
7. Panama
8. Hot For Teacher
9. Ice Cream Man
10. Ain’t Talkin Bout Love
11. Jump

According to ClassicRock:

During the show Roth namechecked some of the stars who have played the Cafe Wha? in the past – Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix among them – and told the audience: “I’m more nervous about this gig than I would ever be in Madison Square Garden”. And among the celebs in the audience was tennis legend John McEnroe, who’s always loved to throw guitar hero shapes.

The band start touring in North America on February 18 in Louisville, Kentucky. The dates so far stretch to June 26 in New Orleans, with tickets on sale from Tuesday, January 10. So far, there’s no hint of any shows outside of the States and Canada.

Check out the full list of dates here. Bizarrely, Kool And The Gang are said to be supporting on selected shows!

Also, according to the Van Halen News Desk, the band’s new single, Tattoo, will premiere on January 10, along with the official video.

Happy Birthday John Paul Jones, George Martin

2012-01-03T15:42:00.000-08:00

I don't usually do these happy birthday posts but these two guys undoubtedly changed the course of music, with The Beatles and Led Zeppelin.

I have never seen or met Beatles producer George Martin, but was able to ogle JPJ a couple of years ago when Them Crooked Vultures blew our tiny little Portlandia minds at a mid-sized club called The Roseland.

If you want to see what JPJ added to the 'heavy' of Zeppelin's heavy metal, look no further than this from 1999:

And here is a great video of George Martin going over how he and the Beatles recorded A Day In The Life:

John Paul Jones is now 66, and George Martin just hit 86.

Van Halen to Tour in 2012

2012-01-01T15:01:00.000-08:00

A few days ago Van Halen posted a teaser video on the band's website. It was basically a two minute clip of some songs from the 1984 album with black and white video of the guys going through the motions, with scrolling text that the band will tour North America in 2012, and that the first tickets will go on sale as early as January 10.

A second item showed up on the Roxy's official website saying that the band has been rehearsing in secret at the L.A. club for two months. This was a cool inside scoop 'official leak' with a few posts from Roxy personnel.

See the whole thing here, but here is the scoop and a photo:

For the past 2 months VAN HALEN has been rehearsing here 2-3 times a week!!!!!!

Do you have any idea how hard that was to not tell you??

When you come in at 10:00AM and David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, and Wolfgang Van Halen are on stage with 3 other people in the room playing “Running With The Devil” and you can’t say anything?! It’s tough, to put it simply.

It all began with a 3 day video shoot for their newest single that you don’t know about yet (shhh) and we were all geeking out like never before. Little did we know, the guys had fallen in love with the room and decided to rehearse for their upcoming unannounced tour for the next 2 months!

We couldn’t film it for obvious reasons, so we’ve decided to share some of our favorite VH moments that happened for the next 2 months.

I am not sure if I will bother with this. If they hit Portland and the tickets are cheap, maybe. But wouldn't it be great if the band's new album - supposedly hitting also in 2012 - is actually good? That would be a big surprise and would put these guys on top again. Everyone loves the rags to riches to rags to riches. In my opinion, VH is now an underdog with low-assed expectations so they can only go up from here.

Unreal David Gilmour Live Video from 1978

2011-12-09T08:31:00.001-08:00

Everyone - have a great weekend and enjoy these.

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New Geddy Lee Billboard Interview

2011-12-05T15:02:00.001-08:00

Billboard posted a cool check-in interview with Geddy Lee this morning. I usually capture little bits and pieces for my loyal readers, but I found the whole thing illuminating, especially the notion of playing other albums end-to-end on future tours. Dig it:

Billboard: The Rush documentary Beyond the Lighted Stage came out last year. What was your initial reaction?
Geddy: It was hard for me to watch in some ways. It was kind of fun to watch the old, old stuff, the bad hair and bad clothes. And seeing the old performances, I enjoyed that. It was kind of an out-of-body experience, because I didn't recognize that as me. But I found it uncomfortable just to see so much of us talking [laughs]. I enjoyed all the parts where other people were talking more than watching us talk incessantly about what we do.

Billboard: What moved you to perform Moving Pictures in its entirety on the Time Machine tour?
Geddy: We thought that was the perfect time, and the perfect album to do that with. Because I guess it would be considered our quintessential album, and it was the 30th anniversary of that album being released. It also gave us the opportunity to play an 11-minute song on that album called The Camera Eye, which we had never really embraced as a live song.

Billboard: Would you consider doing that with any other classic Rush album?
Geddy: I certainly would. We really enjoyed that whole experience. We played for three hours -- you can tuck a 45-minute album in there and still play lots of new things and lots of other things. If we were really out of our minds, we would attempt something like [1978's] Hemispheres. If Rush has a cult following, within that cult following there's a following for Hemispheres [laughs]. I'm not sure we're up for that one, but I could see us doing 2112.

Billboard: What can we expect from the next album, Clockwork Angels?
Geddy: The first two [single] releases from this album, Caravan and Brought Up to Believe, are a great indication of where this album's going, although there's much more variety than just what those two songs offer. When I look back at [2007 album] Snakes and Arrows, as happy as we were with that record, in retrospect I feel we kind of overdid it with overdubs. We'd like to simplify that, just in terms of making sure the guitar, bass and drum sounds are big and loud and clear, and any time we are going to add an overdub, to make sure that it definitely is adding and not subtracting.

Billboard: Your parents were Holocaust survivors. How did that affect your life and music?
Geddy: Certainly my personality, my sense of humor, my outlook on life was informed by the experiences of my parents, and the stories they shared with me. Red Sector A [from the band's 1984 release Grace Under Pressure] was informed by one of my mom's stories -- when she was liberated in Bergen-Belsen in Germany. When they saw that there were British soldiers coming in to liberate them, they were in such disbelief. They had assumed that they had just been abandoned. Neil [Peart, Rush's drummer/lyricist] and I talked about this, and he'd been putting together some ideas for a futuristic song about a similar kind of prison idea. That story had some impact on him for sure.

Billboard: You're known as an obsessive baseball memorabilia collector, with a museum-quality collection. How did your baseball passion develop?
Geddy: In the early '80s we were touring a lot in America. We'd be staying at a Holiday Inn somewhere, and after a 400-mile drive, we'd be waking up around midday. There was nothing to do but turn on the box, and there was almost always a Cubs game on. I started watching the Cubs every day, and before I knew it I was completely obsessed with baseball. It keeps me sane, or it keeps me insane, probably.

DVD Review – The Rolling Stones – Some Girls Live In Texas ‘78

2011-12-01T22:33:00.001-08:00

As the Stones ponder their 50th anniversary next year, they are re-kindling interest in the band by releasing a deluxe version of their 1978 album Some Girls, remastered (again) and with a full second album’s worth of songs rescued from the cutting room floor. I will review that release soon – but I’ll tell you now that it’s pretty great.

The group also issued a DVD shot in 16mm film of an intimate concert mid-way through the 1978 American tour that I have been watching pretty much non-stop for the past week, called Live In Texas ’78.

The Stones are in top form at this show. The film catches the band on probably its last tour before it got into the big shows with the over the top props and ramps into the audience and all of that. Here it’s a tight five piece with two keyboard players augmenting the sound. And while the band did do some stadiums on the 1978 tour, this show was at a 3,000-seat theater in Fort Worth, Texas.

The set list is exciting. They kick it off with Let It Rock by Chuck Berry and then slide into some older, familiar tunes like All Down the Line and Honky Tonk Women. But then they soon hit the new material, which was from the mostly punk-inspired Some Girls album. Here the band really hits its stride. Jagger straps on a Strat for When The Whip Comes Down and we see Keith cue the bridge when the time is right. Throughout the night, the Stones perform like they still have something to prove. And new band member Ronnie Wood has clearly added some fire to the lineup.

The band does seven of the ten songs on Some Girls, only omitting Lies, Before They Make Me Run and the title track. This is the last tour where they did so much new material live – and per a 2011 interview with Jagger in the DVD bonus goodies, this was unique even on this tour – they did all that new stuff on this night because it was a small show. A big highlight for me is the live version of Just My Imagination – not punk inspired, rather just groovy and rockin.

Despite the tightness of the group, the arrangements on many of the new songs are loose, with solo sections in different places than the album, and Jagger adding extra lines like in Miss You. In fact despite the fact that Miss You was the big single at the time, the song is pretty much an extended jam with Jagger again on guitar, so Keith and Woody take loads of solos, sometimes at the same time!

There is all sorts of shit in this film you’d never see in a concert film today, like a roadie mopping up a spilled drink by the drum riser during All Down The Line. And the hole on the ass of Jagger’s pants that is covered with duct tape during the first few songs but then is gone and it looks like his underwear is hanging out of the hole all night.

Or in Far Away Eyes, when Mick starts the song on piano but after a verse is having problems with it so he moves to the organ and just picks up where he left off. And…why are Bill Wyman’s middle two fingers bound together? That’s another weird little thing on this film. Regardless, he plays great. I always thought he was fairly mediocre but this music shows off his chops. Even on a slow burner like Beast of Burden his parts are moving and melodic. Good stuff.

Where the Ladies and Gentleman film from the Exile tour showcased Mick Taylor pretty much noodling through every song, this concert showcases the emerging guitar interplay between Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood. Wood is rock solid and is just playing, instead of all the mugging he does these days.

In fact none of the band is mugging. Again, somewhere after this tour they became sort of caricatures of themselves in concert but here they are the real deal. Jagger’s voice is still in that really throaty mode, which he got out of later. It’s evident in Beast of Burden, which is a more aggressive delivery than on the album.

And let’s not forget Charlie Watts – rock solid and probably in his prime here.

After seven new songs in a row, the band shifts back to familiar ground with Love In Vain, an incendiary Tumblin Dice, another Chuck Berry cover, Happy (with Keith on vocal of course) and then the one-two punch of Brown Sugar and Jumpin Jack Flash.

The bonus tracks are interesting but probably only worth one viewing. The aforementioned Jagger interview is good. The band’s 1978 Saturday Night Live performance is on here – all three songs – and it’s just as I remember it. Terrible. The mix sucks, Jagger’s voice is gone and the performances are just poor overall. But Jagger and Dan Aykroyd doing a mock appearance on the Today show is a keeper.

You got a Stones fan you want to dazzle this Christmas? Get them this DVD, and Ladies and Gentlemen. They’ll love you forever.

Stones 50th Anniversary Plans Brewing? Mick Taylor and Bill Wyman Involved?

2011-11-27T21:51:00.001-08:00

The Stones will celebrate 50 years in the biz next year and the rumor mill is churning with tidbits - will the band do a massive tour? Will they record?

Keith Richards has been the most vocal about it, from Rolling Stone Magazine: Keith Richards will meet fellow Rolling Stones Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts in a London studio. "We're just going to play a little together, because we haven't played for three or four years," Richards says. "You don't necessarily want to rehearse or write anything – you just want to touch bases. That's a good start: me, Charlie and Ronnie. Mick's welcome, and I'm sure he'll turn up, but right now we just want to get our chops down."

OK, cool. But another string floating around is cooler - Richards has also invited Mick Taylor and Bill Wyman to consider getting ready for something.

He told Spinner in an interview: And of course everyone else is welcome. Mick Taylor's welcome. I don't see why everybody who was a Stone shouldn't be involved. I read somewhere else that Bill Wyman is at the ready for whatever transpires (can't find where I read it though!) Interesting since he gave up the band due to a loathing of touring.

Meanwhile, the Stones just re-issued Some Girls with 13 bonus/cleaned up tracks from the 1978 sessions, a-la the Exile on Main Street reissue. The band also put out a live concert film from the 1978 tour, called Live in Texas. I have the CD, and the concert DVD is in the mail - watch reviews soon. And while I think the Stones jumped the shark long ago, I'd be up for a concert with Mick Taylor, just to see him work with these guys again.

Book Review - Ace Frehley No Regrets

2011-11-21T22:57:00.001-08:00

I ripped through Ace Frehley’s book No Regrets in about three days. I am a life-long KISS fan and thought I had read it all, but let me tell you – I learned more about Ace and KISS than I had in years. The book fills in all sorts of holes in KISStory and gives the first really comprehensive picture of the man behind the Spaceman persona.

Usually I want to skip over the ‘childhood’ portion of biographies but Ace’s is really interesting and goes a long way to explain his laid back live-and-let-live demeanor. His entry into music is really interesting too, with some great, great stories, like how he used to sneak backstage at concerts and one time got dragged onstage to set up Mitch Mitchell’s drums at a Hendrix concert!

I was pleasantly surprised that Ace didn’t spend a lot of time on stories that have been told a thousand times by Gene and Paul, such as the fact that the band set up hollow speaker cabinets in their first club gigs to make the backline look bigger. He wisely skipped all of that and instead told new stories – plenty of stuff I had never heard before. I feel like Ace could fill a whole book with stories about drunken escapades and escapes from near death, and… oh wait that is exactly what he does here!

Ace does not shy away from being a life-long addict and how it impaired his decisions and his career. He is brutally frank about how during the recording of the Destroyer album he switched from being mainly a drinker to doing lots of cocaine. This begins a vicious decades-long struggle with dependency (Ace has been clean for five years), and many crazy stories.

He is very understanding as to why Paul and Gene didn’t want to work with him after a certain point (neither are drinkers or drug-users). And despite the No Regrets title of his book, Ace does express some regrets that he could have handled certain situations with more poise in his drugging days. He also credits Paul and Gene for being understanding about his desire to leave the band, and says they both made earnest pleas for him to stay in, which I don’t know I had heard Ace admit in the past.

Despite the fact that the media portrayed the book as slinging loads of dirt at Gene Simmons, it’s pretty tame in that department. Ace does say that Gene is a sex addict, and that he never really understood music (was more focused on business, marketing etc etc) but he has way more good things to say about Gene overall. Not a bad word in the book about Paul Stanley either. And while he says Peter Criss was his best friend in the band (because he partied too) Ace concedes that Peter became an unpredictable and unpleasant person towards the end of his (Peter’s) stint with the band – yes, due to drug and alcohol use.

Ace’s description of what it’s like to be an addict is very intense. He basically says when he first did coke, it was incredible but then he was always seeking that same first high, which was unobtainable because his body had developed a tolerance. He also said that alcohol as a depressant and cocaine as a stimulant was the perfect cocktail mix for partying for days on end. But then you’d get too strung out and have to take sleeping pills to rest. Then you wake up hung over and start taking prescription medication for that. Pretty soon you become a walking pharmacy and your only concern is where you are going to get your drugs in the next town because you can’t bring enough with you. He makes it sound like a real hassle and a nightmare, and it is. Keith Richards told similar tales in his book of trying to think steps ahead to get his fix in the next town.

Aside from the rise of KISS from a no-name bar act to the biggest band in the world in just two years, Ace provides a great in-depth look at the making of his solo album in 1978 and how he came into his own as a singer and songwriter. He has kind words for manager Bill Aucion and band ‘coach’ Sean Delaney, who helped with a lot of the early stage look and even coordinated the band’s stage moves. Lots of credit given to those two for the band’s success.

Ace concedes that once he left KISS his career and life went south due to the drugs but he does touch on his solo career and the recording of the albums he put out post-KISS. He does not provide as much insight into what happened on the KISS reunion tours – maybe those memories are too fresh. But the story ends on a high note, with Ace celebrating five years of sobriety and the release of his recent solo album, Anomaly. I pulled Anomaly off the shelf after I finished the book and still really enjoy it. Sure there is some crap on it but there are many gems. Sounds like classic Ace and that’s a good place to be.

Ace seems happy and healthy. That’s the impression I got from the book at least. He is at a place where he can look back and marvel on his accomplishments and share a laugh or two with the world about the crazy road he has taken. If you dig KISS, get the book.

Sabbath Reunion with Ozzy - Terrible Idea

2011-11-16T14:42:00.001-08:00

No one I know was really shocked to hear the news last Friday that Ozzy is getting back together with the rest of Sabbath for a 2012 tour and yes even a new album -- the first album since 1978's Never Say Die. It was the worst kept secret of the month, and something about the Spinal Tap-ish announcement on 11-11-11 seemed appropriate.

The response has been generally positive from what I have seen and people seem genuinely supportive. Me? I think this idea sucks. Ozzy jumped the shark 15 - 20 years ago and I guarantee the new album will be a piece of crap and the tour will descend into Sabbath playing the same ten songs they always play with Ozzy.

You want proof? See this Ozzfest show from 1999. You think Ozzy is going sound any better with these guys 13 years later? Dream on.

Contrast that with the STELLAR Dio reunion and Iommi and crew should have just gone out on a high note.
Call me a curmudgeonly old fart but I dunno...

Book Review - Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson

2011-11-16T11:32:00.001-08:00

Long-time readers know that despite this being basically a music blog, I will occasionally delve into technology stuff. And recently, I plowed through the Walter Isaacson Steve Jobs book and wanted to post something.

The list of markets Jobs revolutionized or invented is mind boggling: personal computing, desktop publishing (with Adobe), computers with a graphical interface (not having to type commands into the computer to make things happen), saving the music industry from Napster-like piracy with iTunes, the animated films industry (through Pixar – that part of the story is one of the most interesting), the mobile phone industry, retailing (Apple Stores), the app store for phones and tablets, and tablet computing with the iPad.

It might sound like I am an Apple ‘fan-boy’ as they are called, to agree with this list, but read the book. It’s all true. He either took an existing seed of an idea and made it work (graphical user interface, tablet computing), or outright invented it (iTunes).

Also true is that Steve Jobs was a major prick. This guy either thought you were a genius or you were shit. He led through fear and intimidation and pushed people beyond what is reasonable. Now, in many cases this method led to engineers and designers coming up with things that had previously been thought impossible. But still, not fun. He would also do things like send food back in restaurants after one bite, claiming it was inedible. And he pretty much totally neglected his family and kids. That kind of bullshit.

So while I very much admire the man, his perseverance and his genius, I don’t strive to be at all like him after reading the book. However, I do appreciate his take no prisoners attitude and the questioning of the status quo and responding to a ‘no’ with a ‘why not?’ And his willingness to fail. Nothing good happens without taking chances and failing. Most people and companies for that matter play it safe, and that is no way to change the world. Dream big and make it happen. Why not?

While Jobs died at the too-young age of 56, he lived a few lifetimes. The book presents Jobs’ life chronologically, with quotes from all the major players from the different phases of his life. Some of the most fascinating are from Bill Gates, who actually worked together with Jobs in the 80s to primarily design software for the first Macs. Later when Gates got into the operating system business, that is when their famous rivalry was born. But it seems like near the end, they had a grudging respect for each other.

The book is well-written and well-organized and is a pretty quick read for 500+ pages. The writer doesn’t sugar coat anything and you get a pretty good sense for what kind of guy Jobs was. Overall, it’s fascinating. I am not even presenting the tip of the tip of the iceberg. To relate something to my blog here, the section where Jobs convinced the big music companies to allow the use of their artists on iTunes is unreal. I don’t think anyone else but Jobs could have pulled it off. Read the book for that section alone…

And for the record, I typed this on an iMac, while listening to iTunes and syncing my iPod and being interrupted by calls to my iPhone. When this is posted, I’ll read it on my new iPad. Basically, I am a long-time Mac user.

In fact, after Jobs died, I pulled my Macintosh 512k from 1986 out of storage and guess what – it fired right up (see photo at left). That is highly cool. RIP Steve and thanks.

Jimmy Fallon Does It Again - with The Doors

2011-11-14T08:59:00.001-08:00

Jimmy Fallon's mind blowing imitation of Neil Young doing a Miley Cyrus song is still one of my top favorite viral vids. But now he's taken on the Lizard King (thanks to Seano for the tip) and it's just too good not to share. What's the material this time? Children's books. An instant classic. Enjoy!

Frehley, Iommi Books Out

2011-11-03T00:08:00.000-07:00

I am half way through the Steve Jobs biography and as much as I admire what the man did and love Apple products, wow what a prick! He makes diva rock stars look like Mother Teresa.

Anyway, on the way to my mailbox are new books from Tony Iommi and Ace Frehley that came out this week. I will rip through those once I am done with Der Jobser and will certainly post reviews here.

In the meantime, both Frehley and Iommi are doing the promotional rounds for their respective books and there are some good quotes and stories floating around. Makes me eager to crack these tomes when I get them. Probably will read Ace's book first. Stay tuned!

Steve Perry Journey Interview Posts at MelodicRock.com

2011-10-31T14:40:00.000-07:00

Melodic Rock is one of the sites I troll frequently for music news, and I have noted over the years that the guy who runs it is a big Steve Perry and Journey fan, and he has broken some great Journey stories - to me, at least.

He has been trying to land an interview with Perry for years and it finally happened. Please go to the MR site for the whole interview but here are some of the highlights:

On joining the band at the demand of the label:

Well then the label says “We want you to have a singer” and then they went, “Well, I don't know, I don't know.” So, all of the sudden, here comes me, and I think it was a real challenge for all of us to find out what that really meant. They had to let go of doing it their way. I was bringing in ideas; they were growing. But, I will tell you this…being the singer in that environment with them as we were growing together on the Infinity record brought a certain kind of vocal strength out of me that the band required it have. Otherwise, I do not know if I would have ever found that anywhere else.

On re-listening to old Journey tracks for the upcoming Greatest Hits 2 CD:

Emotionally, I had to really listen to the tracks closer than I had in years. It was truly, emotionally extremely painful for me to be perfectly honest with you because I forgot how great Neal was…and I forgot how great the band was. And I think I've gotten away from it long enough to see that. And I forgot some of the things vocally that I used to do. I'm thinking, 'I was out of my mind, what was I thinking?' (laughing), you know?

On the vocal demands of the Journey repertoire combined with the band's grueling tour schedule:

I didn't know what I had left until the next day. And that was the hardest thing to have to explain to the rest of the band members, the neurotic fear that I would be going through because I'm in one city tonight and all I know is I've got to give it everything and I'm not going to skate it. I'm going to put it out there. And I would. And I wouldn't know how much I borrowed from tomorrow's show until the next day. So I'd wake up in the morning in fear. Do I have laryngitis? Is it gone? Is it there? So I would just try to speak on the phone or say something. And then I would be in fear. I couldn't try to sing because it's too early. So, I would just shut up and live in fear for the rest of the day until about 4 o'clock, when it's too late to cancel the show. And now I'm doing the soundcheck, and now, during the soundcheck is when I find out what I have for the night.

On life after the second Journey breakup:

People think, “Steve Perry should be the happiest guy in the world, what problems could he have?” Well let me tell you what problems Steve Perry has. The only problem Steve Perry has is that he's alive just like you are and he has to wake up in the morning like you do and he has to face the world exactly like you do. I'm no different than anybody else. I don't have some special coupon that excludes me from life on life's terms. There is no special coupon. Though, I'll tell you something Andrew: When I was younger I thought that if I could become famous and everybody would love me I would kind of have a special coupon. But guess what? The reality was that after I'd attained that, I realized that I am no different than anybody else. I still have to live life on life's terms. When Journey broke up for the second time...I think it damaged all of us again...From that experience, they went on with someone else. And I went away. I did. I've been gone. I just went away and tried to figure out how to live life on life's terms and just come off the ride...So, I thought in my mind it was better just to run away and not feel any of it. And you know Andrew, that worked for quite a few years but it certainly isn't a way to live life and I do not recommend it! (laughing) I do not recommend running from life, though I needed to. Because the break-up was so painful for all of us. And I'm not saying just for me, goddamnit. I'm saying for all of us. Please, I hope you print this. I want you to print this. The break-up was painful for all of us. But it necessarily had to happen.

You'll have to read the rest of the interview to find out what Perry thinks of the band continuing on with other singers and other topics. It would be cool one day to have Perry reunite with the rest of Journey for one gig, like Pink Floyd did for Live8 or Zeppelin for the O2 gig. But even Steve Perry knows how demanding his songs are to sing, and I wonder if he'd be able to do it justice to himself. Still, how cool would it be to see one more time?

Paul Stanley Has Vocal Surgery

2011-10-27T22:35:00.000-07:00

Love 'em or hate 'em, KISS boasts one of the best front men to ever grace the stage, vocally. Paul Stanley's pipes have improved exponentially over the decades and I have always been blown away at his vocal power. Forget that he sings inane lyrics and his oft-laughable stage banter has warranted whole CD collections on the bootleg market.

Put it this way - I can see KISS replacing Gene Simmons some day with some clone they pull from a tribute band or more likely, a well-publicized and promoted reality show a-la Rock Star: Superonova. Hell, they already replaced Ace and Peter! But who could ever replace Paul Stanley? I don't know. You don't agree? Go try to sing Love Gun and get back to me.

Anyway, I had noticed a rasp creeping into his vocals, especially on some tracks on the recent Sonic Boom CD. I thought, well, shit can't they fix that in the studio or have him re-do the vocal?

Guess not. According to reports, Paul had vocal surgery on Tuesday. Per CNN:

KISS lead singer Paul Stanley underwent successful surgery for "recurring vocal cord issues" Tuesday that the musician said Wednesday "come with 40 years of preaching rock 'n' roll."

His doctors say Stanley, who's been touring and recording with KISS for nearly 40 years, will make a "swift and complete" recovery, according to a statement from his publicist.

"I hold myself to a higher standard than others do," Stanley said. "With that in mind, I wanted to remedy a few minor issues that come with 40 years of preaching rock 'n' roll."
Here's to a speedy recovery Starchild!

Awesome Live Rendition of Abbey Road Medley

2011-10-04T22:24:00.000-07:00

The 'side 2' medley of songs on The Beatles Abbey Road that starts with "You Never Give Me Your Money" and finishes with "The End" has got to be some of the best 16 minutes of music ever recorded. I am not kidding. The collection of little songs span all sort of different styles, and the flow is damn near magical.

The climax of course is a mimi drum solo out of "Carry That Weight" by Ringo followed by traded guitar solos between McCartney, Harrison and Lennon (in that order) and the final "and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make" bit. Makes the hair on my arms stand up every time.

There is a group of musicians called the Fab Faux that includes Will Lee, bass player in David Letterman's Most Dangerous Band. I had read about this group and how obsessive they are with recreating the sounds on The Beatles albums down to using the same kinds of amps and guitars.

My friend nedmusic passed on this truly gorgeous video of the Fab Faux doing the Abbey Road suite live in the studio last year. It is remarkable, and what is truly awesome is the vocal work. They really, really have those vocals nailed and if you believe what you read, there are no overdubs here - it's all live. Enjoy!

The Fab Faux - Abbey Road Side 2 (mostly) from The Fab Faux on Vimeo.

Roger Waters and Foo Fighters Rock Jimmy Fallon

2011-09-29T22:21:00.000-07:00

I am a bit on the fence with all this remastered Pink Floyd stuff. I mean, I already re-bought all of it a few years ago. How much better can it sound? And I am not an audiophile to the level that appreciates the "James Guthrie 5.1 Surround Mix in high resolution audio at 640 kbps" version found on the Immersion Set at more than $100.

But it is always great to see bands like Floyd get exposure to the level that might introduce the music to new generations. This remaster thing is all about that, I think.

Along those lines, Floyd fan(atic) Jimmy Fallon is trying to make up for his atrocious Roger Waters interview by hosting "Pink Floyd Week" and having Waters return the other night to talk a bit but to more importantly jam In The Flesh with the Foo Fighters.

Very powerful indeed, as the below video will attest. Also interesting to hear the song isolated from the rest of the album, where you realize it's a series of totally pummeling riffs with really only one verse! What do you think:

New Neil Peart Video Coming - Preview Clip

2011-09-19T09:53:00.000-07:00

I am not a drummer but I do love the deconstruction of songs and checking out separate parts, especially drum parts. So I think I have a big treat coming up soon with Neil Peart's next DVD, called Neil Peart Taking Center Stage: Lifetime of Live Performances.

If you are a Rush fan, read this preview from Amazon and tell me you just didn't get a boner:

Neil's Peart's new 3-disc DVD set, Taking Center Stage: A Lifetime of Live Performance, is the most in-depth insight into Neil s body of work ever documented. Filmed in various locations over the course of a year, Neil takes you on a behind-the-scenes look at Rush's 2010-11 Time Machine Tour. Beginning with a visit to his personal pre-tour rehearsals, Neil shows the ways in which he prepares for the upcoming tour. The viewer is then transported backstage at a Rush concert to see the drum setup, soundcheck, and an unprecedented backstage interview where Neil explains and runs through his warm-up routine. Neil then presents a detailed look at every single song in the Time Machine set list (which includes the entire Moving Pictures album). For each song, key grooves and fills are analyzed by Neil. Full-speed and slow-motion drums-only demonstrations are included, coupled with PDF icons that allow the viewer to analyze and practice the patterns using the included PDF eBook. At the end of each song discussion, the viewer is transported onstage to a Rush concert to see the actual live performance of the song from the perspective of the drum cameras only (with an exclusive, custom audio mix that features the drums heard slightly louder than a normal concert DVD mix). With in-studio rehearsal footage, backstage scenes, live concert performances, and breathtaking interview footage filmed in Death Valley National Park, California, this package documents not only Neil s approach to live performance, but of the very essence of his drum style, on all the classic Rush songs...

Just saw on RushIsABand.com that there is even a teaser video, so here you go. This comes out October 14. Holy crap.

CD Review - Yes - Fly From Here

2011-07-27T00:18:00.000-07:00

I've been listening to Yes’ new album Fly From Here on Spotify (so I didn’t have to buy it – ha ha) and it has grown on me after a few listens.

The key to me really embracing this album was to not worry about what version of Yes this was, should it be called Yes, etc. Once I got over that and really started listening, I started enjoying it.

Aside from its prog-rock excesses, Yes’ hole card has always been its vocals.

The Drama album showed that Squire has a huge part in Yes’ vocal sound, as do one-off tracks like Does It Happen from Magnification and stuff like Leave It from 90125.

Fly From Here also puts a spotlight on the vocals, and whatever you think about Benoit David as a Jon Anderson replacement, his voice sounds really good on this record, especially when paired with Squire.

The band is still clearly thinking that vinyl is still around, because the first ‘side’ is a 20-minute, six-song piece called Fly From Here. The Fly From Here chorus, which appears off and on in the six song suite, is very catchy with lush vocals and a gorgeous vocal arrangement. The music is very good as well, with some nice slide work from Howe, and killer classic ascending Squire bass riffs.

Geoff Downes brings a tasty, textured flavor back to the band, and it’s honestly nice to not have a ‘shredder’ on the keyboards, crapping all over the songs (sorry Wakeman/Moraz fans). Only part four of Fly From Here, the “Bumpy Ride” song, is cringe-worthy. Think Teakbois but not as irritating.

‘Side two’ is made up of five stand-alone songs, the first sung by Squire, called The Man You Always Wanted Me To Be. Very nice, catchy tune – the outro has a great groove and some cool repeating vocal calls. “Life On A Film Set” borrows its verse vocal melody from America’s “Tin Man,” which is a bad idea but the song gets interesting when it goes to 5/4 time in the second half. There is an obligatory Steve Howe acoustic piece that as usual is really good.

My favorite song on this album may be the very pretty acoustic song Hour of Need – the one song I could actually hear Jon Anderson signing. It sounds like part two of Nine Voices from The Ladder but it’s really nice. Great chord changes, again solid harmonies and Downes shows he can still do some quick keyboard runs when he wants to. The album closes with Into The Storm, a good song that would probably smoke live – soaring vocals on this one. A lot of this CD would be really good live, now that I think about it.

Let’s be clear – there is nothing edgy about this album. It’s very ‘easy listening’ but enjoyable. Sadly the drums are practically non-existent. I love Alan White but he’s slowing down on his chops for sure. Or – shock – actually playing for the song. But he has always been able to add a cool twist to a straight song, all the way back to Lennon’s Instant Karma, and there’s none of that here. Anyone looking for Gates of Delirium or hell even Changes will be disappointed. The drums even seem kind of buried and the overall mix is ‘light.’ Not sure whose fault that is because certainly producer Trevor Horn is well-qualified.

Fly From Here will be seen as an interesting footnote in the band’s career, and fans of the band’s oddball tangents like Talk, The Ladder and Magnification will probably enjoy this one as well. Just open your mind a bit and give it a chance, and put down the baggage first.

Here is a so-so promo video for the album. Interviews are not great and the song they chose to back most of it is that annoying one I don't like, but it's worth a watch:

Neil Peart Jams With Stewart Copeland, Les Claypool, Danny Carey

2011-07-22T00:38:00.000-07:00

What does a drum God like Neil Peart do when he's off the road? Well, he goes to Stewart Copeland's crib, meets up with fellow drum God Danny Carey (Tool) and Les Claypool and lays down some of the weirdest non-Rush music possible.

Brace yourself, the below video is not going to blow you away. It's more like Mother from Synchronicity than Cygnus X-1, but it's wild to see Neil and Stewart together, knowing how much The Police influenced Rush in the 80s. I guess it makes sense but I don't think I have ever seen those two in the same room, much less in a free-form jam situation.

Would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall but this video edit is close. Enjoy!

Yes Release First Video in More Than A Decade

2011-07-20T08:27:00.000-07:00

Yes has released its first Jon-Anderson-less album since 1980's Drama, called Fly From Here. The Drama connection doesn't end there. Fly From Here was a song written by the 1980 Drama-era lineup of Trevor Horn (vocals instead of Anderson), Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Alan White and keyboardist Geoff Downes. The band decided to dust it off some 30 years later and make it the centerpiece of this new release.

This 2011 Fly From Here lineup has that very same personnel list as 1980's Drama, but with vocalist Benoit David instead of Horn - but get this - Horn produced the album. So I was not shocked to check out this first single, which is a short version of the almost 20 minute, six part version of Fly From Here on the new album, and conclude that it sounds a hell of a lot like the Drama lineup.

Benoit David sounds much more like Trevor Horn than he does Jon Anderson. Now personally, I love Drama - it is one of my favorite Yes albums. So it is cool to hear this 2011 Yes sounding a lot like the 1980 Drama Yes, mostly because of Downes' keyboard sounds and the vocals. Checking out the iTunes samples, it is nowhere near as heavy as Drama, but you can tell it's the same band.

The video is OK. You don't see any band members but you do see Trevor Horn on the airplane (white haired gentleman with sunglasses and hat) and at first glance I thought the flight attendant in blue was Chris Squire in drag. Agh!

Also, I can't help but wonder if the whole video is a metaphor for the band's career? Anyway, check it out and see what you think. I may just get this CD and review it here. Never thought I'd do that - pretty much done with Yes for a while now - but I like what I am hearing.

Jimmy Page Launches Website

2011-07-18T09:18:00.000-07:00

It's hard to fathom that it is 2011 and Jimmy Page has never had an official website until now. But Page said as reported in a Classic Rock post, “I’ve had the domain name for a number of years. I’ve just been sitting on it and a number of people had made approaches about setting something up and it got to a point that it felt it was the right time to put the website together.”

In addition to the usual photos, discography, tour dates and news that you'd find on a musician's website, Page is tapping his extensive archive to run a daily feature called On This Day that shows what he was doing on such and such a day in 1978 (worshiping the devil, for example), offer a rare audio or video clip etc.

The article says, "This is a daily diary of events spanning his entire career. It will include footage, audio clips, unseen photos, plus previously unreleased tracks, demos and home recordings. There will also be personal anecdotes. But be warned: each entry will be up for just 24 hours and then will permanently removed. There’s to be no archiving."

Page also launched a Twitter alias at @jimmypagecom but I can only imagine he has an admin running it.

In other Page news, he joined the Black Crowes last week in the UK for a rousing encore of Shake Your Money Maker. Dig that here:

Concert Review - Rush - Portland Oregon - Time Machine Tour

2011-07-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

I was not going to review this Rush show since it was the exact same setlist as the show I reviewed last August. As you can see, I took loads of photos and video that time but this time decided to not even bring in the camera, so I could just enjoy the gig without worrying about capturing it. I knew it would be the same show but I wanted to catch it anyway because this tour has been so great.

The August show was the 15th on the tour, and this was the third to last, so I was interested in seeing how things might have developed over the last year on the road. I did the same thing with The Police reunion, catching the second or third show on that tour and one near the very end. In that case the band was very, very rough at that first gig and was obviously still working out arrangements and even the keys of the songs. At the second, they were super tight.

Well, in Rush’s case they were tight both shows. I am not sure which one was better to be honest. They were visually stoked to play The Camera Eye on the front end of the tour and I think Alex Lifeson’s solo was better at that first gig. But I have to say, Geddy was on fire in Portland, jumping around and hitting every note – and I mean EVERY note. How he keeps his voice in shape on a long tour like this is beyond me.

While Neil Peart looked tired, he played great and my friend Dave who has seen Rush a million times thought the center section of Freewill might have been the best he’d ever seen.

So yes, same setlist, same awesome band. For me the highlights were Marathon, Subdivisions, all of Moving Pictures, which was still AWESOME to see live all the way through, and the new stuff – Caravan and BU2B. They were really fired up to play these new songs.

I still think the setlist was weird. Time Stand Still and Presto were not great choices for second and third place but whatever. Overall this tour was a real treat and I am looking forward to the DVD that will likely come from the Cleveland appearance.

In the meantime, here is video I shot at the show last August:

CD Review – Ozzy Osbourne – Diary of A Madman, Blizzard of Oz

2011-06-29T16:20:00.000-07:00

I didn’t think I’d review these CDs but I do feel the urge to post something. Basically, I had not bought the previous versions on CD because of the atrocious decision by Sharon Osbourne to replace the original bass and drums by Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake in 2002 with new recordings by Robert Trujillo and Mike Bordin who were in Ozzy’s band at the time. Daisley and Kerslake had sued Osbourne for unpaid royalties and this was Sharon’s big F-U.

I read that the new versions in 2002 sounded horrible, and I just couldn’t support that decision anyway. I mean, who does that? Would Pete Townshend go back and replace all of John Entwistle’s bass parts on Quadrophenia if the former Mrs. Entwistle sued Pete for more money? God I hope not.

Or maybe is was continued business genius on Sharon’s part, who let’s be fair saved Ozzy from certain death to forge a very successful solo career with her firmly in charge. Maybe she knew people would buy these discs twice – once in 2002 and again when the original music had been restored.

Well, I didn’t. But I did get these new remasters and I have to say, I am impressed. I actually hadn’t listened to these two releases all the way through in years, due to the aforementioned issue of not being able to get a good version on CD. They stand up very, very well over the years. The songs are Ozzy’s best by far and stand up against a lot of 70s Sabbath if you ask me.

Whose responsibility was that? Guitarist Randy Rhodes.

Now, I was always the first guy in high school to dismiss Rhodes as a totally overrated guitar player who only got so famous because he burned up in a plane crash. But I have to say, hearing these CDs with fresh ears gives me a whole new take on the young man.

While all the tracks on Blizzard are credited to Osbourne, Rhodes and Daisley, and the same plus Kerslake on Diary (result of the aforementioned lawsuit), I can only imagine Ozzy and Randy sitting down to put these tunes together. Rhodes had fantastic musical ideas and Ozzy somehow put together lyrics that spoke to what was going on in his life at the time.

With a lot of stuff, the image outshines the music – but get rid of those lame album covers of Ozzy looking crazy and you have a collection of fantastic songs – I Don’t Know, Crazy Train, Over The Mountain, You Can’t Kill Rock and Roll, Flying High Again, Diary of A Madman, Mr. Crowley, Tonight. I mean come on, that is a seriously good two-album run of classic tunes.

Blizzard of Oz is a great solo debut, but Diary is an even better CD than Blizzard – the songs are more developed and Rhodes’ music ranges from heavy to classical. And on the reissue, you get a bunch of live tunes from the Blizzard tour. This is where Rhodes really shines.

Pretty sure this is the classic Ozzy, Rhodes, Rudy Sarzo, Tommy Aldridge lineup on these live songs. I have no idea how much of it was cleaned up in the studio, but Rhodes’ performance is pretty spectacular. Made me realize, for better or worse, that all those 80s hair metal guitar players were not trying to be Eddie Van Halen – they were trying to be Randy Rhodes.

I mean, you can’t really do EVH – he is one of a kind. But Rhodes took Eddie’s tapping and whammy bar dives, made them his own and added that classical scale shredding thing that became mandatory in every heavy band in the 80s. Which sucks, because most of it was crap – just an exercise in how fast you could play a scale. But it came from Rhodes who actually used it well and put some soul into his playing overall.

Ozzy’s voice is strong on these two albums and as I said, the songs are true heavy rock classics. It reminded me that outside of the bickering between parties, what a win-win that happened when Ozzy got kicked out of Sabbath. We got Rhodes-era Ozzy, and we got Dio-era Sabbath. With Dio’s death and the recent Heaven and Hell concerts and releases, it’s been great reliving and enjoying that Dio Sabbath. But now we can go back and refresh our memories on what Ozzy was doing between pissing on the Alamo, eating bird heads in board meetings and snorting ants. He was making great music with Randy Rhodes.

Neil Peart Interview on CBC's Strombo

2011-06-17T10:25:00.000-07:00

Neil seems to be getting more out of his shell with the media these days, and the below video is a pretty insightful interview - I guess this is a preview and the full interview will run tonight (Friday June 17) on CBC at 11:05 PM ET. Great questions from George Stroumboulopoulos too, which is refreshing.

Also, in this clip from early June, Neil goes over Moving Pictures track by track with George! Glorious!

CD Review - Blackfield - Welcome to My DNA

2011-06-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

It’s rare these days when I get totally geeked up about a new band (new to me anyway) and feel compelled to share but I have been totally blown away by the band Blackfield’s new CD Welcome to My DNA.

Now technically this is not a ‘new’ band to me, because it’s Porcupine Tree front-man Steven Wilson’s band, co-led with Israeli musician Aviv Geffen. On Welcome to My DNA, the band’s third release since 2000, Geffen wrote all of the songs except for one, so it’s really his vision. But Wilson, who sings a lot of the songs, brings that crisp, lush Porcupine Tree production to the whole affair.

I was actually pretty shocked to find that Geffen wrote all of these songs because the vocal melodies are so Porcupine Tree – just gorgeous vocal melodies with the PT Steven Wilson harmonies. The themes are similar as well – alienation, loss of innocence etc. The difference is that all of the 11 songs clock in between 3 and 4 minutes except for the title track, which is just over five minutes. That is a radical departure from Porcupine Tree and makes for the best of both worlds – concise songwriting plus the Porcupine Tree lushness I love. The songs are also not quite as heavy as many PT songs - rather, they are cut from the same cloth as Lazarus from Deadwing, if I had to make a comparison.

In an interview, Wilson said: Porcupine Tree would never be so focused on the art of a 3 minute pop song. Blackfield is all about the art of a great tradition pop song of verse-chorus-verse-chorus. Porcupine Tree has never been about that, although we have fraternized a little bit with the art of pop music. Porcupine Tree has always been more about horizontally complex long pieces and the album is an overall piece rather than lots of little pieces... Aviv is not a big fan of heavy music and he is not a big fan of long pieces so immediately the meeting point had to be somewhere where we were both focused on short melancholic songs.

So my take is that Blackfield songs are not pop songs, but Steven’s point is accurate otherwise. Short songs do not equal “pop,” nor do songs that have verses and choruses! But I do have to say that after just one listen to DNA I was totally hooked. I have listened to this CD more than 10 times since Sunday and I am very stoked to check out the band’s previous two releases.

Here is the first track, called Glass Houses. If you like this song, you will love this whole CD. Get it:

Neil Peart Drum Solo on David Letterman

2011-06-12T13:49:00.000-07:00

Neil Peart made an unorthodox network TV appearance on Thursday, on David Letterman. Reports from the taping were that Peart was nervous and dropped his sticks twice in the middle. But they had him re-do it after the audience left and presumably the below is a combo of the two. Regardless, the man is a fuckin machine and here you go! Can't wait to see the band in Portland later this month.

Jimmy "Neil Young" Fallon Joined By Crosby and Nash

2011-06-05T22:46:00.000-07:00

Props to nedmusic for turning me on to this. Jimmy Fallon has been doing these dead-on Neil Young impressions for a while now, but this one takes the cake. He does a song by Miley Cirus a la 70s Neil and has fuckin David Crosby and Graham Nash come out to harmonize. Not only is his version of Neil so creepily accurate, but Crosby and Nash laying on gorgeous harmonies makes me think this is the best Neil has sounded in a long time! Ha ha. Below is the clip, and below that is the song they are actually covering.

Paul McCartney Digitizes A Lifetime, Puts It In HP Cloud

2011-06-02T23:39:00.000-07:00

It's well-known by Beatles fans that John Lennon agreed to film and record most of his life, long before reality TV and Big Brother. The treasure trove of audio and film was tapped for the fantastic Imagine movie, as well as the Anthology series, which used loads of interviews from John's life to match the volume of fresh interviews from the other three guys, all of whom were alive at the time.

But you know who else kept the cameras running, and for much longer? Paul McCartney. And now, McCartney's lifetime of home movies, videos, photographs, documents, unreleased music, paintings and numerous other items will be stored in perpetuity on a new private cloud system designed, built and maintained by HP, according to this eWEEK article.

According to the article:

McCartney has been one of the world's most-renowned entertainment content creators for two generations. Like many people, his personal collection has been stored all these years on old-school media that's considered at risk.

"This is quite an undertaking, and the process is ongoing--and will be for awhile," Scott Anderson, HP's entertainment marketing manager, told eWEEK. "We believe there are more than 1 million assets in this library; there are shelves and shelves of boxes containing all sorts of things, personal and business. It all will eventually be digitized."

"He [McCartney] is one of the most prolific artists of all time--he's got thousands of hours of videotape that's been taken through his career; he's got artwork, he's got his music, of course," Anderson said. "Much of it is on media that's susceptible [to physical damage]." McCartney was looking for a company "that he could trust to work with him to preserve his unique assets," Anderson said.

The article also discusses the possibility of McCartney opening access to parts of this vast library to the public. I for one will be happy to roam those halls! You?

Backstage Details and Hi-Res Video of Floyd "Reunion" Emerge

2011-05-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

As discussed earlier and known by any Floyd fan who has had their ear to the ground this week, David Gilmour and Nick Mason shared the stage with Roger Waters at a recent Wall show in the UK last week.

Waters has been pretty transparent about posting high-res video clips of the appearances (below), and now Rolling Stone has published a short article with an interview with Mason, here. Some of the more interesting tidbits:

When Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason got to London's O2 arena last week, he had no idea that he'd be walking into David Gilmour and Roger Waters performing "Comfortably Numb" in a soundcheck for Waters' show that night. "It hadn't ever been quite finalized – there'd been talk about maybe playing in Paris or something else," Mason tells Rolling Stone. "So it was very nice to get there and see that [David] was there."

After soundcheck, the three took seats at a table in a backstage room and had a light dinner. "We were all just a little bit nervous, because it was a pre-show moment so it wasn't that sort of totally relaxed, 'Let's all chat about everything.' Since [David] hadn't played the track in so long, he was probably worried about the technology of lifting him up on the Wall. It's quite scary up there – I've been up there once and it's a long way up."

Next, Mason retreated to his seat on the floor of the arena, where fans greeted him enthusiastically, and watched The Wall for the first time as a spectator. "It was mind-blowingly good," he says. "It's a shame in a way . . . if you could turn the clock back and have access to that sort of technology, 40, 30 years ago, it would've been fantastic. I mean, it's interesting because I think The Wall has been brought up to date. When you look at the stage sets and the lighting that goes on now, it so eclipses what we used to do."

This is all great but it really made me miss Richard Wright because you know he would have been a part of this too. It would have been so cool for the original four guys to get together one more time, and in front of that giant Wall. Makes me all that much more thankful for Live8 (also below).

Enjoy:

Outside The Wall

Comfortably Numb

Live8:

Paul McCartney Reissues His Crappiest Albums

2011-05-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

I was surprised to see all the promo around Paul McCartney reissuing his two solo albums McCartney and McCartney II. Both albums were put out as transitional exercises and were really Paul blowing off steam between formal recording projects.

I know there are a lot of people who hold McCartney close to their hearts, but as much as I have tried to enjoy that album, I still think it's mostly garbage. And don't get me started on McCartney II. A total piece of crap.

But I guess Paul is trying to save up for honeymoon number three, so he is putting out major packaging options around these reissues, such as double-disc Special Editions and Deluxe Editions, with DVDs and more bonus content. They will also be available on vinyl and digitally. Both versions come with all sorts of bonus tracks, including live material and B-sides.

The packages look gorgeous but you can't polish a turd. Hell, even in the below promo videos, Paul admits these were fun projects and were not supposed to be consumed as real top-notch recordings.

Unlike Pete Townshend's Scoop series, which offer loads of raw, unpolished noodlings and Who demos, Sir Paul is basically reissuing dross.

Paul is almost apologetic in the below but you tell me - are you going to buy any of this? Am I smoking dope here?

Gilmour, Waters and Mason Unite at Wall Show in London

2011-05-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

Well it happened! David Gilmour joined Roger Waters at the Thursday night Wall show in London. Atop The Wall, he sang the chorus and ripped the solos, while Waters mugged some 50 feet below.

Of course this was expected, as Gilmour had promised an appearance at one show in return for a favor from Waters.

But the surprise of the night was Nick Mason showing up, along with Gilmour and Waters after the bricks fell and the dust was settling, for Outside The Wall. How very fucking cool. Closest thing to a Floyd reunion we’ll ever get, due to the death of Richard Wright a few years back. And I’d bet it’s the last time, too. These guys don’t have many reasons to do it, really, except charity.

This is obviously a hugely exciting thing. But how did it sound? Based on the videos, Gilmour’s voice was a bit pitchy, and his middle solo was great but standard. The end solo? Not the best I’ve ever heard but pretty goddamn good, and it gets better and better towards the end.

Of course due to the magic of YouTube, lucky motherfuckers in attendance have posted these for us to enjoy. Sweet!

The Wrecking Crew Film Tells Story Behind Huge String of 60s Hits

2011-05-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

The Wrecking Crew was the name given to a group of session musicians in Los Angeles in the 60s who played on hundreds and hundreds of songs (Mr. Tambourine Man by the Byrds is one of the most famous, and they were on loads of Beach Boys tunes too) but never got credit by any of the artists.

Now there is a film that tells the whole story. Trouble is, it's not being released broadly yet as the producers need to raise funds to secure the proper rights for broad distribution. In the meantime, check out the trailer below. This film looks awesome!

Flat Stanley Video Journal - Eminence Front

2011-05-02T09:26:00.000-07:00

Been working on some new songs with Flat Stanley (my power trio cover band) and put together this video from last week's rehearsal. Basically, we found the backing keyboard track to a few classic Who tunes and have decided to do two of them at our next show, which is this Friday.

It's a short clip but you get the point! Enjoy:

William Shatner Album Taps Hark Rock Greats

2011-04-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

OK this is such a wank I was not planning on posting anything. The 'news' is that William Shatner is putting out an album of space travel-related covers called "Searching for Major Tom," with various big-name guests. I assume the music will be semi-decent while the lyrics will be delivered in the same over-dramatic spoken word style that graced his 60s album, The Transformed Man.

The songs he has chosen to butcher are some of the all time greats, including Space Trucking, Rocket Man, Space Oddity, Learning to Fly, Iron Man, Walking on the Moon, etc. Wait - Iron Man? Hmm.

Then I looked at the list of guests and just had to share: Ian Paice, Johnny Winter, Bootsy Collins, Patrick Moraz, Michael Schenker, Warren Haynes, Ritchie Blackmore, Alan Parsons, Peter Frampton, John Wetton, Dave Davies, Zakk Wylde, Steve Howe.

Ok what the fuck? How in the hell did Shatner get Ritchie Blackmore off of the bench for a rock album? Unless he is going to play nylon string renaissance music with his warbly wife for Shatner to bleat over.

Likewise, Dave Davies? I thought he had retired. Patrick Moraz and Steve Howe? They ought to just do Relayer while they are at it.

The Huffington Post has all the details, but if it's anything like the below, I don't care if Shatner reunited Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson. I ain't buying it.

And my swipe at Blackmore? It's totally justified. Got to 2:34 and behold Spinal Tap mach 3.

Paul McCartney and KISS? Say It Ain't So!

2011-04-12T23:04:00.000-07:00

Seano is gonna love this one. Word on the street is that Paul McCartney has tapped a number of bands to play some Beatles and Wings tunes for some kind of tribute CD. Didn't know people were supposed to coordinate their OWN tribute CDs but it's all good...

Anyway, several sources say that Paul McCartney is asking KISS to play on the disc, and the rumor is that they will do Venus and Mars. Now, I assume what they really mean is the Wings tune Rockshow, which follows the short Venus and Mars intro on the album of the same name.

Bill Joel and The Cure are also rumored to be contributing. In terms of KISS, I could totally hear Paul Stanley belting this one out:

Carmine and Vinny Appice To Tour - Drum Wars!

2011-04-07T23:35:00.000-07:00

Hard rock drummer brothers Carmine and Vinny Appice have always led very separate careers, going so far as to alter how their last names are pronounced - Carmine's is pronounced "a-piece" and Vinny's is "ap-ah-see." Hell, I didn't know they were even related for years.

But I can't think of any other brothers who have laid down beats for such a who's who of hard rock and metal stalwarts. According to fellow drummer Vic Firth on the brothers' Drum Wars web site:

Vinny and Carmine break out the heavy artillery in this entertaining no-holds barred battle to the finish. Carmine and Vinny...Vinny and Carmine! Don't know which one comes first, which one had the moustache first, or which one has the best legs! However, they are both great artists in their own genre. Carmine's track record includes Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, B.B.A. (Beck, Bogart and Appice), and Rod Stewart, to name a few. Not bad! Vinny has driven John Lennon, Black Sabbath, Dio and Heaven and Hell. Not bad! (I've been stuck with one band for 40 years - The Boston Symphony).

I am not really sure what this is going to be exactly, but here is a video from eight months ago that gives us a bit of a clue:

I wonder if it's an actual gig with a band or more like a drum clinic. Either way, it could be fun if they told stories from their careers, took questions, played together etc.

There is a pretty funny but sort of campy video on the Drum Wars site here. Could have used some editing but it's interesting to hear these guys break each others' balls, and sets the event up to be fun. So far there are two dates this month in New York but we'll see if they tour it around.

Trevor Horn Produces New Yes Album

2011-04-05T00:24:00.000-07:00

The Jon-Anderson-less Yes keeps chugging along, with a new album set for a July release on Frontier Records.

Called "Fly From Here," the album is named after an old song penned by the other Jon Anderson-less lineup from the 1980 Drama album. Trevor Horn (half of The Buggles with Geoff Downes) sang on that album, and truthfully it is one of my favorite Yes albums. Songs like Machine Messiah, Tempus Fugit, Does It Really Happen? and Into The Lens stand up with anything else in the band's repertoire.

ed note: I found this photo tonight, confirming that Geoff Downes is back in the band for the moment. Not sure who Grandma Jones in the middle is, but that might be Trevor Horn who didn't get the memo that only some of the band is dressing like old ladies for photos shoots.

I am always going to consider the current Jon Anderson-less Yes as slightly bogus, as Chris Squire and company decided to end-run around Anderson and replace him with a tribute band singer while he was ill and couldn't sing. Obviously the band is happy to not be under Anderson's thumb, hence the continued touring and new album.

But to add an interesting twist, Trevor Horn is back as producer! After the Drama tour and subsequent split-up of the band, Horn reemerged to produce the astounding Yes comeback 90125, where Trevor Rabin had replaced Howe on guitar and ushered in a whole new generation of the band. But Horn and the band had trouble on Big Generator, the follow up, and had not worked together since.

From a press release on Yes' website: Horn and YES bassist Chris Squire re-discovered the track FLY FROM HERE which has never been recorded as a studio track. “Chris and I were talking one evening about a song ‘Fly From Here’ that we never recorded,” explains Trevor Horn. “I said I was prepared to spend two weeks with ‘YES’ recording that song. When I arrived in America to record it, I was taken prisoner by the band and only allowed my freedom again in return for producing the whole album. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse!!!”

So, here is the deal. Fly From Here has been released. A live version is on the 3-disc The Word is Live set, released in 2005. Credited to Horn and keyboardist Geoff Downes, it's...how do I put this?...shitty.

If that song is the central track on this new CD I will likely pass. But we'll see - I am more interested to see if Howe can still play guitar anymore. His performance at a recent Asia reunion I saw in Portland left me feeling like he has jumped the shark.

Another interesting tidbit is that I have seen three separate reports that Downes is back on keyboards for this album, which for sure makes it more interesting to me. Rick Wakeman's son Oliver has been in the current lineup for the last couple of years. Yes' site still has Oliver listed as the current ivory tickler. But we'll see...

Current Jon-less Yes doing 1980 Jon-less Yes (at a total snail's pace at that):

Book Review: Sammy Hagar - Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock

2011-04-03T22:23:00.000-07:00

I mowed through Sammy Hagar Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock in two days. It was pretty riveting. Sammy co-wrote it with Joel Selvin from the SF Chronicle, which probably means Sammy dictated it to Joel and Joel banged it into shape.

But however they did it, the book is very conversational and is a great read. Sammy is indeed a funny guy and I was laughing before I even turned to the second page.

Hagar's family history is pretty interesting. I usually want to skip over the childhood years in music bios, but this was a good one. Sammy had a pretty tough childhood yet he presents it with a refreshing objectivity and it shows how his strong work ethic and easygoing nature were formed.

Also, he grew up in a very rural area (Fontana, California), and he paints a vibrant picture of what life was like back in the 50s as kid.

His teenage years were spent in the 60s, and he got the rock and roll bug in time to attend the Monterey Pop Festival and take all sorts of the usual chemicals of the time. The cool thing is, after a close call with the law, he decided to clean it up and really focus on his dream of making it as a rock and roller.

In fact Hagar reminds me of Tom Petty (from Running Down A Dream) and Don Felder (from Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles), who both were so driven to succeed that they left wreckage in their wake - wives, bandmates etc.

Hagar marries young and his wife sticks with him through the poverty and selfishness of living on nothing to chase a dream that few ever achieve, all the way through the payoff before and during the Van Hagar years, where Sammy is gone so much his kids never see him. And of course he ultimately dumps her for a newer model. There is more to the story than this (the wife train wrecked a bit), but it's a common theme and was the only bummer in Sammy's story.

Otherwise, you'd be hard pressed to find a more easy-going, motivated, smart guy in rock and roll. Most know of Hagar's Cabo Wabo venue and tequila franchise, but he was starting businesses all the way back in the late 70s. Some tanked and others did OK, but he diversified and invested wisely. Very few rockers grasp that concept without the nudge of the accountant!

Of course the big dirt in the book is all about Van Halen. If you believe Sammy's story, he was the great motivator behind getting the songs written and recorded on the numerous Van Hagar albums. The Van Halen brothers were disorganized and dysfunctional - basically rich rock stars who never grew up and always had some screws loose. The magic was prevalent from the start of their collaboration, but the seeds of the breakup were already sown as well, namely in the form of the Van Halen brothers' alcoholism.

Talk about head trippers - mostly Eddie, but Alex was a major enabler. I mean, I already knew Eddie has zero respect for his fans and is generally a clueless genius with no manners - that was clear from his Guitar Player interviews in the 80s. But Hagar really tears the cover off of it and it's pretty astounding. Did nothing to change my opinion of Eddie Van Halen as a human being, which was already pretty low.

I knew very little about Alex Van Halen, though. According to the book, he was a major alcoholic (possibly cleaned up at this point but hard to tell) and very co-dependent with Eddie. Not as off the rails as Eddie but didn't do anything to help him put the brakes on either.

And David Lee Roth? Wow, what a weird dude. Another deluded head tripper but I guess we knew that already. The stories of the Sam and Dave tour, and the Van Hagar reunion are worth the price of the book alone.

Hagar also talks about his breakthrough with Montrose, the arc of his solo career and his recent new band, Chickenfoot. The book inspired me to listen to that CD again and it's a good band. Great chemistry. I reviewed that CD here in 2009.

Overall, the book paints a solid picture of Hagar - an amazingly successful, talented, driven, slightly ego-centric rock and roller and business man. Despite some of the lifestyle and personal choices I wouldn't have done myself, I came away with a lot of respect for the man. And overall, the book is a fun, easy read.

Former and Current Stones Jam at Ian Stewart Tribute

2011-03-14T23:06:00.000-07:00

I heard on the radio today that former Stones guitarist Mick Taylor announced intent to write a memoir book a la Keith Richards' book Life.

Taylor told BANG Showbiz,"I kind of loved it. I loved it and I hated it. The more successful the Stones became the more seriously they took themselves. I jot down my memories all the time and have done for years in case I ever lose my mind. I don't want to write the kind of book that will shock people, about the scandals, sex, drugs and rock and roll because Keith's done that with his book."

I would love a book by Taylor on his years in the band - their most prolific period by far. But then he said, "It's a hard book to write. My time will come but it's not yet."

So is he writing it or not? I dunno. So I dug around some more and found this far more interesting gem:

Examiner.com reports that Taylor joined Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman and Ronnie Wood onstage at a tribute to the Stones' late pianist and co-founder Ian Stewart. The story goes:

What may be the closest thing to a Rolling Stones concert in 2011 happened on March 9 at the Ambassadors Theatre in London. As previously reported in this column, Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood and former Rolling Stones bass player Bill Wyman were rumored to perform at a tribute concert in honor the late Ian Stewart, who was an original member of the Rolling Stones. That rumor turned out to be true, and former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor was also part of the all-star event (consisting of two separate concerts in the same evening), which was billed as a Ben Waters show "with special guests.

What? Holy shit. And YouTube, being the second most popular search engine on the planet, of course has front row video for your edification:

Footnote - the author of the article, Carla Hay, who has interviewed all past and current Stones? I knew her in high school. Oh Carla, I knew you way back when! You've come a long way, baby! Ha ha ha.

Schoolchildren Sing Iron Maiden - Priceless

2011-03-04T14:16:00.000-08:00

Props to Seano at Circle of Fits, who found and posted this already but I just had to steal it. Why in the hell was my elementary school music class not this cool? Holy shit. This needs zero explanation or analysis. Just watch it.

Well, actually two notes - see how the BOYS are much more animated by this music, and I do love the ripping air guitar solo section. 'Nuff said.

Sammy Hagar Book Coming March 15

2011-03-04T14:04:00.000-08:00

Got the new Rolling Stone in the mail - Snooki on the cover? Really? That is just insulting. At least that Bieber guy sold some records. Snooki is just a white trash piece of crap that no one will remember in one year.

But I rescued the issue from the recycling pile because I noticed there was an excerpt from Sammy Hagar's new book that dishes dirt on the Van Halen reunion in 2004. That is worth a read. I am actually pretty interested in his book, as I really enjoyed most of Van Hagar and it will be interesting to get Hagar's take on what went right and ultimately wrong in that band.

The book covers his whole career from Montrose to solo to VH to Chickenfoot - a band I love almost as much as Them Crooked Vultures. Plus he's a funny fucker and I bet it'll be a good read.

I have not read the Rolling Stone excerpt yet but I did see this Q&A with the magazine online, as reposted by Eddie Trunk. A few interesting quotes:

RS: Are there things you didn't put in the book because you didn't want to piss off Ed or David Lee Roth?

SH: Oh, hell no. I didn't really consider that, because they know what happened. I didn't make up anything. I didn't embellish anything. The only thing is that I didn't go as crazy as I could have about the sex, drugs and rock & roll part of my early years. I have a nine-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old daughter. I'm cringing as I'm writing this book going, "Oh, jeez. I really don't want them to read this." But how can I not? My wife looked at some chapters and went, "You're not going to put this in there, are you?" I'm going, "Yes I am!" I hope my daughters understand. I might have them read Keith Richards' book first.

RS: What do you think the percent odds are that you'll ever play in Van Halen again?

SH: I'd say it's up there around 90 percent. I would love to make another record with Van Halen. If Eddie was totally cool and was back to the guy I used to know, or a new guy, not the guy I knew the last time [laughs]. He can’t be that guy. I wouldn’t do it if he was like that. It’s below zero, minus zero. But if Eddie really got his life together, which it seems he has judging by the pictures I've seen, then definitely.

RS: You really think there's a 90 percent chance?

SH: There's no rumor. There’s no reason to say, "Yes, I’ve got this vibe going on." Right now, zero chance. When my book comes out, zero for a while. But someday, before we all die, fuck yeah. We might be in our nineties though. Back to burning bridges: If you choose to write an autobiography, which I did, then you only have one shot. If you don't tell it all then you sit there for the rest of your life telling stories and people are like, "Well why wasn’t that in the book?" I don’t wanna have to do that. It’s all right there.

Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart Writing and Recording

2011-03-01T12:09:00.000-08:00

ClassicRock Magazine is reporting that Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart are writing and recording an album, which would be their first full project since the late 60s/early 70s. Rumors flew around in December with reports of the two hanging out and talking about a project but Beck told CR.com many more exclusive details.

Beck is a funny fucker. Seems like he's tough to nail down. I don't know. Read the below snips and the full article and you tell me - what do you think the odds are of this actually happening?

There have been rumblings in the studio, and yes I have done some demos for him and with him. This happened after our lunch liaison in Los Angeles, but just as matters were proceeding his new baby came along and completely screwed up the whole thing.

Over our next lunch Rod and me will probably beat each other to death, but the fact remains he’s coming to see me and we are going over the material, all of it. I want to see that Rod is genuine into the idea and that it’s not just a weekend’s fancy. I don’t think it is because his manager (Arnold Stiefel) is well into it.

Stage One was just agreeing that it was basically a good idea and then Stage Two was the actual collaboration and co-writing. Stage Three was me lending my studio in Los Angeles to Rod for the demos, to the tune of $17.000! So I’ll be expecting a cheque from Rod for that! But I’ve got two chances there! No chance and no flippin’ chance! But while he’s sitting there listening to the tracks I’ll sneak out and….nah I can’t say that!

The article continues:

In 2004, the Jeff Beck Group reunited to play at the Royal Albert Hall with Ronnie Wood on bass, Rod at the mic and Jeff on guitar. They rehearsed a lot of classic material from their original albums and a couple of choice numbers like Rock My Plimsoul and I Ain’t Superstitious. And in 1985, Stewart guested on the Beck album Flash; the pair performed a cover of The Impressions’ People Get Ready.

“It sounded fucking brilliant,” Stewart recalled. But the concert was cancelled when Jeff phoned Rod and said he’d had a change of heart. Subsequently they did perform together in Los Angeles, and Beck caught the bug again. Now he has said that he “Would have to turn the clock back 20 or 30 years to match what Rod does, stylistically. Not that that is meant to be a derogatory statement. He loves the 60s. He loves blues he loves old stuff.” So no stretch for Beck there then.

Speaking of Jeff Beck-era blues guitarists, I missed the highly overrated Eric Clapton at the Portland Rose Garden last night. Friends who went (and share my opinion on him) said he was in fine form and that I should have gone. Shit. I do love his work when it's with other people (Roger Waters, Santana, BB King, soundtracks, etc). Oh well...

And back to Beck and Stewart, why should we care? Dig this ole gem for some context:

And Jesus H, scroll this to about 2:00 to see what it sounds like to have Jimmy Page in your back-up band!

The Grammy Awards - Neil, Vultures, Maiden, Jeff Beck Win

2011-02-13T23:31:00.000-08:00

I did not watch the Grammy Awards tonight. In fact I stopped watching the annual show ages ago. My last good Grammy memory was watching Train perform Drops of Jupiter in 2006 and thinking that they were so fucking good even though that song got way overplayed.

Train won again tonight for a far inferior song but there were some other nice wins. Neil Young won for Best Rock Song with Angry World - his first Grammy win for an actual song (he won for "best art direction on a boxed or special limited edition package" last year - come the hell on), so that injustice has finally been righted.

Them Crooked Vultures took Best Hard Rock Performance for New Fang, beating out Ozzy, Stone Temple Pilots and Soundgarden. They for sure deserved it - that band is super and I look forward to the second album this year.

And Iron Maiden took Best Metal Performance for El Dorado, beating out Megadeath and Slayer - I guess Jethro Tull didn't have an album out this year.

Jeff Beck took best Pop Instrumental Performance and Best Rock Instrumental Performance, and Paul McCartney took Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for Helter Skelter from Good Evening in NYC, so good for him.

Of course the filmmakers who brought us Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage got snubbed for The Doors film, proving that the band can't get into any of these awards or Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame spots even through the back door.

But overall some nice solid rock and hard rock was acknowledged tonight, and for that I am thankful.

But now I can't get that goddamn Train song out of my head again. Here it is so you too can relive the over saturation (right after the youngling's cello solo):

What to Post? What to Post?

2011-02-07T16:55:00.000-08:00

Man I have neglected this blog. Truth be told, I got really into Twitter for a while, got super busy at work and didn't really see anything worth writing about that wasn't just rehash. This happens to me from time to time and I always come back to the trusty old blog that I have had since 2006 when my ears rang far, far less than they do today.

Anyway, ahem...

So, scanning the dial so to speak, I see a few things happening. Gary Moore dying by choking on vomit. That sucks and he was a fantastic guitar player. A great loss.

Rush is remastering its album Vapor Trails. That is a very good idea, as the album is widely derived as super muddy sounding. Alex Lifeson told Classic Rock Magazine that "perhaps we should have taken more time over the record." Really? I think 14 months was quite enough. Maybe they should have taken 3 months and banged it out - those always seem to sound much better. Anyway, I love that album so I will be happy to hear a new version.

The Back Eyed Peas boring everyone to death with their bullshit Super Bowl halftime show, and while Christina Aguilera can really sing she trashed the anthem by flubbing some key lines. I guess they are all kind of important...

But you know what I am most excited about? Beavis and Butthead are coming back to MTV! That's the big news this week and I can't wait for them to eviscerate modern shitball artists like the Peas, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and all the rest of it. Bring it on BandB!

Yes' Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman and Trevor Rabin To Work Together?

2011-01-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

I was answering a question on Quora about famous rock musicians who also wrote film scores and the first guy to come to mind was Trevor Rabin from the 80s (and most commercially successful) version of the band Yes.

After the release of very under rated Talk album and subsequent tour, Rabin pretty much packed it in as a touring rock and roller and turned to film scores. He has penned the soundtrack to 40 films since the mid 90s, including Armageddon, Snakes on a Plane and The National Treasure movies. Full list on Wikipedia here.

My impression from some interviews is that Rabin is happy doing film scores and had no intention of returning to rock and roll. However, the Wikipedia entry had these little tidbits:

According to an interview with Rick Wakeman on the 6 February 2010 edition of Wakeman's Planet Rock radio show there is a possibility of Wakeman, Rabin and Jon Anderson getting together to recording a new album. Rabin has already written some new material with Anderson, but the project hasn't yet been confirmed, as they are busy with other commitments.

On 9 July 2010 Rabin accompanied Yes at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles and played the encore, Owner Of A Lonely Heart.

In an October 2010 interview, Rabin confirmed that he has finished recording his greatly anticipated instrumental solo album. He plans to release it in a few months time. He also states that Rick Wakeman, Jon Anderson and himself are 'Itching' to start recording an album.

OK so WHAT? I think the ultimate fuck you to Steve Howe would be for Jon Anderson to work with Rabin. As you may recall, Anderson had a very serious illness that kept him off the road for a long time, and instead of waiting for him to get better, the other guys did an end run and hired a tribute band singer to replace Anderson.

Reviews have been pretty good but mostly because the band is doing songs Anderson never wanted to play like Machine Messiah from the Drama album - the one Anderson didn't sing on.

There is also no love lost between Rabin and Howe. I think Howe has a major stick up his ass that Rabin took his place in Yes and drove the band to great commercial success.

So yeah, a band with Anderson, Rabin and Wakeman - Yes' best keyboardist (well besides Patrick Moraz) - would be a great big 'eat it' to the other guys and would be an interesting recall of the 80s when there were two Yes' - The Rabin Yes, and the Anderson Bruford Wakeman and Howe version.

The other thing that made my head spin was this note that Rabin joined the tribute band-singer version of Yes on Owner of a Lonely Heart! Again, WHAT? Along side Steve Howe. Lo and behold I found the fucker on YouTube and even from afar I can feel the tension between those two guitarists.

I will watch with great interest to see if this actually pans out or not.

Roger Daltrey had Throat Surgery Prior to Superbowl Gig

2011-01-14T22:34:00.000-08:00

As I think about the recent announcement that the Black Eyed Peas will perform at the Superbowl soon, I find myself actually longing for the shitfest Who, Stones and Tom Petty performances of recent years.

It's a tough gig - it's all lip synced except the vocals and whatever they can shove a mic in front of after setting up the fireworks displays. For example, the Who gig was only Daltrey's mic and Pete's guitar, and I think the drums - I read that everything else was mimed.

My biggest beef was the song selection, which was basically CIS theme music but a lot of people bitched about Daltrey's voice. Turns out the dude had just gone through throat surgery to remove suspicious growths.

From Starpulse:

In a CBS TV interview at the beginning of December Daltrey revealed his voice wasn't "performing in a normal way" and friends put him in touch with master throat surgeon Steven Zeitel in Massachusetts in late 2009.

Daltrey says, "It was becoming hard work to sing... He (Zeitel) saw me and told me that he didn't like what he saw."

One week before Christmas in 2009, Daltrey went under the knife, according to RollingStone.com.

The rocker adds, "He took off what he could from the problem area on my vocal cord. He said it wasn't cancer, but it was pre-cancerous, and you have to keep an eye on it.

"(Now) I see him every time after I finish a tour and he swears that he'll keep me singing into my 80s. That might upset some people, but it keeps me happy."

So cut the Rog some slack and just bitch about Pete's bogus hat!

Vote for Rush Songs for 2011 Tour

2011-01-05T16:38:00.000-08:00

From RushIsABand.com this week:

If you've kept in tune with the online Rush fan community over the last few tours, you are probably familiar with the Rush Petition website which was just revamped this week in preparation for the upcoming 2011 leg of Rush's Time Machine Tour.

The site was the brainchild of BOS Music co-founder, Rush fan and RIAB reader Skip Daly and his partner-in-crime Al Horta. The two created the site as a means for Rush fans to voice their opinion on which Rush songs they wanted to hear live. It was first launched prior to the Vapor Trails tour back in 2001 and has been re-launched prior to every tour since then.

The band has admitted in interviews that they are familiar with the site and have taken it into consideration when building out their setlists. From the revamped website: http://www.rushpetition.com

My votes were for Jacob's Ladder, The Weapon, Territories, Afterimage and Fly By Night.

What are yours?

Gerry Rafferty Dies - and Birds Fall From The Skies

2011-01-04T14:04:00.000-08:00

Breaking news is that 70s singer songwriter Gerry Rafferty has passed away at age 63. Rafferty battled alcoholism for many years and died this morning after battling a long illness, according to Billboard.com.

In his heyday Rafferty had a few hits that I love to this day: Baker Street, Days Gone Down, and of course, Get It Right Next Time. Prior to going solo, his band Stealers Wheel had a hit with Stuck In The Middle.

The below video for Get It Right Next Time was one of the first videos I remember seeing as a kid, on a show called (I think) Friday Night Videos. I always thought Rafferty looked totally cool and still think the song is fantastic.

(THE MAN has a nasty habit of pulling Gerry Rafferty videos down so enjoy this while you can.)

I wrote about Rafferty a couple of years ago when rumor had it he had vanished. It was a weird mystery but ultimately fell into the Paul Is Dead camp.

But speaking of mysteries, why in the ever loving hell are dead birds raining over the southern United States? They must have heard Kim Kardashian's new single.

RIP Gerry Rafferty:

Roger Waters to Film London "The Wall" Shows

2011-01-04T09:26:00.000-08:00

Various sources yesterday reported that Roger Waters will film all six upcoming London Wall shows for release on DVD. So, that probably narrows down which show David Gilmour will show up to by, oh about six.

This tour has been incredible and although I was only able to catch one performance, I found some excellent HD video of every song and was able to make my own DVD of the whole gig, which ought to tide me over under Waters' official release comes out, probably by next Christmas - my guess.

Here is one of the videos. It's a multi-camera edit from two or three different shows, synced with probably the best bootleg I have heard from the tour. Enjoy:

Peter Frampton To Play Frampton Comes Alive Next Year

2010-12-23T15:43:00.000-08:00

As evidenced by KISS' Alive 35 tour, where the band played all of KISS Alive end to end, and shows like the current Roger Waters Wall tour, the hot thing right now is to dust off a classic album and play it live all the way through.

Matter of fact, that is what Rush is doing on its current tour, playing Moving Pictures end to end every night.

I think it's a great idea. Such care goes into the crafting and sequencing of albums (or at least that used to be the case), and if the whole piece is solid, then why not play it true to its released form?

Along those lines, Peter Frampton will celebrate the 35th anniversary of the classic Frampton Comes Alive by playing the whole damn double album on tour next year.

From this article on Planet Rock:

In an interview with KLOS, Frampton reveals that after he has finished touring his latest studio album, Thank You Mr Churchill, he will hit the road once more next summer to play special shows in celebration of his massive live album.

"2011 is the 35th anniversary of Frampton Comes Alive so we're gonna do Frampton Comes Alive 35,” he revealed. “For the first time since the 70s we're going to do a show where the second half of the show is the whole of Frampton Comes Alive.

"We're gonna have to dust off a few [songs] we haven't done in a while. We're thinking about using the intro music that's on the record. We're gonna have a big production and take people back to that time.”

I hope he comes to Portland so I can hear him say "Bob Mayo, keyboards!" finally after all these years. Frampton played a few years ago here in Portland and friends who saw the show said he is in top form and really kicked ass. I'll be watching for this one for sure. In the meantime, enjoy this:

Concert Review - Roger Waters The Wall

2010-12-11T07:36:00.000-08:00

I saw Roger Waters’ The Wall in San Jose last Tuesday and it took me a few days to put ‘pen to paper’ because I wanted to let it all soak in. Of course as expected the concert was unlike anything I have ever seen. I think the photos I took will do it far more justice than a detailed description but here are some thoughts:

Musically, Waters stuck to the script. There were the same extended pieces that the Floyd did back in the 1980 shows (three solos at the end of Brick 2 instead of one, the extended Mother solo, the ‘A Few More Bricks’ medley). These were included to add more time to the concert and allow more time for the Wall to be built. It was great to hear a really true rendition of the album with all of the music pretty much as I knew it.

His band was great – Snowy White and G.E. Smith on guitars. A younger guy who did the leads, who was a little over the top rocker-style for me, but played Gilmour’s parts very faithfully (on a Tele no less). Waters had a number of vocalists including a guy who did nothing but sing Gilmour’s parts. And of course Rog played loads of bass.

But truthfully I was not watching the band. They are all dressed in black and on a visual level, they are totally secondary to the Wall, the props and the amazing, amazing visuals that were broadcast onto the Wall itself. The Wall had an almost fluorescent glow to it all night when it was just being backlit. But most of the time, amazing videos were beamed onto the Wall, which then became basically a 240-foot long movie screen.

I mean, these visuals were insane and led the audience on everything from IMAX-style nausea-inducing 3D to transforming the arena much like the use of different movie sets would – look at my various photos below and you will see what I mean about how the Wall itself was the star of this show.

The props were all there: the enormous marionette teacher for Brick 2, the plane flying into the Wall at the end of In The Flesh?, the giant inflatable Mother, and of course the flying pig, which roamed the rafters of the arena during Run Like Hell. Rog used a number of videos from the Wall film, including the parrying flowers from What Shall We Do Now? and the whole The Trial sequence. It was great to see that original, grainy film animation and that Waters did not try and ‘update’ (ruin) it in any way.

One thing that was different was Waters himself. He admitted more than once during the show that when he wrote The Wall 30 years ago he was an ‘angry young man’ and even went so far as to say he didn’t feel that way anymore and was really happy to be playing the show for us. Which is great for Waters, but I kind of missed the angry, tortured guy in some of the gut busters like Don’t Leave Me Now and Nobody Home. He was almost campy in those songs and it didn’t work as well, but shit I wouldn’t wish him sorrow for my enjoyment, so what the hell! I am just glad to see this show.

My buddy and I were saying that The Wall stage show is an amazing concept that we really sort of take for granted because it’s been around about 75 percent of the time we’ve been alive. But what an idea, and to come up with this in 1980! Image the band meeting: “So we build a wall. In front of the band. After the first set, the audience can’t see the band at all. We have giant puppets and a flying pig. At the end we topple the wall into the audience and that’s it – no encore. Holy f’ing shit.

Thematically the visuals were true to the original themes of alienation between nations, people and institutions. Lots of imagery of the recent wars and the men and women lost in those wars and how senseless they are – driven by greed, and ideological and religious jockeying. On his Facebook site, Waters had asked people who lost loved ones in wars to send photos and information prior to the tour, and he used at least a couple hundred of those images over the course of the night.

I have heard that the crux of the story for Waters is the song Bring the Boys Back Home and I have to say that this was the only part of the show that gave me a giant lump in the throat. In Vera, he showed slow-mo footage of little kids in school classrooms in surprise reunions with their dads and this one girl’s face went from surprise to elation to just a waterworks as she jumped into her daddy’s arms. It may be the one image I always remember after the bitching animations and flying pigs and planes fade from my memory. It was heartwarming and heart wrenching at the same time when you really get to the emotion of what these wars do to little kids. I found someone's video of it and posted that below the photos.

So anyway, the North American leg of The Wall tour is almost over and I am damn glad I saw it. Here are some of my snaps for those interested:

Thoughts on The Anniversary of John Lennon's Death

2010-12-08T09:34:00.000-08:00

December 8 is a day that usually sees me pretty melancholy. I recall when I was a mere 12 years old my dad coming into the family room and gently announcing that John Lennon had been shot and killed. I pretty much retired to my own room for the rest of the night. It was one of the first deaths, and for sure the first violent death, I had ever felt had hit home in any way. Was not sure how to process the emotions so I played some Beatles on guitar and cried a lot.

Big stars die all the time. They fall into one of two buckets for me. Either 1) most of their work had already taken place and they had been out of the spotlight for a long time, which somehow makes it easier to swallow or 2) they had been recently active (like Roy Orbison or Richard Wright) and are a bit of a gut punch. Lennon clearly falls into this latter category and much like with guys like Stevie Ray Vaughan I often wonder what Lennon would have done with the past few decades since his death.

Would he have reunited with the other Beatles for Anthology, or Live8? Would he have put out spotty albums in the 80s but then released scattered moments of brilliance like some other Beatles we know? Would he have had another good run of albums and tours and then retired, boring with the business again? Would I have ever been able to see him in concert or even meet him? Of course we’ll never know.

I saw Roger Waters live last night on the 69th anniversary of Pearl Harbor (the giant plane flying into the Wall in the first number was an interesting juxtaposition to this anniversary although I realize it happens every night – I will post a full review with photos soon). I am tempted to try and get a ticket for tonight’s show to see if he mentions Lennon.

Anyway, time to get muddling at work but wanted to get these thoughts out of my head.

Lennon we still miss you. Wish you were here.

The Stones' Gimmie Shelter Deconstructed

2010-12-02T09:31:00.000-08:00

My friend Nedmusic turned me onto this incredible breakdown of the Stones' classic 1969 song Gimmie Shelter. Someone has been able to isolate the vocals, rhythm guitar, second guitar/piano, bass and drums into five separate tracks. It's breathtaking to hear all the parts broken out like this. Spend some time checking this out if you dig the Stones - unreal.

Also credit must be given to the original Dangerous Minds post, where all of this came from.

Vocals (Mick Jagger and Merry Clayton):

Keith Richards' main guitar. Note the interesting punch ins and outs of Keith's licks to compensate for the fact that this is probably a four-track recording!

Charlie Watts' drum part plus percussion:

Bill Wyman bass:

Keith's second guitar and Nicky Hopkins' piano (at the moment it looks like this one has been taken down by YouTube):

DVD Review - Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones

2010-12-01T09:56:00.000-08:00

The Stones are like cockroaches - they seem to have been around forever and just won't die. Despite the fact that their last truly great album was put out in 1981.

But every few years they churn out a new collection of tunes and hit the road to smash touring records yet again. There are glimmers of greatness - the Shine A Light movie for example has some really cool moments. And if their recent albums were pared down from 15 tracks to the 10 strongest, they'd be pretty good.

But honestly, the band jumped the shark once Keith cleaned up. Coincidence? No idea but I am reading his autobiography and we'll see if I can glean any tidbits for you all.

My favorite era of the Stones is the Mick Taylor era. So I was majorly geeked to get the recently released Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones, a concert film from the 1972 Exile on Main Street tour.

This DVD reminds me of why I fell in love with the band in the first place. Charlie and Keith are the tightest rhythm section around. Bill Wyman pumps out some great bass lines. Jagger is at his full-throated screaming pilled-up best. But the real star of the show is Mick Taylor, who basically solos throughout every song, adding those tasty, tasty licks that seem so effortless but add incredibly to the music.

Highlights are the roughly 10-minute Midnight Rambler, Tumbling Dice, Gimmie Shelter and an unreal version of Love In Vain. In his book, Keith talks about how the young pre-fame Stones just wanted to 'be black guys' and play the blues. Later of course they got into other areas but the blues was always their fallback, and Love In Vain is top of the pile here. It does not hurt that Taylor gets two solos - one one slide and one not.

Even tracks like Dead Flowers - a song that seems like a bit of a novelty on the studio release - shine, as Keith and Mick share the mic for the harmonies and Taylor adds tasty leads throughout.

The bonus features include the band rehearsing stuff from Exile to get ready for the tour. That is worth the price of this DVD alone. Unreal.

Watching this DVD made me reach back into the bootleg community and score copies of live shows from 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975 and 1976. There are some real gems out there, people. This band was tight in the 70s, despite the stories of addiction and debauchery. Especially look for the March 1971 Leeds, the October 1973 Brussels, and the July 1972 Madison Square Garden shows. All very good.

And get this damn DVD - it's great! Here is a clip:

CD Review - The Doobie Brothers - World Gone Crazy

2010-11-18T10:02:00.000-08:00

The Doobie Brothers are probably not going to achieve world peace or national economic liquidity with its new CD, World Gone Crazy. But it might get your foot tapping on your commute or get you to run a little faster on your morning jog. The Doobies in their prime delivered great rock and roll with solid grooves, great playing and gorgeous vocal harmonies – cue up Listen to the Music if you’re not sure what I am talking about.

The first two tracks on World Gone Crazy, A Brighter Day and Chateau, stand right up there with the Doobies’ best rockers and should go over very well live. Especially Chateau, which has loads of great singalong harmonies and some fantastic slide guitar by guitarist John McFee. Track four, the title track, is another solid foot tapper, as is My Baby (track eight).

Founders Tom Johnston and Pat Simmons are leading the group, with Johnston taking most of the songwriting and vocals as usual. Simmons’ songs are not quite as strong this time but at least he is trying to re-write Black Water instead of China Grove. There are some very pretty acoustic-based tunes a la Black Water such as Far From Home (nice McFee violin on this one).

The third track, Nobody, is a redone version of the same song from the band’s first album in 1971. Picked acoustic arpeggios, piano and acoustic slide guitar ease you into this track, and then the whole thing picks up and really highlights those Doobie vocal harmonies. This version is tighter and sonically superior to the original and I can see why they decided to bring it back. It’s a great song.

Two guest spots by Michael McDonald and Willie Nelson are surely included to drive CD sales but their tunes are a little distracting – I mean, McDonald barely appears on Don’t Say Goodbye, and honestly it’s a great song without him. Willie’s tune, co-written with Simmons, is just okay. I have always favored Doobies tunes that are slightly more epic and moody, like Clear As The Driven Snow from The Captain and Me. Nobody (the song) surely falls into this category.

There are some clunkers (Old Juarez is a cool tune but is a total rip off of Smooth minus the Santana guitar and Rob Thomas vocal), but overall it’s a nice, solid album and I have already listened to it more than I thought I would. The majority falls into that good old rock and roll category a la Rockin' Down the Highway or Listen to the Music. And that ain’t a bad thing. You a Doobies fan? Get the album.

And if you are wondering if the Doobies can still cut it live, check this out:

The Beatles on iTunes Store - Snooooore

2010-11-17T09:30:00.000-08:00

I have bought and re-bought the Beatles. Got all the original releases on vinyl when I was a kid. Then bought some of them again when I realized I could get Apple issues at the used record store. Kind of cool to have Beatles albums first released in the 60s.

Then of course CDs came around and I had to get them all on disc. And then a couple of years ago they finally figured out how to make the CDs sound good, so I chose to re-buy them all over again.

Now thanks to the powers that be burying the hatchet yesterday, I have the option of getting them digitally via iTunes and of course I say no thanks. I already have all the superior-sounding CDs imported into iTunes for my iPod and have zero need for AAC quality versions.

I imagine I am not alone. But I guess for the younger set who may just want to buy a song here or there, it's nice to have the Beatles finally on iTunes. But I feel like that generation doesn't pay for its music anyway and probably got the tunes free from a file sharing service or their grandpa.

But dang SOMEONE is buying it up - According to this Mashable article:

Eleven of the top 25 albums on iTunes are Beatles records, including the full Beatles Box Set, which is currently at number 11 on the charts. In addition, more than 60 of the top 200 songs are Beatles tunes.

Sure, John, Paul, Ringo and George aren’t enough to knock Rihanna, Rascal Flatts and the Glee cast off the top of the charts, but these albums are 40-plus years old. We’re also smack dab in the middle of the biggest music release window of the year.

So what the hell do I know? I'm just glad people may be discovering this music for the first time. I wish I could do that all over again!

Speaking of Beatles discovery, I bet you've never seen this little clip:

Emerson Lake and Palmer Throw In The Towel

2010-11-08T23:30:00.000-08:00

I remember back in the 80s going to see Emerson Lake and (Cozy) Powell in Oakland California and telling my brother who is 10 years older than me and grew up in the 70s (ELP's heyday). He said "Those guys are still playing that old shit?"

Yeah they were and they still rocked. The ELPowell album is fairly solid and at least had the pretty decent single Touch and Go. But touch and go sums up the band's career afterwards. Carl Palmer rejoined for a long stint in the 90s and the band put out some great DVDs of 70s stuff I had never seen. The studio albums were frankly pretty terrible and not worth mentioning.

The band called it quits (again) 12 years ago but reformed for a one-off gig last July headlining the High Voltage Festival event in Victoria Park, London for their 40th anniversary. Carl Palmer last week had this to say to Classic Rock Magazine:

...for reasons I won’t go into it’s always hard to rev it up. We rehearsed for it for a month, which almost killed me. Not the physical side of it, just keeping interested. Me personally, I didn’t need a month. But that’s what we did, and when it came to the gig what you saw was what you got. That’s as good as it will ever be (again). Everyone seemed pretty happy with it, and I think that gig will be far as the three of us can take things.

...I’m not the nervous type. I play all the time. Greg and Keith, on the other hand, were highly nervous and that was part of the problem though they both did the best they could.

And that’s about it, really. There are no plans to do anything else, not from my perspective anyway. I’ve let the other two know that. Being the 40th anniversary, it seemed a great way to finish things. Let’s just leave it there.

This interview of course got me all interested to hear this gig and I found a bootleg and yeah they are pretty scrappy. It sounds like Emerson's hands are freezing cold, and Greg Lake's voice is about an octave lower than in the 70s - all the tunes are in much, much lower keys to accommodate his voice.

Granted, Emerson sounds great for a guy who was diagnosed with repetitive stress syndrome (kind of funny if you are familiar with how he plays keyboards), and had nerve surgery on his arms a few years back. It's gotta be tough to bounce back from that. And he recently had a real health scare that you can read about here. Here's wishing Keith a speedy recovery.

But I agree with Palmer - they are done. But now I want to dig back into my vinyl and crank up Tarkus! Are you ready Eddie!?

For a little comparison, here is the band last July in London:

And in its prime:

Great Interview with Producer Nick Raskulinecz

2010-11-03T23:54:00.000-07:00

Once in a while I will come upon an interview with a musician, producer, manager etc and just yell YES! Mainly this happens when I am getting insights I have never heard before about a band I love or music in general. Or someone who generally tows the line and says the same old shit finally opens up and tells me something I didn't already know.

A recent interview between MusicRadar.com and producer Nick Raskulinecz is just one of those interviews. Raskulinecz has worked with load of bands, namely Foo Fighters, Alice In Chains and of course Rush. He in fact discloses this little nugget about the band's upcoming album:

There's going to be a lot of cool stuff. We've got six other songs ready to record, and they're probably going to want to write some more when they finish this tour. We'll sit down and figure out how to record everything else. I can already tell you that the title track is going to be one of the coolest things they've ever done. It's going to be epic.

"I told them, 'Don't try to write a single. Don't try to do anything conventional. Give me Rush from back in the day.' They don't need to write something for the sake of radio play. They're Rush! [laughs] So I think the record is going to be a little more bare bones, a little less produced. It's going to be more direct, with killer riffs, solos, pounding drums and Geddy singing up high the way he should. That, to me, is the sound of Rush."

Are you fucking kidding me? Bring it on!

But Raskulinecz also dishes on the state of the music industry and how it has impacted more than just bloated record labels:

I'm more successful than I've ever dreamed I would be. But I still have a hard time finding work. I know a lot of guys wouldn't tell you that, but I don't pull punches. There isn't a lot going on, and I put a lot of the blame on the Internet and illegal downloading. And listen, they call it 'illegal downloading' for a reason, because it's just that: illegal. It really hurts bands, producers; it hurts people across the board.

I know people think that you should get everything free now with the Internet, but people have to realize that artists are trying to make a living from their music. The downloading has marginalized everybody and everything, from artists to producers to guys who drive the trucks to bring the CDs to the stores. Everybody in the music business has been affected.

Raskulinecz also talks about how he hooked up with Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters, as well as his work with the new lineup of Alice In Chains and even a pretty killer Elton John story.

Raskulinecz is a true lover of music and is the real deal. Do yourself a favor and read the whole Nick Raskulinecz interview here.

Alice Cooper Loses His Head (and blood, and fake needles etc)

2010-10-28T10:57:00.000-07:00

Some British Airways employee must have gotten a shocker when he went through a lost bag owned by Alice Cooper. According to an article in The Express:

As the star flew in from the United States yesterday for his Halloween Night Of Fear shows on Sunday and Monday at the Roundhouse, North London, he discovered that British Airways had lost his bags. He then had to describe the contents of his snakeskin suitcases to bemused airline staff: as well as missing his fake blood and a giant syringe (in parts) that he uses when he “dies” four times on stage, he was also missing his skulls and skeleton limbs.

Hopefully this won't put him on some sort of weird no-fly list!

It's Official - The Cars Reunited and Recording

2010-10-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

I posted earlier this year about some cryptic photo posted to The Cars' Facebook page that showed the surviving four members of the Cars in a studio somewhere (Bassist Benjamin Orr passed away in 2000). On Friday it was confirmed that the band is reuniting and recording.

According to Yahoo! Music:

After a 23-year break, the Cars have reunited with original frontman/songwriter Ric Ocasek and are working on their first album together since 1987's Door to Door. On on their Facebook page the band recently posted a 73-second clip of themselves in the studio working on a new track called "Blue Tip," and Billboard reports that the Cars are recording a new album and may be planning tour dates.

In July the Cars hinted at a possible reunion with Ocasek, who previously said he'd never take part in one, when they posted a photo of the four surviving bandmembers together in a Boston studio. In 2005, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and guitarist Elliot Easton launched the New Cars with Todd Rundgren at the microphone, but that project ended in 2007. Any hopes for a full Cars reunion ended in 2000 when bassist-singer Benjamin Orr passed away from pancreatic cancer. The Cars' official website is currently "under construction," so more information is likely to come.

As I noted previously, The Cars were always boring as paint drying onstage but I gotta say that every time I hear an old school Cars tune on the radio, I think they were just a tight rock and roll band. The New Wave image put them in a weird box for me, but they are right there with bands of the era like Cheap Trick, Tom Petty etc who just made great radio-friendly rock songs with good players.

Ocasek's recent work with No Doubt showed me that he has not lost his touch. The songs Don't Let Me Down and Platinum Blonde Life from the band's Rock Steady album sound like, well, Cars songs! I was actually shocked how much Don't Let Me Down sounds like mid 80s Cars, down to the keyboard sound and part. Check it out for yourself.

Check out the video mentioned in the above article. It's full bore Cars but sounds very contemporary. I have feeling this comeback is going to go well.

Bloggers Unite!

2010-10-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, sorry for my lack of blogging as of late. Work has been insane and I have not been able to devote much time to anything else. Should lighten up soon though and I do have some CDs, DVDs and shows to review in the next couple of months, so there.

But I did make time to meet up last Monday night with fellow blogger and international spokesperson for the city of Philadelphia not taxing bloggers, Seano of Circle of Fits. Seano is a great singer who joined the Boston band Bang Camaro and toured the country, entertaining us all with his postings from the road. He is also a HUGE KISS fan. So be sure to drop him a comment if you see any news about Gene Simmons.

Here are the two of us. Sean looks great and I look like I am in a pressure chamber. What the hell happened to my HEAD?

Jason Bonham Trots Out the Zep

2010-10-12T17:00:00.000-07:00

So let's recap. After the Zeppelin reunion a couple of years ago, there were loads of rumors that the band would get back together and tour. But of course Robert Plant scuttled the idea - he was doing great on his own thank you very much, and despite the fact that they totally pulled off that reunion show, a close examination of the bootlegs reveal some dropped tunings and Plant doing a great job but really JUST pulling it off. No way he could do a whole tour.

So next the rumors were that the other three guys were looking at singers so they could go on without him. Even this year there were confirmations that Page, Jones and Bonham had been chomping at the bit to get out and play but nothing clicked with singers, so it didn't happen. Jones joined the truly excellent Them Crooked Vultures, Page put out a book and Bonham re-joined...ahem...Foreigner.

Until this year. Bonham announced the Jason Bonham Led Zeppelin Experience - basically a Zeppelin tribute band with the son of a founding member. Like if Julian Lennon trotted out a John Lennon Experience Tour or something. A little bogus and kind of obvious.

I thought this was totally skippable until I saw the below video clip from opening night.

From Bonham's Web Site: [10-09-2010] The opening night of the Jason Bonham Led Zeppelin Experience tour was a fantastic show! Jason would like to thank the fans for the well wishes and support.

Setlist of the first show included: Immigrant Song, Celebration Day, I Can't Quit You Baby, Your Time is Gonna Come, Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, Dazed and Confused, Lemon Song, Thank You, Moby Dick, [Intermission] Act 2: Friends, Since I've Been Loving You, Black Dog, The Ocean, The Song Remains the Same, I'm Gonna Crawl, Stairway to Heaven, Kashmir. Encores: Whole Lotta Love, Rock & Roll.

Sounds pretty sweet. What do you think?

An Oldie But A Goodie - Geddy Lee My Favorite Headache

2010-10-10T23:48:00.000-07:00

I ran into a video on the blog WeWillRockYou, of Geddy Lee making his one and only solo album, 2000's My Favorite Headache. I remember a couple of things about this CD - first off, it came out during Rush's hiatus when Neil Peart was dealing with his family tragedies. So I remember tripping out on thinking what this would sound like if it were a Rush album.

Next I thought - wow, Geddy can write lyrics! Musically there was some super heavy bass stuff and some ballady types of things, but pretty much what you would expect. My other thought was that he brings a LOT to the Rush equation and that a lot of these songs would be great Rush songs. But I also thought the same thing about Alex Lifeson's Victor CD. So I don't know. I think their contributions are pretty equal.

Anyway, overall the Geddy CD is good - the link to iTunes is here. At least blaze through the 30 second samples and see what you think. Oh, and I guess the reason this was posted in the first place is that there are various reports that Geddy might do a second one. But the closest I could find is him saying he wouldn't rule it out, which doesn't sound like much to me.

I had never seen this video. Enjoy:

Vote For My CD in 2011 Portland Music Awards - Please

2010-10-03T10:10:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. I have been blogging here for about five years - this is post #666 as a matter of fact (ooooh scary!) and I have done a minimal bit of self promotion in all of that time. I have posted videos from my various bands - colorfield, Flat Stanley and Pink Floyd tribute band The Floydian Slips but for the most part have blogged about the music and musicians we love to love and love to hate.

Of course this year I did pimp my first ever solo CD pretty hard, called A Fear of Flashing Light. The response to this CD has been past my wildest expectations and I am very proud of the effort. So it is in this spirit for the first time in 666 posts that I ask you to actually DO anything beyond indulging in my musical musings.

Portland's annual Portland Music Awards voting is open, and if you feel so inclined, I'd love for you to vote for my CD in the best Indie album category. You don't need to register, provide an email, name or anything. You simply copy "Paul Lesinski - A Fear of Flashing Light," paste it into the "best album - indie" category and hit submit. It will take you less than a minute. That's it! Can you do it now, while the idea is right in front of you.

A Million Thanks!

--Paul

Gillan and Iommi To Pair Up Again for Armenia

2010-10-01T21:43:00.000-07:00

Various reports this week tell of Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi's intention to do another rock song for charity. According to the We Will Rock You web site:

The pair originally collaborated in 1989, when they re-recorded the Deep Purple classic “Smoke on the Water” to help raise money for victims of the Leninakan earthquake that struck Armenia in 1988.

In October of 2009 the pair traveled to Armenia to see first-hand how those funds had helped rebuild the community, but while visiting a local local music school they found that it had not been rebuilt in the wake of the disaster. So next week Iommi and Gillan, joined by ex-Deep Purple/Whitesnake keyboardist Jon Lord and Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain, are slated to go back into the studio. The foursome will record a new song entitled “Out Of My Mind,” and the money raised will go to rebuilding the music school in Armenia.

That is an interesting lineup! Gillan, Iommi, Jon Lord and Nicko McBrain? I have never heard of Nicko playing on anything but Iron Maiden albums. Wow, very cool.

But to say Gillan and Iommi "originally collaborated in 1989" is a vast understatement. Check out the below video. It is a virtual who's who of classic rock in 1989. Roger Taylor from Queen on drums, a thin Chris Squire on bass, Keith Emerson on keyboards. Vocalists include Gillan, Bruce Dickinson and Paul Rodgers. I saw Geoff Downes from Asia in there and the guitar player lineup is off the grid - Iommi, Ritchie Blackmore, Alex Lifeson, David Gilmour, Brian May. Holy moly! Why had I never heard of this before?

It's not the best version of the song but that lineup makes it worth watching all the way through. Also nice to know that half of the Born Again era of Sabbath will be working together again soon. I do love that weird assed album.

CD Review - Neil Young - Le Noise

2010-09-29T09:31:00.000-07:00

I never know what to expect from Neil Young, and I like that about him. But what it means is that I approach each new release with caution. I am not a 'completist' who feels the need to own everything he has ever put out. I check out the videos, the samples on iTunes etc. More often than not these days, I actually pass on Neil's new stuff.

But I have been fired up to get Neil's new Le Noise album ever since I saw the video for Walk With Me. Available today, this is a special Neil release unlike anything he has ever given us. And as a guitar player who also loves raw tones, gritty production and 'real' playing, there is a lot to love. From the insane overdriven electric of Walk With Me to the gorgeous acoustic tone of Peaceful Valley Boulevard, Neil hits this one so far out of the park, the ball is the next county.

The closest I can compare Le Noise to is some of the material from Paul McCartney and Youth's The Fireman Electric Arguments album, which I also love for its sonic insanity and experimental bent.

One of my favorite Neil albums is Ragged Glory from 1990, with Crazy Horse. On Le Noise he has the same dirty-assed electric guitar tone but no band. The absence of bass and guitar leaves room for all sorts of ear candy. Weird effects on the voice, delay loops on everything, ghost guitars in the background.

The opening track, Walk With Me sets the stage for the whole album - Neil solo on gritty electric with delays and loops on the vocals. The next tune, Sign of Love, could be great with Crazy Horse - sounds like an outtake from Ragged Glory. Track 5, Angry World, is so far my favorite tune - it could be a beautiful acoustic song, but Neil chooses to deliver it in what sounds like the same tuning and tone as Cinnamon Girl, with a mesmerizing vocal loop that runs underneath the whole song.

There are two straight acoustic tunes on Le Noise as well, and these are up there with Neil's best. For example, Love and War is an INCREDIBLE song, vocally, melodically, everything. Neil sings, "I've sang songs about love, I've sang songs about war, since the back streets of Toronto." Yes he has. The song is gorgeous and poignant but again, in the hands of Crazy Horse this song will be a killer live.

The other acoustic song, Peaceful Valley Boulevard, clocks in at a hair more than seven minutes and is stony and slow, but with that 'drunken Indian' chunky rhythm Neil has been using since Down By The River. Despite a couple of lyrical head scratchers, those seven minutes go by fast.

Vocally, Neil vacillates between powerful over-the top shouting a la Rockin In The Free World and fragile delivery like on Silver and Gold. Props to producer Daniel Lanois who made the production on the whole CD something really special. Lanois clearly encouraged Neil to be as live and crazy as he could. There are loads of mic pops, string slides, amp hum and general noisiness especially as the songs fade out.

Side note - why does Neil always have a Stones rip off on his best CDs? The chorus to Hitchhiker is basically No Expectations from Beggar's Banquet, and I have lost count of how many times Neil has nicked a variation of the Jumpin Jack Flash riff, from Crime in the City to Welfare Mothers to Mr Soul!

On the CD closer, Rumblin', it sounds like Lanois just fed the whole damn mix through a fuzz box as Neil sings "when will I learn how to listen, when will I learn how to feel, when will I learn how to give back, when will I learn how to heal?" Awesome closer.

There are only eight songs on this CD but that is plenty. The sonic experimentation on six of these eight is really interesting and sets the whole mood of course, but at the core the songs are good too - it's not just a gimmick. It would be classic for Neil to put out Le Noise part two and do all these songs with a band. I'd buy that too.

Here is the video that got me fired up for this album in the first place:

Rush Passed Over Again for Rock and Roll Hall - Fuck Off Rolling Stone

2010-09-28T09:06:00.000-07:00

I guess this ought to be no surprise at all, but Rush has yet AGAIN been passed over for nomination to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Yeah I know it's a closed club led by a so-called expert panel but the bias is infuriating. If you are going to have a rock and roll hall of fame, put the best rock and roll bands in it, for fuck's sake.

Rush has great momentum right now. The band is selling out arenas and amphitheaters in a year when artists are canceling tours or selling tickets for $10 to get warm bodies in the door. The movie Beyond the Lighted Stage is critically acclaimed and is turning even more new fans onto the band. Rush is in the top 75 of all-time record sales by any artist, and has more consecutive Gold records in the US than ANY band except the Stones, Beatles and Who.

So who, you might ask, did get nominated this year? Donovan. WTF, he sucks ass and influenced um, NO ONE except he may have influenced me to pull my eardrums out... Donna Summer. Hmmm.... Alice Cooper. Good... Beastie Boys. OK, but really? Before Rush? Bon Jovi? Really? More influence, record sales, longevity? Not compared to Rush. Oh forget it, this is a futile post.

I mean look at this nominating committee. Who in the fuck are these people? I recognize a bunch of them from Rolling Stone magazine, and of course Robbie Robertson and Steven Van Zandt. Well, you know what? Fuck you Robbie, fuck you Steven and fuck you Rolling Stone. My subscription just ended and I won't be renewing. This is bullshit and everyone knows it. Man up and put Rush in the HOF.

Amen.

Alex Lifeson's Acting Debut - Video

2010-09-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

...well not really. I mean, I'd count his hilarious appearances in the Rush pre-concert videos as acting because he plays characters, is funny, and pretty random too! But Lifeson has an actual small film role as a border guard in the recent not so great movie Suck.

It comes out on DVD soon, but here is the Lifeson scene. I thought it was pretty good.

Roger Waters "The Wall" Tour Opens - Spoiler Videos From Rog Himself

2010-09-23T22:20:00.000-07:00

So we don't need to worry about set list spoilers for the Roger Waters Wall tour that just started this week - we know he's doing The Wall, and if you didn't know that...well, I just don't know what to say.

So the things to avoid if you are trying to be surprised at the show are videos from the gigs depicting the visuals. You know, video of the wall crashing to the ground at the end of the show etc.

If you want to remain in the dark about what you may see at the show DO NOT watch the below two videos from Roger's site. There are loads and loads of spoilers and I am kind of sorry I watched them. But with my memory, come December when I see the shows I won't recall any of this anyway. Suffice it to say the production looks incredible. No. FUCKING incredible. I have tickets to the 12/6 show and will almost certainly try and score one for 12/8. This is a once in a lifetime, must see event.

Enjoy:

Some fan observations and video from opening night:

Katy Perry Too Hot For Elmo?

2010-09-23T09:20:00.000-07:00

This is pretty funny. Katy Perry filmed an appearance for Sesame Street that got a bunch of complaints from parents when it was posted online, so it has been pulled from the show.

The AP reported:

The children's show says it won't air a taped segment featuring the "California Gurls" singer and Elmo. The pop star — who is known for her risque outfits — wore a gold bustier top as she sang a version of her hit "Hot N Cold." But some felt it was too revealing for the kid set.

Sesame Street said in a statement Thursday that in light of the "feedback we've received" after the bit was aired on YouTube, they won't include it on the show. While the show said it was still available on YouTube, it had been removed by the official Sesame Street YouTube channel. Other versions on YouTube have generated thousands of hits.

First off, who provided this 'feedback?' My guess is that these people also listen to guys like Rush Limbaugh and think he speaks to them. Give me a break. Then again, she is pretty hot with a muppet. Dig it yo-self but don't blame me if you want to rinse your ears out afterwards:

Abbey Road Medley Sans Vocals

2010-09-21T08:22:00.000-07:00

I am not sure how people get a hold of stuff like this but damn am I glad that they do. Just like the Sgt Pepper deconstructed post I made last year, here is the 16 minute Abbey Road side 2 medley without any vocals. Pretty damn cool if you ask me. Enjoy it at this link (it's a Facebook video - could not find it on YouTube).

Nelly Furtado Covers Rush!

2010-09-20T17:01:00.000-07:00

I don't usually just pop up videos on this blog for a video's sake but I thought this would interest any Rush fan out there. Nelly Furtado (whose song I'm Like A Bird is her most memorable and frankly a great song - gotta love that Mellotron intro!) covered Time Stand Still from Rush's Hold Your Fire album at a recent concert.

There is a well-shot YouTube of the rehearsal and gig. She does a good job but I think her band is also fairly interesting. The drummer is for sure doing his best to merge Neil's part with what makes sense at a Nelly Furtado concert. Enjoy!

A Fear of Flashing Light -- CD Release Videos

2010-09-16T07:31:00.000-07:00

Hey all - I have been pretty absent from my blog lately because I had a big CD release show last Friday and needless to say there was a lot of work leading up to it. It all paid off, with a song played on KINK radio's Local Music Spotlight last Thursday and a nice blurb in The Oregonian's A&E five live section, where they suggest five top shows for the week. There I was, sandwiched between Brad Paisley and the Scissor Sisters.

The show was off the hook - I turned it into an all-star jam that included various musicians I play with in other local bands such as colorfield and my Pink Floyd tribute band The Floydian Slips, running 14 years strong now.

We did almost all the music from the CD A Fear of Flashing Light, plus some colorfield tunes, covers and jams. Here are three of the better ones, for your viewing enjoyment.

This is the first track from the CD, done live:

This song was written by a guy named Jerry Joseph who deserves a blog post all his own:

An old tune of mine made new with this live version:

Concert Review (sort of) - ASIA

2010-09-08T16:13:00.000-07:00

This Friday I have a big gig - my CD release show and all star jam in Portland. Three hours, 30 songs, 11 musicians (not all onstage at the same time, though!). It's going to be pretty epic. KINK Radio will play a song tomorrow on the Local Music Spotlight at around 9:15 p.m. Pacific Time. There may be some press on Friday, we'll see...

Anyway, it's clearly a big show for me and so I faced a dilemma. The only night the core band of six could get together was last night - same night as Asia in Portland at the Aladdin. I have had a ticket for ages and as long-time readers know, due to heart attacks, heart surgery and god knows what else, Asia has cancelled Portland shows the last couple of times out.

My rehearsal was to end at 9:30, with the Asia ticket saying an 8 p.m. showtime. If there was an opener, I wouldn't miss much. But nope, no opener. The ONE time a band plays and does not drag along an opener, it works majorly to my disadvantage. Oh well.

I just resigned myself to it, had a great rehearsal and trucked over to the Aladdin to catch the last 30 minutes. I walked in during the middle of End of the World, a pretty good new tune. Next up was Open Your Eyes from Alpha and a Carl Palmer drum solo.

Now I had seen Palmer with a three piece instrumental group in this very venue (which only seats about 650 by the way) a few years ago and he blew me away. He was excellent last night but his solo was a bit more showy than last time. More balancing sticks on cymbals, bouncing sticks off the floor tom and catching them, etc, than just kicking ass on the drums. But he was indeed good and the crowd went totally apeshit. Seemed to be mostly men in their 50s - guys who loved ELP, Yes and King Crimson and went to this show because Asia was the next best thing.

The show ended with Sole Survivor, which was great. For the encore, the new Days Like These, and Heat of the Moment, I got to the very front to watch Steve Howe (see photo), one of my guitar heroes. I have seen Howe a bunch of times and he's always very good. He seemed a little bored, going through the motions last night, but it was the second to last night of the tour so maybe he was homesick.

I had earplugs in so I could hear very well. The band was incredibly tight. Much tighter than I expected. They were really excellent as a mater of fact. But they were pretty boring. John Wetton doesn't move much, nor does Howe. Geoff Downes has so much keyboard work to do and his back is to the crowd most of the time due to the way he's always set up his stuff. Palmer was the one mostly making loads of eye contact and mugging a bit.

When I was in front of Howe, a speaker was pointed right at my head out of which came Howe's guitar, some vocals and some 'backing vocals.' There has been discussion on the Web around is the band was using vocal augmentation. Here is what I heard: Wetton's voice was clear and live. They put a delay on his voice once in a while to allow held notes to layer and sound big but everyone does that. His voice sounded shockingly awesome. He hit the high notes in Sole Survivor with no effort.

Geoff Downes is doing backups, and they are also legit. But someone is triggering backup vocals a la Rush but not nearly as accurately. In Days Like These, I heard very very clearly the pre-recorded backing vocals, because they were out of sync with the band. Like someone triggered them a hair early or late and it was very obvious. I even saw Wetton roll his eyes a bit playfully, like, oh crap. So that mystery is solved but who cares? Lots of bands do it - Rush does it with vocals, keyboards, guitar parts and god knows what else, so in my book Asia can do it too. They just need to get better at it.

It was pretty incredible to see a band of this caliber in a VERY intimate theater. The audience was really into it at the end. Afterwards, I asked the guitar tech for the set list at Howe's feet. He said he couldn't give it to me because it had notes on it, which it did (I could see it). I said, OK no sweat - can you give this to Steve? And handed him one of my new CDs. Who knows if it went into the trash but MAYBE just maybe Steve Howe heard about a minute of my CD, or at least looked at the cover.

Hey a guy can dream, right?

Rare Dio-Era Rainbow Videos

2010-09-03T08:39:00.000-07:00

To get your three-day weekend started off in style (or if you are not the U.S., your 2-day weekend), dig these killer Dio-era Rainbow videos, posted by Rainbow bassist Bob Daisley himself.

The back story, as according to Blabbermouth.net:

Bassist Bob Daisley, who was a member of Rainbow from 1977 to 1979, has posted high-quality video footage of the band performing the songs "Gates of Babylon," "Long Live Rock 'N' Roll" and "L.A. Connection" at a New York studio prior to the release of the band's third studio album, 1978's "Long Live Rock 'N' Roll."

Although Bob Daisley and David Stone are listed on the "Long Live Rock 'N' Roll" credits for their contributions, they joined Rainbow after the recording sessions had already commenced and only appear on a couple of tracks. Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore played most of the bass parts himself for the album.

They are pretty obviously miming along but the vocals are for sure different from the record so maybe those were live. Regardless, these are pretty cool. Enjoy:

Gates of Babylon

Long Live Rock N Roll

LA Connection

CD Review - Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier

2010-09-01T08:38:00.000-07:00

Iron Maiden’s smash hit new album (I am not kidding -- check this out) The Final Frontier combines what we expect from Maiden (time signature and tempo changes galore, dual and triple guitar harmonies, galloping bass and apocalyptic lyrics) with some new twists (slide guitar, some gorgeous acoustic picking, and – gasp – electronic drums). Overall it’s a strong release, and after a few listens here is a sort of song by song take:

First song is in two parts. The first part, called Satellite 15, starts with something I have never heard on a Maiden album, which is heavily distorted Steve Harris bass, transitioning into a bit of a heavy metal jazz odyssey with heavily processed vocals and another first, electronic drums. A bit of a stretch for me here, but then half way through, the song jumps into the Maiden we know and love, as the song The Final Frontier.

Actually I had heard this second half before, as it came out on video a month ago. It’s very melodic. Good guitars and vocal melody but lyrically a little clunky. Kind of like a heavy metal version of Elton John’s Rocket Man, or David Bowie’s Space Oddity, but not as good.

This 8:41 opener goes right into El Dorado, which Maiden released online a while ago too. So I know this one and even saw them play it live. It’s a great tune and really kicks ass live.

Third track, Mother of Mercy, is very, very melodic. Guitars are almost jangling on this song. What I like about this is that with KISS for example, they feel obligated for every guitar tone to be totally overdriven to prove how much they rock. Maiden is cool with clean guitar tones and this song, while about soldiers and war (of course), has a lot of very clean, cool guitar tones on it. Good tune.

Fourth track, Coming Home is really solid – sounds a bit like Revelations but lyrically is about what space travelers feel when their mission is over and they land back on Earth. But you can read into this as a personal band road story too. Very cool – a bit of a departure from Maiden who don’t usually write about personal topics. Some great multi-part guitar harmonies on this one and a nice trading solos center section. Next up is The Alchemist. Upbeat tune. Again great guitar harmonies.

Island of Avalon is a nine-plus minute Steve Harris bass-driven tune a la To Tame A Land but really more like the center section of Seventh Son of A Seventh Son. Very nice chorus effect on the bass – again a nice, pure tone. As with most things Maiden, things move along and change quickly. Before you know it, you are in the 7/8 time center solo section, which I have to say is some of the coolest, trickiest new Maiden I have heard in a long time. If you only wanted to get one song off this CD and lean towards Maiden’s more epic, Steve Harris material, this one is your track. Otherwise, it's El Dorado.

Starlight is another good tune that sort of chugs along in the verses and straightens out in the choruses, which are also a bit of a Seventh Son throwback, chordally. This song is a great example of how with three guitars, the band can have a crunchy complex dual-guitar rhythm going, and then add a cool layer of lead fills or melody over the top. And the solo section is another 7/8 crank fest – they are flexing their 7/8 chops on this CD, and as usual drummer Nicko makes it sound very fluid. Never have been sure how he changes beats, time signatures, grooves etc on a dime but he does, and always has.

The Talisman is a nine-minute tune that starts with some very cool acoustic guitar picking. My guess is that this is driven by Janick Gers, who despite being totally annoying live brought more of a Genesis style open picked chordal feel to a lot of Maiden’s more recent quiet stuff. Shit, this song almost sounds like Steve Hackett on Entanged from Trick of the Tail! Love it. Very different. Of course this acoustic intro bashes into full Maiden gallop overdrive after a couple of minutes and yeah we’ve heard this before but it was good then and it’s good now. Handle it. There is actually some slide guitar in this song and I am not sure I have heard much of that over the years…

The last two songs are long epics as well. The first starts with bass chords, a repeating guitar melody and some moody synth. Maiden embraced synth way back on Seventh Son and I always thought it worked well in these quieter sections. Both of these last songs are top notch with some epic Maiden moments. Overall I give the album a 7 out of 10. For sure worth getting if you are a Maiden fan.

I have to say, after seeing the band on the last tour I went back and bought Brave New World and Dance of Death. I still far prefer A Matter of Life and Death and I hear this as a continuation of that latter album. Very real guitar tones, not a lot of processing on anything. Certainly a CD I will come back to more than a few times. I hope the Final Frontier tour comes back to my neck of the woods – these songs will be great live. Up the Irons!

New Iron Maiden Debuts in U.S. at #4 - Their Highest U.S. Spot Ever - and is #1 in 21 Other Countries

2010-08-31T09:07:00.000-07:00

Dig the press release below. With zero support from radio singles, reality TV or having its songs in movies, Iron Maiden has somehow managed to have their new Final Frontier album debut at the band's highest U.S. chart spot ever (#4), and have the release debut at #1 in 21 other countries.

Yes, these days you need to sell fewer units to get on the charts compared to the old days, but all boats lower equally in that scenario. Meaning, that is the case for every album on the charts now. It's all relative.

I just got the CD yesterday (trying to bump them up to #3 you see) and it's very good. I will post a review later this week after I soak in in a bit more.

IRON MAIDEN DEBUTS #4 ON THE U.S. BILLBOARD TOP 200 CHART:

THE FINAL FRONTIER IS THEIR HIGHEST-CHARTING RELEASE EVER IN THE USA

GLOBAL CHART DOMINATION WITH #1 ALBUM SPOTS SO FAR IN 21 COUNTRIES

ARABIA, AUSTRIA, BRAZIL, BULGARIA, CANADA, CHILE, CROATIA, CZECH REPUBLIC, DENMARK, FRANCE, GERMANY, FINLAND, JAPAN, MEXICO, NEW ZEALAND, NORWAY, PORTUGAL, SPAIN, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND, U.K. – AND MORE TO FOLLOW

Recent Billboard Magazine headline says it all: “Iron Maiden Slays Rivals…”

Iron Maiden have more than earned their status as one of the foremost contemporary and influential Rock bands in the World as they debut at #1 on sales charts in 21 countries to date with their 15th studio album, The Final Frontier. Released August 17, 2010, from UMe in the U.S. (released in the rest of the world through EMI), The Final Frontier commands the #4 position on the Billboard’s Top 200 Chart, making this their highest ever Billboard Chart entry in the U.S.

With their ever increasing popularity worldwide, based on their legion of loyal fans and the perpetual addition of new young fans, Iron Maiden are able to continually take their place on the uppermost reaches of the charts and fill stadiums and arenas all over the planet year after year.

In addition to their No. 1 spots on the charts in 21 countries to date, maiden are currently No. 2 in Australia, Belgium, Holland, No. 3 in Ireland, Poland and Turkey, No 4 in USA and No 5 in Singapore

The band reunited with longtime Maiden producer Kevin “Caveman” Shirley in early 2010 to record The Final Frontier at Compass Point Studios, Nassau, where they recorded the albums Piece Of Mind (’83), Powerslave (’84) and Somewhere In Time (’86) albums. Bruce Dickinson (vocals) , Steve Harris (bass), Nicko McBrain (drums) and Adrian Smith, Dave Murray and Janick Gers (guitars) are clearly the ultimate Iron Maiden lineup, and one that has become increasingly fearless and boldly creative.

"...the new Iron Maiden album--which is actually everything you might expect, bedecked with a fine, tasteful cover, and emerging in an era where it now has more meaning than ever, since Iron Maiden has become, almost by default, the Heavy Metal icons an entire generation must now strive to equal!" – Yahoo! Music

Thirty years after their eponymous debut album in April 1980 and with more than 80-million albums sold, Iron Maiden are more creatively vibrant, dynamic and relevant than ever. Having completed another North American tour in front of over 350,000 fans in 25 cities, creating a cutting edge video, “The Final Frontier“ produced by the award-winning production company Darkside Animation Films (“Lost in Space,” “Gladiator” and “Black Hawk Down”), and a mind-blowing new stage show, Maiden are in blistering form and ready to take their music into 2011 and beyond.

All chart positions confirmed to date are as follows -

No. 1 – Arabia, Austria, Brazil*, Bulgaria*, Canada, Chile**, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Finland, Japan+, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK,

No. 2 – Australia, Belgium, Holland

No. 3 – Ireland, Poland, Turkey*

No. 4 – USA

No. 5 - Singapore

Happy 57th Birthday to Alex Lifeson

2010-08-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

Cannot believe this guy is 57, but then again he's younger than Paul Stanley so what the hell. As a guitarist I feel like Lifeson is at the top of his game. Goes to show that rockin' ain't just for the young.

Alex and Geddy Lee told VH1 radio about their birthday rituals:

“(Geddy Lee) Well after I stop crying, I start drinking heavily. (Alex Lifeson) It’s interesting for me this summer because I celebrated my 21st birthday about a week or ten days or so after we went on the road on our first tour in Minneapolis. And we’ll be playing on my 57th birthday in Minneapolis.”

Happy birthday Lerxt! Here are a couple of solos through the ages:

1979:

2010:

20 Years Ago Today - Stevie Ray Vaughan Dies

2010-08-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

Stevie Ray Vaughan died 20 years ago today in a helicopter crash in Wisconsin. I don't post a lot about SRV but I always loved his playing and thought he carried the Hendrix torch better than almost anybody. My favorite songs of his were the longer, slower ones like Tin Pan Alley and the incredible Riviera Paradise.

It seemed like, just as with Hendrix, that Stevie was getting into some new more jazzier kinds of music when he died. I wonder how much great music he would have produced over the last 20 years. We'll never know, but for today dig on this incredible live take of Riviera Paradise:

Alex Lifeson Spills New Rush Album Deets

2010-08-27T00:02:00.000-07:00

As you'd expect, Rush is granting interviews across the country to pimp the Time Machine tour, which by all accounts is doing fantastic numbers. Many venues sold out etc. That is no small feat in this economy where the touring business is finally taking a big hit this year. Good for them.

But unlike, say, KISS - who trot out the exact same soundbites in every interview - the Rush guys will disclose little nuggets of information here and there. Maybe they are more talkative that day, maybe the interviewer is asking the right questions. But whatever the case, you gotta pay attention.

Along these lines, Alex Lifeson spilled some great details to the Allentown Pennsylvania paper The Morning Call. This Morning Call Alex Lifeson interview betrays these nuggets:

[Neil] Peart proposed the idea of doing an entire album after he saw Steely Dan on a recent tour.

"He was really impressed with the fact that they were doing different albums night to night," Lifeson says. "That's perhaps a little ambitious for us."

So Rush decided to do just one of its albums on the tour. The band had already decided to perform "The Camera Eye," the longest song on "Moving Pictures," for its current tour, so it was an easy leap to choose the album.

"We thought it would be a nice way to incorporate doing that song, a little more of a special presentation," Lifeson says. "The other stuff from that album, we've been doing for a while on and off, but it was nice to condense it all into the album and present it that way."

First of all, I love that Neil suggested doing Moving Pictures, and that he got the idea from a Steely Dan tour. So many bands live in a bubble and don't listen to anyone else's music. Rush has never been that way. Peart has said that he was a big fan of The Talking Heads and The Police in the late 70s, and that this helped move the band from epic pieces to stuff like Spirit of Radio and certainly the more ska and reggae stuff on Signals and Grace Under Pressure.

More from the article:

Lifeson says the band has six songs pretty much ready to go and three others almost done. The group plans to write at least a couple of additional songs after the tour. At this point, the CD is shaping up to be a musically varied work.

"There is the epic song, 'Clockwork Angels,' which is really taking shape. It's a multi-parted piece, very dynamic," Lifeson says. "Then there's some stuff that's very melodic and on the softer side, on acoustic, with a strong melody. So there's great diversity there. Honestly, I can't wait until we start really working on these songs. We've sort of got them to the stage where Geddy and I were happy with the arrangements and then Neil kind of comes in and starts working on his drum arrangements, and they go from there. So they're sort of in that pre-drum stage right now, and it's great to see them come to life."

Epic? Multi-parted piece? Say no MORE! The last one of those we got was The Camera Eye, which of course they are playing on this tour. Sweet!

Can't wait to hear this new album. In the meantime, here is The Camera Eye from the opening night of the tour in New Mexico:

...and the killer new song Caravan:

Interview - Iron Maiden Illustrator Derek Riggs

2010-08-23T21:41:00.000-07:00

When I was getting into Iron Maiden in high school, part of the band's appeal was the insanely over the top, gory artwork on the band's album covers and how it seemed to evolve over time and connect with the previous album's artwork. It was very clever and appealing to me, while also a bit morbid. Perfect for high school.

The first couple of albums were just crazy Eddie killing people in alleys. But around Piece of Mind, themes began to emerge. Lobotomized Eddie. Egyptian God Eddie. Terminator Eddie. I must have logged as many hours staring at the Powerslave artwork as I did studying sophomore English. More, probably.

Album covers like Sabbath's The Mob Rules had as big an impact but with less mystery. It was less about "oh, what does this weird symbol in the background mean" and more about "Jesus these guys are total devil worshippers."

Turns out that all of Maiden artwork until 2002's Fear of the Dark was done by a guy named Derek Riggs. Of course I knew that because Maiden put everyone who did anything for the band into its tour programs - another reason I thought/think the band is so cool - and Riggs was always in some weird photo.

But he had a falling out with the band's management and refused to do any more art for them, even signing over the rights to the images he had created over the years. He is a real artist's artist, this guy, and in this Metal Sucks interview with Derek Riggs, we get these nuggets:

I was always trying to make the albums flow from one to the next. There’s more than just a bunch of pictures. There’s a visual, symbolic language that’s shared between releases. [laughs] Of course, I made Maiden think that it was them that was doing that.

When I’m painting a cover, this is what’s going through my head. The cover for the CD or record is the front end, but what’s making the money for the band is the merchandise. Of course, in [the band members'] minds, they’re the equal of Mozart. But if you’re like the FBI and follow the money, you’ll see that the band is just a front for a very large merchandising operation. The band might not know enough to know this, but I know it. So you look at a cover and think, “That’s not going to make a good shirt

I was right on the border of this for Somewhere in Time. The artwork is good on the record to hold in your hands, but it almost doesn’t work on a t-shirt.

Really, I’ve done zombies. At this point, it’s like, “How do you want your zombie? Would you like him with a burning city behind him or with lightning? Do you want him boiled or fried?” [laughs]

It's a really solid interview - check out the whole thing.

Selfish Dickhead Commits Suicide at Swell Season Concert

2010-08-22T15:44:00.000-07:00

OK now this is just weird. I saw the Swell Season last Friday at the Portland Zoo and didn't hear a thing about this at the time, although I imagine the band would not say anything from the stage about it, obviously. But the night before, someone had killed themselves at their concert by jumping from the roof of the theater, landing onstage on a speaker. Holy shit.

The Huffington Post reported:

A man jumped at least 20 feet to his death onto the stage of a Northern California concert in front of hundreds of horrified music fans, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office said Friday.

The Swell Season was playing an outdoor show at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga in front of a crowd of about 1,900 when the jump happened Thursday night.

Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Rick Sung says authorities are treating the death as a suicide. Sung said the man's identity will not be released.

Sung says the man left a friend in the audience around 10 p.m. and soon appeared on a roof that covers the stage. Witnesses say he jumped off the roof and landed on stage near the band's lead singer, Glen Hansard.

Witnesses said Hansard removed his guitar and walked over to the man's body.

The jumper was pronounced dead by a doctor in attendance who spent an hour trying to revive him.

So, what the hell? I guess if someone is that fucked up either emotionally or on drugs, it is irrelevant where they decide to off themselves but I guarantee there were loads of kids at this show (there were in Portland) and come on - The Swell Season? Not exactly music you want to kill yourself to.

Suicide is so selfish but in this and all other cases it outa be private too. Why do this in front of thousands of people trying to have a nice evening? Bullshit.

The person who posted the below video on YouTube wrote: I filmed this about two minutes before a man jumped from the roof behind the stage and killed himself. I hope it conveys some of the intense beauty of The Swell Season's music and the type of evening that was taking place when it ended abruptly with a thud as the man hit the stage roughly where the violinist is standing in this video. It went from such an emotional high to a tragic low in an instant.

Oh and the song they were about to go into? Falling Slowly, from the movie Once. Bizzaro...

Happy Birthday Ian Gillan

2010-08-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan turns 65 today - wow, 65! I have loved Purple since I first heard them back in high school. I recall heading to the used record store (Streetlight Records in San Jose, California), coming home with In Rock, Fireball, Machine Head and of course Live In Japan.

I was ultra fired up when the Mark IV version reunited in the 80s and put out the fantastic Perfect Strangers album and the pretty good House of the Blue Light follow up. I saw both supporting tours and was blown away each time.

Back in the 80s, Gillan had just wrapped up his short stint with Sabbath on the Born Again album and tour. I did not see that tour but that crazy album still holds a place in my metal heart. It's when the band started to jump the shark but Gillan's screech went over pretty well and who can argue the intensity of Zero the Hero, Trashed and the title track?

On those Purple tours, I could tell Gillan's voice was starting to give him problems. After Child In Time, he'd take a break while the guys did an instrumental, and he coughed a fair amount onstage. I am pretty sure he has not sung that song in years.

I was also stoked to learn Gillan played the role of Jesus on the studio LP of Jesus Christ Superstar prior to the movie and Ted Neeley's still-chugging-along-as-a-65-year-old-Jesus run at the role.

Anyway, what a great career and it's still going! Gillan just told VH1 Radio: “I think time, obviously, catches up with everyone, but it’s certainly not something we’re planning at the moment, everyone’s in pretty good shape. I don’t think we specifically try hard. We all had a pretty healthy life.”

Here's a nugget from back in the day. Happy Birthday Ian!

Child In Time:

Waters and Gilmour Reunion Video - Comfortably Numb and Brick 2

2010-08-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

David Gilmour's official YouTube page just posted full versions of the four songs played in July at The Hoping Foundation Charity Event. For sure not the best picture or audio quality but damn it's great to see these two together again! The below is video of the latter two songs - Comfortably Numb and Brick In The Wall Part 2. Enjoy:

Video of Rogers Waters and David Gilmour Reunion

2010-08-13T14:10:00.000-07:00

I posted last month about the great burying of the hatchet on July 10, 2010 where David Gilmour invited Roger Waters to appear with him at a charity benefit for an intimate audience of 200 lucky-assed motherfuckers. Waters agreed, then hedged, but in the end did it after Gilmour upped the ante and said he'd play on Comfortably Numb at an upcoming to be determined Wall gig. Wow!

Today, Waters sent an email to his fan base with a two minute snip of the performance, saying:

"Hi everyone,

Here is a two minute taster of the gig David and I did together for The Hoping Foundation back in July. The sound quality is crap but it was a great night for me, and for him, and also for "US and THEM".

Please support the Hoping Foundation; they are doing great work for refugee children. David and I have given the charity the whole 29 minutes and I'm told they're going to put it up at approximately 5 pm BST on Monday, August 16.

Go to HopingFoundation.org to see the full video and please support the charity if you can."

Vimeo won't let me embed the video yet but you can see it here.

Rush and Tom Petty Classic Album Releases

2010-08-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

I posted about this a while ago, but I think the Eagle Vision Classic Album series is one of the best music-related shows out there. They spend an hour or more picking apart classic albums from bands from U2 to Floyd to Cream, interviewing the band, producers, engineers, managers, hell the dude who swept out the studio...

Just watch the DVD on The Band's first two albums. They are able to interview Rick Danko before he passed, and the breaking down of the music by isolating tracks in the studio is breathtaking. Same with The Who's Who's Next album.

These DVDs are top notch and I am so stoked that there are two new ones out this year that I will watch more than a few times. The first I already posted about is Rush 2112 and Moving Pictures. This one will be out next month and it looks like one DVD covers both albums, so I hope it's extra long.

The other one I just found out about today, and it's Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Damn the Torpedoes. It is available right now.

Below are trailers for the DVDs I just mentioned. Rumor has it that they would like to do The Wall. Actually, the bottom of this article talks about what it takes to put these out and some of the artists they are thinking about. It's an interesting read.

Damn The Torpedoes:

2112/Moving Pictures:

Who's Next:

The Band:

Photos From Rush Concert - 8-7-2010

2010-08-10T07:57:00.000-07:00

I promised a few photos from the Rush show:

Make sure to check out my full review of the show with almost 30 mins of (low-res) video.

Concert Review - Rush

2010-08-08T22:38:00.000-07:00

Caught Rush last night on the 15th show of the North American Time Machine tour. WARNING -- loads of spoilers ahead so if you're going to see this tour and want surprises, stop reading now and for sure as shit don't watch the videos!

So the premise of this tour is that the band is tapping various eras in its history. I guess they have done that in past tours, especially the R30 tour.

But the big feature this time is the debut of two brand new tunes that are not on any released album yet, although you can buy them as a single on iTunes, and for the first time ever a beginning to end performance of the 1981 Moving Pictures album.

That means Camera Eye people - that means Camera Eye.

The set list is at the tail end of this review, but I have to say the show started out slowly for me. My buddies and I agreed that part of it was due to a 7:30 start time, which meant it was still light out. Things got more exciting when the band was able to unleash its killer light show, which was indeed incredible. The light rig was like some robotic animal and I am not sure I have seen such vibrant colors coming from concert lights before. Unreal visuals.

Oh and the stage looked like a time machine, but one built in the 50s - glowing transistors, huge vacuum tube screens, etc. Like Back to the Future but with low-fi old school technology. A creaky odometer-esque on-screen visual would slowly roll to the year the song they were about to play was released, etc. Pretty neat theme.

The show started with a hilarious video. These guys on every tour take the piss out of themselves more and more. Back 20 years ago it was funny to have little animations of each of them on the screen in the back. Now they are flipping actors in costume. Suffice it to say Alex Lifeson is in a fat suit that makes him look about 350 pounds, and even Neil makes a cameo.

This old school time machine keeps showing up in the videos and of course there is a big red button you are not supposed to push but it keeps getting hit, and when time lurches back and forth, the band on the screen goes from 1975-era Rush (actors, not the real guys), to babies with guitars and drumsticks, to the year 2112 when the band is playing gray haired in wizard outfits. The best one is where they all switch instruments, which you can see in one of my videos below in the solo section of Tom Sawyer. I have never seen Neil be this funny, but here he is, pretending to be ripping Alex's solo in Tom Sawyer...

So, the MUSIC.

Like I said, it started a little sleepy. First four songs -- Spirit of Radio, Time Stand Still, Presto, Stick It Out. On paper that may sound OK, but look at the first five songs of the Snakes and Arrows tour: Limelight, Digital Man (with massive jam at the end), Entre Nous, Mission, Freewill. That really got the blood pumping. Last night, not so much. In fact we were a little underwhelmed until the very end of that first set - once they hit Freewill, we were sold hook line and sinker and it kept getting better from there.

The two new songs are excellent. Well, B2BU is OK - that was another one of those sleeper first set tunes, although it is a really pummeling song. But Caravan has to be one of the best Rush tunes in 10 to 15 years. The center section is very Freewill, meaning it's an insane jam that will make you slap your face and say SHIT when it's over.

Like I said, the end of set one was stellar. Freewill was face smacking as mentioned, Marathon is one of my favorite 80s Rush tunes and they rocked the shit out of it, and the version of Subdivisions that closed the set made me wonder out loud if that is my favorite Rush song. Probably not, but top 5 for sure.

Then the real meat was served - Moving Pictures. Yeah, the first four songs on that album already get played a lot. But it was cool to hear them in ORDER! And then...The Camera Eye.

I have been waiting 25 years to see Rush play that song and they still over delivered. I was so glad to have shot rough video of the end of that song because watching the solo on my computer today, it was indeed as mind blowing on 2nd and 3rd listen as it was when it was happening. The crowd went ape shit, too.

Witch Hunt and Vital Signs were also epic. It was over way too fast but there was more to go. How do you follow Moving Pictures? With the brand new Caravan, which like I said is a fucking excellent Rush song. It took me quite a few listens to really get it but isn't the best Rush that way?

Next up was Neil's solo, which I captured on video (see below). Loved it - he gets better and better every tour. Then some familiar tunes - Closer to the Heart, back from a long hiatus, and the obligatory Overture/Temples from 2112 - always great but could be given a break. Show closed with Far Cry from Snakes and Arrows, which is another truly excellent new Rush effort.

Encore was La Villa and Working Man and I gotta say, watching Lifeson rip the solos in those two songs made my fingers cramp up. No idea how he pulls this shit off.

But hey, don't take my word for it. I was shocked to find that I had video of almost 30 minutes of the show. I will post some photos tomorrow. Enjoy, and for God's sake go see this tour if you can.

Set List:

Video Intro (The Real History of Rush Part 1)
The Spirit of Radio
Time Stand Still
Presto
Stick It Out
Workin' Them Angels
Leave That Thing Alone!
Faithless
BU2B
Freewill
Marathon
Subdivisions

Video Intro (The Real History of Rush Part 2)
Tom Sawyer
Red Barchetta
YYZ
Limelight
The Camera Eye
Witch Hunt
Vital Signs
Caravan
Drum Solo
Closer to the Heart (with new 12-string acoustic intro)
2112 (Overture/Temples of Syrinx)
Far Cry

Encore:
La Villa Strangiato (with polka intro)
Working Man (reggae intro)
Video Outro (I Still Love You Man)
Closer To The Heart Polka Exit Music

UPDATE: Posted a handful of photos on 7/11. Check 'em out!

Montage of Songs from the Show:

Neil Peart Drum Solo:

Moving Pictures:

Just found this excellent hi-def close up video of the intro "History of Rush" video and Spirit of Radio. Dang, which I'd had these seats!

KISS Goes Reggae - Hilarious!

2010-08-07T09:51:00.000-07:00

OK this needs no back story except God bless video editing software. Have a chuckle this morning:

Countdown to RUSH!

2010-08-06T16:55:00.000-07:00

24 hours and I will be almost to the venue. Sweet! I of course peeked at the set list - very different. But they could play I Think I'm Going Bald five times and I'd be happy to just hear Moving Pictures all the way through, which is the highlight of this tour aside from some brand new unreleased stuff. For sure I will post a review. While I get geeked up, feast your eyes on this!

Ain't In It For My Health - A Documentary on The Band's Levon Helm

2010-08-03T15:46:00.000-07:00

The recent excellent and popular rock documentaries The Story of Anvil, Iron Maiden Flight 666 and Rush Beyond the Lighted Stage all whetted my appetite for, well, MORE rock documentaries, dammit! I love behind the scenes access to bands who over the course of their careers have not granted much access - Rush is a great example.

So I was highly stoked to stumble across some PR for filmmaker Jacob Hatley's upcoming documentary on Levon Helm, cantankerous 70-year old drummer from The Band. Old Levon was the one guy in The Band who was from America (the rest were Canadian) and was from the deep south to boot. His autobiography This Wheel's On Fire is a fantastic read if you dig The Band. But it also tears the cover off of any image of that group as a bunch of pals.

The Band basically toured in relative obscurity for years in the 50s and 60s and of course broke through as Dylan's backing band and then on their own. The core lineup splintered with the 1976 concert/film The Last Waltz, which Levon hated. He saw it as a ploy between Band songwriter Robbie Robertson and Martin Scorsese to sell out to Hollywood.

In the interviews below, Hatley even tells a story of how Levon rejected a lifetime achievement award because of his 'demons from the past,' which I read as "I am not going to Hollywood to pick up some Goddamn bullshit award that has anything to do with Robertson." Despite the fact he still plays Robertson's songs every gig, but ahem...

Anyway, the movie is called Ain't In It for My Health, and it was screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June. The movie's Web site is at Ain't in It for My Health.

Hatley spent three years off and on living with Helm, shooting pretty much anything he wanted, editing along the way. The interviews below are from Levon's Web site. They are revealing regarding Levon and the film, but also give some great advice on filmmaking (mostly in the second part).

I have no idea when the rest of the world gets to see this film, but I can't wait.