Music Review - New Rush Single

Two classic bands (read, 'been around since the 80s or earlier') to get their shit together for the new era of music discovery, delivery and consumption (read 'Internet and mobile devices') are Rush and Iron Maiden. Both bands have released previews from their upcoming full length albums ahead of summer tours.

In Rush's case, the band decided to put out a single, tour and THEN record the bulk of the new album, so their chops would be particularly rocking. In Maiden's case, the album will be out after the tour has started, but it's pretty much cooked.

On Rockline recently, Steve Harris confirmed the band would just do the one pre-released song live and wait to unleash any more new material until the full album is out. Same with Rush - we can expect to hear both of their new songs live on this year's tour.

The new Maiden song, called El Dorado is offered as a free download, and the new Rush single costs $2.49 and includes a 5-page digital booklet.

OK, all good. But how are the songs? Here is my take on the Rush tunes. I will review Maiden's tomorrow in advance of me seeing the band live tomorrow night.

Rush - Caravan/BU2B:
It took me a long time to fully appreciate these songs, as usual for me with modern Rush.

There is a LOT going on here. The general vibe? Heavy. Caravan starts out like the soundtrack to a Godzilla movie, if Godzilla is the size of the Empire State Building, which I imagine is slightly bigger than his actual size. Um, well, you see where I am going: The song is large and lumbering.

The opening riff gets turned on its head once the drums come in, and is as solid as any Rush riffage. Geddy comes out swinging with fairly typical Neil lyrics:

In a world lit only by fire
Long train of flares under piercing stars
I stand watching the steamliners roll by

The caravan thunders onward
To the distant dream of the city
The caravan carries me onward
On my way at last
On my way at last

Which yields to the very catchy chorus refrain of "I can’t stop thinking big, I can’t stop thinking big, In a world where I feel so small, I can’t stop thinking big."

After the second chorus there is a multi-part instrumental freak out that is for the most part, well fucking awesome. It took me a while to really grasp what is going on in this section because it changes pretty quickly. I still don't get it all but the bass and drums interplay going on under the guitar and solo are incredibly strong and complex, and then out of that they just hit that big chorus one more time, freak out some more and wrap it up.

The second song, BU2B is even heavier if that is possible. Lyrically very consistent with Neil's science over religion bent:

I was brought up to believe
The universe has a plan
We are only human
It’s not ours to understand

The universe has a plan
All is for the best
Some will be rewarded
And the devil take the rest

This song follows the 'new Rush' tradition of throwing in some super duper heaviness on each album, along the lines of Spindrift and Earthshine from their last two albums. Pretty pummeling vibe, sometimes atonal guitar. But there are some moments of relief, such as the bridge which brings back some of that 80s keyboard padding. Doesn't last long though and we're back to the main plodding riff. Fucking huge. Not sure I have heard them this huge.

These songs are going to blow people's minds live. And if the whole album sounds anything like this, it's going to be kick ass.

In more Rush news, the documentary Beyond The Lighted Stage will air on VH1, VH1 Classic and Palladia this Saturday, and will be preceded in some markets by the Classic Rock album series episodes on 2112 and Moving Pictures. That's a whole lotta Rush and I like it! Full reviews on that shiteness next week.

Rush Presale - You're Out Of Luck Unless You Are Rich or a CITI Cardholder

This is massively annoying -- usually I am able to get pre-sale concert tickets before they go on sale to the general public because I subscribe to emails from a band, a venue, or both. In the case of Iron Maiden, I had to pay a $10 fee to join the Maiden fan club, which gave me early access to (great) seats. I happily paid that $10 for this access.

But for the Rush presales on this 2010 tour, you have to have a CITI credit card. CITI card holders can use the first six digits of their credit card account as the password for the presale, and at this time, that's your only option folks. There is no other way to get early tickets unless you are buying the very expensive Rush VIP package.

This blows shit, and luckily a family member has a CITI card so I am all set when my presale goes live this Tuesday. But this is not cool and it rewards CITI customers, not Rush fans. I would think the guys in Rush would not be into this if they knew, but as Gene Simmons says, this is the music BUSINESS and if CITI is paying some bills for Rush on the tour, then I guess that's the deal.

Stinks for the fans, though. Thoughts?

The Downside of Tech and Music

Lots of folks have pointed to how technology and the Internet have freed up artists from the shackles of record companies and big business.

Now, you can record a professional sounding demo or album using fairly inexpensive computer recording software and UIs. You can film and edit a pro video using HD cameras and computer software. And you can get the same widely distributed using the Internet, namely YouTube, and of course iTunes and a ton of do-it-yourself distribution services.

But the real question is, should you?

"Shine" by Final Placement from sharity world on Vimeo.

As one commenter said, "My ears just threw up."

Abbey Road Studios Put Up For Sale

According to Classic Rock Magazine, Abbey Road Studios has been put up for sale by EMI to prop up crumbling finances.

According to the article, it’s expected that the complex could fetch around £20 million [~$27 million]. More:

The house, 3 Abbey Road, was bought in 1929 by The Gramophone Company, who later became EMI.

It opened as the world’s first custom-built recording studio in 1931, and became famous as the place where The Beatles recorded all their albums, except for Let It Be.

The Beatles also made the zebra crossing outside the studio legendary.

So many others have worked there over the decades, including Pink Floyd and Radiohead.

Hopefully the studio will stay open and functioning but I am bracing myself for the inevitable and the new owners turn it into a Chuck E Cheese or Hard Rock Cafe. Bleah.

New Rush Recordings May Take Untraditional Form

As noted on RushIsABand this afternoon, Neil Peart told the Canadian Press that the next set of Rush recordings may not take the form of a traditional album or CD release. Dig it:

"We feel very much liberated from the album format in a way right now, because in the three years since our last album (2007's 'Snakes & Arrows'), suddenly albums don't mean anything," Peart told The Canadian Press in a telephone interview from his home in California.

"We're thinking of writing and recording a few songs and maybe releasing them, and playing them live, and then going back and doing some more later. We just feel really free (in terms) of what we might do right now.

"Anything is possible in the nicest way and we like the fact of shaking it all up."

Peart says he's started writing new lyrics while bandmates Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson are preparing at their Toronto studio ("every time we start a new record, the technology is all different, and we've gotta learn it . . . again," he explains).

Asked if he would be willing to reveal details of any of the new songs, the personable Peart replied: "No, sir. (But) I like them."

But the 57-year-old says the band is aware that the record industry is in flux, and would rather adapt with the times than worry about the past.

"We're kind of taking this as a challenge to do something with, rather than to moan about," he explained.

"(It's) a healthier reaction than getting mad: 'Aww, things aren't how they used to be -- we wanted to make a 12-inch album with two sides!' Those things ARE hard to give up, and every time now we make a side one and side two mentally and build the dynamics ... so there is something lost.

"But, on the other hand, it's pointless to lament about it, and now we have the opportunity to take advantage of this amorphous situation going on in the music business right now." ...

This makes total sense to me. Once I was able to get my band's music up on iTunes, it dawned on me that I could record four songs at a shot and release little EPs as frequently as inspiration struck, and they'd be available worldwide (not that anyone would BUY them or anything). Very empowering! No need for a label when you have worldwide distribution at your fingertips, baby!

Anyway, this is not the first time the Rush guys talked about this idea so I'd be surprised if it didn't happen.

Van Halen Made Extra $1 Million by Working With Scalpers

The Wall Street Journal reported this week on a ticket scam spearheaded by Ticketmaster head Irving Azoff. Seems that the best 500 tickets for 20 of Van Halen's shows on the reunion tour were removed from the Ticketbastard system and were given to scalpers, who would be allowed to keep 30 percent of the money they made by scalping the tickets. The remaining 70 percent would go to Ticketmaster, the band and others.

It was part of a clandestine Ticketmaster program called "Project Showtime" that was designed to reap some of the benefits from ticket scalping. Makes me feel a whooooole lot better about the Ticketmaster/LiveNation monopoly.

...not.

According to the article, the program "fell apart because of distrust between participants, but not before the secondary ticket brokers were given tickets to scalp for Van Halen with Azoff's blessing." Yeah no shit. That is like a Walmart letting drug dealers peddle their pharmaceuticals and then wondering why the checks aren't coming in on a regular basis.

Read more here.

Digital Music Robs Listeners of Album Artwork

My buddy at work who writes a metal column for About.com has written another good one. 

The latest article is a long tome about how the move from vinyl to CDs to purely digital is a death knell for album artwork.

Justin suggests that it is a far greater loss to the metal genre, because metal bands leverage album artwork, inserts, posters, logos etc to help create an overall image of the band and to give the music a powerful visual not found in other music forms (like country for example).

I'd tend to agree with him but I think the loss cuts across every genre. He interviews a number of metal artists that back up his belief, for example King Diamond, who says:

“If I got a new album, especially in the old days, I would study that thing before I even put it on,” Diamond says. “It just created the atmosphere of the music to come. You could get into a certain mood before the album. It was created with the lyrics and the artwork. That’s still what we’re trying to do with CDs.”

I certainly did that. I remember poring over every Rush and Iron Maiden album cover, looking for little things the artists included, like a figure in a window or a hidden image. Hell, my friend Kevin and I decrypted the bizarre writing that was all over Ozzy Osbourne's Speak of the Devil album. I have no idea how we did it, but we did it, and it took a while.

These experiences are lost to today's generation who is now used to just grabbing digital songs off of iTunes. It's too bad.

Even Paul Stanley gets into the discussion in an AM New York article about the resurgence of vinyl. He says:

“The beauty in buying an LP used to be you got a package, a piece of art — something that someone worked hard on to make it creative, dynamic and interesting to look at it and maybe to put on your wall,” Stanley said. “And now with CDs, all you can see is someone’s name. In that way I miss it.”

Take the time to read Justin's article here, and let me know what you think.

Muzak Files for Bankruptcy

Well, there is justice in the world after all. CNN is reporting that Muzak filed bankruptcy papers yesterday after it missed a $105 million payment to creditors. D'oh!

But don't get too sad - you'll still hear your Kenny G Christmas music in the JC Penny elevator because the company is just restructuring its debt, not shutting down.

According to the article:

"Muzak is a solid business with an outstanding customer base, but we are burdened with substantial debt obligations established over a decade ago," Muzak CEO Stephen Villa said.

They are also burdened with the sin of poisoning our ears with elevator music, on-hold messages and digital signage, among other things. It's a very well-rounded company, you see...

Me, I prefer to frequent establishments that play other sources of music, like XM Radio, where you might actually hear a decent tune while you get your hair chopped or pick up dipies for the little one.

But according to this New York Times story, XM/Sirius isn't faring much better right now either. Ah well, sign of the times. What are ya gonna do?

Ticketmaster and Live Nation Merge to Screw You Over Further

It was widely reported yesterday that TicketBastard and Live Nation intend to merge to create the biggest concert ticket/promotions monopoly known to mankind. Can you tell how I feel about it?

These companies are the sleaziest of sleazy. Case in point – during a recent Springsteen ticket sale, Ticketmaster was sending buyers to its sister site TicketsNow, which brokers tickets once the original round is sold out. It is known in the industry as an official ‘scalper’ site. Of course tickets wind up being harder to get and more expensive and in this case, there were still Bruce tickets available at regular prices. Bruce himself had a mighty shit fit, posting to his Web site:

“Last Monday, we were informed that Ticketmaster was redirecting your log-in requests for tickets at face value, to their secondary site TicketsNow, which specializes in up-selling tickets at above face value. They did this even when other seats remained available at face value. We condemn this practice. We have asked this redirection from Ticketmaster to TicketsNow cease and desist immediately and Ticketmaster has agreed to do so in the future and has removed its unwanted material from their and our site.”

Read more about that debacle here.

With Ticketmaster merging with its main competitor, Live Nation, ticket buyers will get screwed even more mightily, as there will be no competition and service charges will likely continue to drive ticket prices up.

Reports say that Ticketmaster will focus on tickets, while Live Nation will focus on concert promotions. They combined company will focus on taking it out of our asses.

The only hope is that the Department of Justice will not approve the merger, as it’s pretty much a monopoly on the Microsoft scale. But hey, who can afford to pay $265 plus $47 service charge to see the frickin Eagles this year anyway? Supply and demand, baby.

A few interesting posts below for those who want to read more:

PaidContent.org
TechCrunch.com
New York Times

Gene Simmons Actually Makes Some Sense

Now that Gene is talking about the music business and not about leading the last remaining superpower on the planet, I will give him some props! Check out this video of Gene being interviewed by Billboard (rated R for language). I fully agree with his take on the Rock and Roll Hall of Shame.

Neil Young Touts New Digital Format

Good old Neil. Jamming out blistering live renditions of Beatles tunes and searching for alternative fuels aside, now he has told the Financial Times that he is "talking to record companies about licensing an alternative digital platform that he had been working on - something, he claimed, of far higher quality that could provide an alternative to the download world and perhaps even a new business model for music."

Neil is a dreamer, and his "why can't I do this?" attitude is to be admired. So while sometimes I look at his big ideas with a big of a grain of salt, you also have to take the guy seriously. Because he is dead serious about his ideas.

From the article, Neil says:

"We're in discussions right now about developing our own media platform based on that," he said. Something record companies can sell their artists' works on. Something that can't be downloaded, something that's got much more depth.

"It has every media component you could want, and they're all married together in a platform. That means other artists could use it, other record companies could use it and gain the knowledge of our 15-year development curve."

This needn't be limited to music, according to Young. "How about the history of the civil war? How about the British empire? If you have a career spanning 40 years, maybe it's George Washington's life. It could be a lot of things. There's so much to this that we can't tell, that you can't see in one sitting. Maybe there's a structure there that could save the music business - a new thing, where it is creating new products."

Neil is great example of a guy who throws his weight behind ideas with relentless passion, and doesn't give up, even against long odds. The fact that he kept his Archives project on ice for more than 15 years until technology caught up with his vision is admirable.

If even half of Neil's ideas pan out, good things will happen! Go Neil!

CNN Covers Portland's Love of Vinyl

I was just cranking my LP version of Iron Maiden Powerslave the other night, noticing how much warmer and richer it sounds on vinyl than on CD. It was a total blast from the past and reignited my passion for my old records (I still have about 500 but have not bought one in more than 20 years).

And then CNN runs yet another story about vinyl's resurgence, this time in my own town! I had posted about this in January and the story is just getting hotter. From the CNN story:

The best-seller so far at Fred Meyer is The Beatles album "Abbey Road." But musicians from the White Stripes and the Foo Fighters to Metallica and Pink Floyd are selling well, the [Portland] company says.

"It's not just a nostalgia thing," said Melinda Merrill, spokeswoman for Fred Meyer. "The response from customers has just been that they like it, they feel like it has a better sound."

Dig the full story here. Who of you still spins your vinyl? Leave a comment!

Walmart Snags New AC/DC Album

There is some kind of conspiracy going on to get me to go to Walmart.

On the heels of the Eagles' out of the park success in ditching their record company and making their new album available only at Walmart, and the new Journey album also being available only at Walmart, now AC/DC is doing the same thing with its new CD.

Chicago Tribune writer Mark Caro posts about the news in an installment of "Is This A Sell Out?" called "For Those About to Rock - Shop At Walmart" saying:

The Eagles and Garth Brooks previously have sold CDs exclusively through Wal-Mart, with last year’s Eagles album, “Long Road Out of Eden,” considered a success story with about three million copies sold. But AC/DC? The classic headbangers’ new album won’t be available at any sort of rock music store, but you can pick it up along with a box of Huggies? Maybe this isn’t about AC/DC. Maybe this is about the death of the record store.

Other tidbits from the story in the Wall Street Journal (as picked up by the AP) include:

AC/DC is one of the few major acts yet to make its music available via Apple's iTunes Music Store. In August 2007, Verizon Wireless snagged the exclusive rights to sell the band's entire back catalog through March 2008, becoming the first and only digital music store to offer AC/DC's content.

But the deal was limited to full-album downloads. That requirement is one of the reasons that AC/DC's music has not appeared in digital form to date. Because full-album downloads are too large and too expensive to sell from mobile phones, Verizon sold them only from the PC version of its VCast Music service, for $12 an album.

This shite is big business, people. But I gotta say, while I will be only marginally OK with buying the new Journey CD at Walmart (because I HAVE to), I WON'T be buying anything else while I am there. Not even a Twix bar.

MySpace to Compete with iTunes

According to the Wall Street Journal, MySpace is going to try and weave an iTunes competitor digital music service into its ubiquitous social networking presence.

Think about it - you go your favorite artist's MySpace page and from there you can buy their music digitally instead of having to move over to iTunes or Amazon.com.

It's a nice idea. Read the whole article here.

It's all going to come down to the user experience. I have been buying more and more digital music at Amazon, simply because I got a nice gift certificate and wanted to try it out.

I gotta say, it's not as nice of an experience.

Now that I have it up and running, it's great. The music offered by Amazon.com's digital music store is generally less expensive and the downloads go automatically into my iTunes desktop, which is key.

But it's not as elegant as iTunes. It's harder to search for and locate what I am looking for but I eventually get there. Will that make me pay more money by shopping at iTunes once my gift certificate runs out? I doubt it.

But for MySpace to pull it off, they are going to have to make it easy and dare I say fun to compete with iTunes.

Iron Head or Radio Maiden?

Iron Maiden is following in the footsteps of Radiohead, who decided to make their new CD "In Rainbows" available for download for whatever the consumer wished to pay for it (including $0). Later, when it was released as an actual CD, it shot to the top of the charts.

Maiden is putting out a greatest hits compliation called Somewhere Back In Time. The band is allowing users to download the whole thing for free and listen to it three times before they need to pay for a permanent DRM-free downloaded version.

The hopes are that newbies who may not know Maiden will use this new media to check the band out, and afterwards will be happy to pay for the product.

I bet it works. Check out the list of stellar material on this CD:

Churchill Speech
Aces High
2 Minutes To Midnight
The Trooper
Wasted Years
Children Of The Damned
The Number Of The Beast
Run To The Hills
Phantom Of The Opera (Live)
The Evil That Men Do
Wrathchild (Live)
Can I Play With Madness
Powerslave
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Iron Maiden (Live)

Who Says No One Can Get A Record Deal...?

In many spots on this blog, I've talked about the sad state of affairs in the music industry. Labels are consolidating and industry people are terrified of losing their jobs.

The big labels have no idea how to address the demand for the digital availability of music and are fumbling with modified business models. Bands are getting dropped left and right, and newly signed artists have about five seconds to make it or they are dropped.

KISS' big mouthed jerk Gene Simmons says there will never be another new KISS album because they wouldn't know how to release it. And Radiohead shocks everyone by giving their new album away for free digitally, and then the physical release debuts at number one months later.

In this era of fear and uncertainty, only a true knock-out gets a label deal, right?

Nope! Check out this press release announcing that the reunited Asia has been signed to EMI Records for its new CD, called Phoenix.















Yep, the same Asia in which half of its members had heart procedures in the last six months. How can EMI make any money off of these guys?

I love Asia's first album and a half - don't get me wrong. And I am bummed that yet again they will bypass the Northwest on their current tour.

But they are playing really small venues. I can't imagine they are doing more than break-even on the road. But hey, at least they have a record deal!

So this is a bit of a head scratcher to me. What do you all make of it?

Herbie Hancock Wins Best Album

The Grammys rolled out pretty much as expected last night, with the exception of Album of the Year, which went to Herbie Hancock, which ought to make Harmolodic excited!

Hancock was as shocked as anyone, saying, "I'd like to thank the academy for courageously breaking the mold this time. This is a new day, that proves that the impossible can be made possible. Yes we can, to coin a phrase."

Newsweek published a pretty good/funny overview of the whole show here.

Grammy Snubs - Are We Surprised?

It should not come as a shock that a number of Grammy-nominated bands talked about on this blog have all been snubbed in tonight's awards festivities.

That list includes Porcupine Tree, Heaven and Hell, and Tool.

And of course, Rush lost their 5th nomination for best Best Rock Instrumental Performance. To who? Well, Bruce Springsteen of course. He plays circles around Rush! Fucking Grammy wankers.

To see the whole list, dig it here.

Gene Simmons Mouths Off (Again)

This is always a hot button on Isorski's Musings: KISS Bass player and reality TV/apprentice/business mogel/womanizer Gene Simmons mouthing off about the music business.

Maybe it's because he's rich, or because he's trying to be controversial, but he's one of the few who sticks up for the music industry while everyone else says its getting its just desserts.

I put it you - what do you think of Gene's quote?

A recent interview, excerpted at Eddie Trunk's site, lays it down:

And what about the people who download music illegally?:"They're crooks. I would have sued the very first one and the very last one. As soon as you take somebody's property, that's stealing. People say to me 'You're rich, you have enough money.' It's actually not for anyone to decide that. I'll let you know when I'm too rich. The last time I checked, what we do isn't called charity, it's called the music business.

Here we are today with exactly what I said would happen happening. The very same people that love the music the most have slit its throat and they're surprised it's dying. 'How come my new band can't get a shot?' 'Cos you killed it, bitch.' Every day college kids who probably love music more than anybody are the same people slashing the record industry's throat by file sharing and downloading. It's the saddest thing for new bands. Doesn't affect me or KISS. We can continue to play stadiums and do very well, and we release DVDs. But there isn't a chance for a new band to become the next Beatles or KISS because there isn't the infrastructure to do it."

The Grammys Stink

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I generally don't like the awards shows - Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, VMAs etc.

There are lots of reasons, but one of the biggest is that it's rare when artists I feel are truly deserving are even nominated, much less do they ever win.

Then I see the latest big winners go through their choreographed dance steps while lip syncing their latest lite beer commercial (thanks to Tom Petty for THAT line) and it just makes me angry and then I have to scream at the TV and things go downhill from there.

This year the big question isn't who is going to win but who is going to be able to get sprung from jail or rehab to pick up their awards. Yawn. Please give some more deserving artists the kudos, please. Oh well, the whole music industry is going to hell and this fraternal glad-handling is part of the reason. Whatever.

My buddy from the Floydian Slips sent me this really funny overview of why The Grammys are so wrong. It's classic! Give it a read here.