Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Last Thoughts on Rilo Kiley's Under the Blacklight
My initial review failed to mention the last two tracks on Under the Blacklight. “Tell the Angels Hung Around” is a beautiful ballad with a gangly wingspan. It makes me want to feather my hair or put my hand out the window of a moving car. “Give a Little Love” has too much drum machine and effects which sound cheap next to Jenny Lewis’ stellar voice. The chorus is almost enough to save it, but ultimately I can’t get past the Wesley Willis bad Casio keyboard effects.
It's OK to buy Rilo Kiley, even the new one!
Before picking up Under the Blacklight I knew nothing of Rilo Kiley. I thought it was a person, perhaps mistaking them for Ike Reilly who I had checked out at various points due to Springsteen comparisons. Going in I wasn’t sure if Rilo Kiley was a he or a she.
Turns out they’re a band, or sort of a band. More like a remarkable lead singer who has people playing music with her. You might have seen Rilo Kiley on the cover of the new Spin magazine proclaimed as the next Fleetwood Mac. Wow, strong words indeed. That got my attention.
With the Rilo Kiley record I had something happen I hadn’t yet experienced doing the blog. Several people went out of their way to let me know that Under the Blacklight was nowhere near as good as Rilo Kiley’s previous efforts. Target didn’t stock Rilo Kiley when I went to buy it all I could find was R. Kelly which I thought was quite funny and actually considered reviewing just for the fuck of it. When I went down to Barnes & Noble (my Tuesday music Plan B), and told the clerk I was looking for Rilo Kiley, he asked me in sort of a panicked way, “Which one?” He then went on to try and steer me towards one of their previous records that he had displayed on his personal collection of cool music on a table in the corner of the store. At one point I had to actually ask him if he thought there was a chance I might actually like the new record if I hadn’t heard the band’s previous work and was oblivious to how far they had fallen. He wasn’t sure. He sort of washed his hands of the whole affair as if to say he couldn’t guarantee I would like that one like the others.
Having spent considerable time listening to Under the Blacklight I find these exchanges pretty funny now, because Under the Blacklight is really a nice little record., especially if it’s your introduction to Rilo Kiley.
The first track “Silver Lining” is my standout number. It’s a breath of fresh air songbird track. And lead singer Jenny Lewis should be huge. Wow, she’s like some sort of vintage female vocalist wrapped up in sexy Indie charm. Bet she blows minds live. I could listen to her all day long. Given the right opportunity I think Lewis can make music that we listen to for years instead of seasons.
“Silver Lining” is a cruising song that sounds like velvet. The apex is about 2:20 in where we hear the tingle of the triangle over “and the grass it was a ticking and the sun it was alive, and I never felt so wicked as when I willed our love to die” lyric. Killer stuff.
You’ll also want to check out the little disco ditty “Breakin’ Up.” It’s sort of a modern “I will survive,” opening with a great first person lyric, “it’s not as if New York City burnt down to the ground once you drove away.” “Breakin’ Up” sounds as fresh as starting over feels with a little groovy tossed in for good measure. Close your eyes and you’ll see Rene Zellweger singing into a hair dryer. The movies and Fall TV will be lining up to use this one. When Lewis sings “Feels good to be free!” from the other side of the relationship you can’t help but believe she’s telling the truth.
“Close call” is nothing special, a plodding number beyond the “funny thing about money for sex, you might get rich, but you die by it” lyric that is sure to stick to your ribs. “The Moneymaker” gets the band out front a little bit with a swanky guitar groove and will sound great under the colored lights live. The title track “Under the Blacklight” starts big before ultimately letting you down, but there are hints of Fleetwood Mac here for sure.
“Smoke Detector” is another fun Scissor Sisters type dance groove, and if someone hasn’t already come up with the silly dance that goes along with this song it will be on YouTube shortly. “15” is a great little country song but it’s tough to listen to the story of this ill advised hookup with an underage girl too loud or too many times before you start expecting Dateline to show up.
In short, there’s no reason to avoid Under the Blacklight. And you should check out Rilo Kiley the band for sure. Even if you don’t, you’ll likely hear from Jenny Lewis. She’s bound to get her Gwen Stefani groove on eventually and explode on the mainstream scene. Songs like “Dejalo” and lyrics like “He was deep like a graveyard, she was ripe as a peach” show her considerable range and potential. I’d like to see her spread her wings and fly, and that may or may not involve the rest of the band.
Turns out they’re a band, or sort of a band. More like a remarkable lead singer who has people playing music with her. You might have seen Rilo Kiley on the cover of the new Spin magazine proclaimed as the next Fleetwood Mac. Wow, strong words indeed. That got my attention.
With the Rilo Kiley record I had something happen I hadn’t yet experienced doing the blog. Several people went out of their way to let me know that Under the Blacklight was nowhere near as good as Rilo Kiley’s previous efforts. Target didn’t stock Rilo Kiley when I went to buy it all I could find was R. Kelly which I thought was quite funny and actually considered reviewing just for the fuck of it. When I went down to Barnes & Noble (my Tuesday music Plan B), and told the clerk I was looking for Rilo Kiley, he asked me in sort of a panicked way, “Which one?” He then went on to try and steer me towards one of their previous records that he had displayed on his personal collection of cool music on a table in the corner of the store. At one point I had to actually ask him if he thought there was a chance I might actually like the new record if I hadn’t heard the band’s previous work and was oblivious to how far they had fallen. He wasn’t sure. He sort of washed his hands of the whole affair as if to say he couldn’t guarantee I would like that one like the others.
Having spent considerable time listening to Under the Blacklight I find these exchanges pretty funny now, because Under the Blacklight is really a nice little record., especially if it’s your introduction to Rilo Kiley.
The first track “Silver Lining” is my standout number. It’s a breath of fresh air songbird track. And lead singer Jenny Lewis should be huge. Wow, she’s like some sort of vintage female vocalist wrapped up in sexy Indie charm. Bet she blows minds live. I could listen to her all day long. Given the right opportunity I think Lewis can make music that we listen to for years instead of seasons.
“Silver Lining” is a cruising song that sounds like velvet. The apex is about 2:20 in where we hear the tingle of the triangle over “and the grass it was a ticking and the sun it was alive, and I never felt so wicked as when I willed our love to die” lyric. Killer stuff.
You’ll also want to check out the little disco ditty “Breakin’ Up.” It’s sort of a modern “I will survive,” opening with a great first person lyric, “it’s not as if New York City burnt down to the ground once you drove away.” “Breakin’ Up” sounds as fresh as starting over feels with a little groovy tossed in for good measure. Close your eyes and you’ll see Rene Zellweger singing into a hair dryer. The movies and Fall TV will be lining up to use this one. When Lewis sings “Feels good to be free!” from the other side of the relationship you can’t help but believe she’s telling the truth.
“Close call” is nothing special, a plodding number beyond the “funny thing about money for sex, you might get rich, but you die by it” lyric that is sure to stick to your ribs. “The Moneymaker” gets the band out front a little bit with a swanky guitar groove and will sound great under the colored lights live. The title track “Under the Blacklight” starts big before ultimately letting you down, but there are hints of Fleetwood Mac here for sure.
“Smoke Detector” is another fun Scissor Sisters type dance groove, and if someone hasn’t already come up with the silly dance that goes along with this song it will be on YouTube shortly. “15” is a great little country song but it’s tough to listen to the story of this ill advised hookup with an underage girl too loud or too many times before you start expecting Dateline to show up.
In short, there’s no reason to avoid Under the Blacklight. And you should check out Rilo Kiley the band for sure. Even if you don’t, you’ll likely hear from Jenny Lewis. She’s bound to get her Gwen Stefani groove on eventually and explode on the mainstream scene. Songs like “Dejalo” and lyrics like “He was deep like a graveyard, she was ripe as a peach” show her considerable range and potential. I’d like to see her spread her wings and fly, and that may or may not involve the rest of the band.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
One Time At Band Camp . . .The Arcade Fire took us water skiing
I like The Arcade Fire. The feeling was good from the start from the low-fi bio-degradable packaging. Their 2004 debut Funeral contained no liner notes, which surprised me. But I did love the “MADE IN CANADA” sticker proudly displayed on the back of the disc.
The Arcade Fire has made quite a stir as of late. Their experiential live show is supposed to be quite the thing to see. And the band has kept it interesting even doing things like setting up to play in the middle of night on the sidewalk in Union Square, for no one.
I’m not quite sure what to make of The Arcade Fire. Perhaps my inability to classify them is the ultimate compliment. When people have asked me what they’re like all I can muster is something like “Rusted Root only cool” or “Talking Heads but not dorks.” I guess my only hesitation going into The Arcade Fire was that there was a bit of a “band-camp” vibe to them. Maybe they were a little too mousy, a little too Cedar Cultural Arts Center, 10-sided dice—for me. I could smell the incense.
I was told Funeral was a concept album. And I must say I’m not quite sure what the concept is perhaps it’s a funeral story? Something else? All I know is half the songs are titled “Neighborhood,” and I’m not quite sure what the story is. I owe it to myself to print the lyrics and try to figure this part out. But I must say I enjoy the CD.
The Arcade Fire has a very cinematic vibe to their music. It sounds like music from a commercial. I’m personally a huge fan of the wind chime epic guitar sound (Copyright The Edge), and songs like “Rebellion (Lies)” have this in spades with a nice drum beat from Howard Bilermon to pull you along for the ride. The Arcade Fire seem to be their best when plodding along,. My favorite stuff on Funeral is when it’s almost as if they’ve harnessed the music. Lush songs with a pulsating drum beat, the chime of the guitar, and even a little hint of rusty alt-country jangle in there. I could cut an iMovie or slide show to Funeral.
The only thing that surprised me is the music sounds very flat on CD. The promise of The Arcade Fire was this full-bodied sonic experience, and I must say it doesn’t come across on the disc itself. Suppose this is why the live show is such a big deal. Because on the CD the music sounds a lot more 2-D than it should. Specifically Win Butler’s vocal is pushed into the instrumentation too much. He rarely gets a chance to preside over tracks and for that reason most of his words are totally lost in the wake of the music.
The water ski wake of the music is probably the best description of what I really like about my initial discoveries on Funeral. You really feel that on tracks like “Rebellion (Lies),” “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out), and the last forty five seconds of the otherwise sleepy “Une Annee Sans Lumiere.” The Arcade Fire is at their best on these head bobbing songs where the music is in a hurry to go somewhere. It’s a ride. And I bet at a live show it’s an over the top magic carpet ride. I can see the Roy Wilkins crowd pulsating in my head when I listen to the last minute build of a song like “Crown of Love.”
The Arcade Fire do that a lot, take a song and give you a completely new song for the last minute. It’s pretty cool. Sort of like they’re saying, “don’t like this. . .will just stick around, it gets better.”
The only song I was familiar with off Funeral was “Wake Up” which U2 used to open their Vertigo tour. It’s a great song filled with anticipation. “Wake Up” may be the most complete, or should I say finished sounding track on Funeral. Butler’s lead vocal gets up on top of the music for once, and everyone and everything seems to be in the right place. Not easy when you have nearly a dozen musicians chipping in. Even “Wake Up” takes a turn at the end adding a ‘50s bee-bop groove for the last minute.
There’s something a little new age, spiritual, or maybe fantasy based about The Arcade Fire. The music has an evening, memory sound to it. The only thing similar for the blog has been Interpol. It’s a heavy sound.
Clearly The Arcade Fire is original. Just listen to a song like “Crown of Love,” a gem. The catchy sing-a-long “If you still want me, please forgive me,” the string arrangement, and the vocal build up to a passionate scream. Then for the last minute it turns into a disco explosion. Awesome.
Can’t say much for any of Regine Chassagne’s vocal. I basically would skip any of the songs she sings. And with nine off and on members in the band, I think The Arcade Fire could trim here. But that could be a problem as she’s married to lead singer Win Butler. When Regine is singing you should expect Mazzy Star, Natural Born Killers weird tracks, that don’t sound very nice.
I’m also less interested when The Arcade Fire slow things down (“Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)) or start sounding a bit like the B52s or even Talking Heads like they do on “Neighborhood #2 (Laika).”
In summary, The Arcade Fire is a band for the future. I do intend to catch a live performance. If I did, I suspect I would be completely hooked. But without that there’s still a hint of the weird lady doing the “drug dance” barefoot at the outdoor concert, and the dimension of the music doesn’t come through on the CD like it should. I’m guessing the budget wasn’t there for the big production in 2004. With this talent, I suspect The Arcade Fire will keep getting bigger and bigger –and the music will too.
The Arcade Fire has made quite a stir as of late. Their experiential live show is supposed to be quite the thing to see. And the band has kept it interesting even doing things like setting up to play in the middle of night on the sidewalk in Union Square, for no one.
I’m not quite sure what to make of The Arcade Fire. Perhaps my inability to classify them is the ultimate compliment. When people have asked me what they’re like all I can muster is something like “Rusted Root only cool” or “Talking Heads but not dorks.” I guess my only hesitation going into The Arcade Fire was that there was a bit of a “band-camp” vibe to them. Maybe they were a little too mousy, a little too Cedar Cultural Arts Center, 10-sided dice—for me. I could smell the incense.
I was told Funeral was a concept album. And I must say I’m not quite sure what the concept is perhaps it’s a funeral story? Something else? All I know is half the songs are titled “Neighborhood,” and I’m not quite sure what the story is. I owe it to myself to print the lyrics and try to figure this part out. But I must say I enjoy the CD.
The Arcade Fire has a very cinematic vibe to their music. It sounds like music from a commercial. I’m personally a huge fan of the wind chime epic guitar sound (Copyright The Edge), and songs like “Rebellion (Lies)” have this in spades with a nice drum beat from Howard Bilermon to pull you along for the ride. The Arcade Fire seem to be their best when plodding along,. My favorite stuff on Funeral is when it’s almost as if they’ve harnessed the music. Lush songs with a pulsating drum beat, the chime of the guitar, and even a little hint of rusty alt-country jangle in there. I could cut an iMovie or slide show to Funeral.
The only thing that surprised me is the music sounds very flat on CD. The promise of The Arcade Fire was this full-bodied sonic experience, and I must say it doesn’t come across on the disc itself. Suppose this is why the live show is such a big deal. Because on the CD the music sounds a lot more 2-D than it should. Specifically Win Butler’s vocal is pushed into the instrumentation too much. He rarely gets a chance to preside over tracks and for that reason most of his words are totally lost in the wake of the music.
The water ski wake of the music is probably the best description of what I really like about my initial discoveries on Funeral. You really feel that on tracks like “Rebellion (Lies),” “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out), and the last forty five seconds of the otherwise sleepy “Une Annee Sans Lumiere.” The Arcade Fire is at their best on these head bobbing songs where the music is in a hurry to go somewhere. It’s a ride. And I bet at a live show it’s an over the top magic carpet ride. I can see the Roy Wilkins crowd pulsating in my head when I listen to the last minute build of a song like “Crown of Love.”
The Arcade Fire do that a lot, take a song and give you a completely new song for the last minute. It’s pretty cool. Sort of like they’re saying, “don’t like this. . .will just stick around, it gets better.”
The only song I was familiar with off Funeral was “Wake Up” which U2 used to open their Vertigo tour. It’s a great song filled with anticipation. “Wake Up” may be the most complete, or should I say finished sounding track on Funeral. Butler’s lead vocal gets up on top of the music for once, and everyone and everything seems to be in the right place. Not easy when you have nearly a dozen musicians chipping in. Even “Wake Up” takes a turn at the end adding a ‘50s bee-bop groove for the last minute.
There’s something a little new age, spiritual, or maybe fantasy based about The Arcade Fire. The music has an evening, memory sound to it. The only thing similar for the blog has been Interpol. It’s a heavy sound.
Clearly The Arcade Fire is original. Just listen to a song like “Crown of Love,” a gem. The catchy sing-a-long “If you still want me, please forgive me,” the string arrangement, and the vocal build up to a passionate scream. Then for the last minute it turns into a disco explosion. Awesome.
Can’t say much for any of Regine Chassagne’s vocal. I basically would skip any of the songs she sings. And with nine off and on members in the band, I think The Arcade Fire could trim here. But that could be a problem as she’s married to lead singer Win Butler. When Regine is singing you should expect Mazzy Star, Natural Born Killers weird tracks, that don’t sound very nice.
I’m also less interested when The Arcade Fire slow things down (“Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)) or start sounding a bit like the B52s or even Talking Heads like they do on “Neighborhood #2 (Laika).”
In summary, The Arcade Fire is a band for the future. I do intend to catch a live performance. If I did, I suspect I would be completely hooked. But without that there’s still a hint of the weird lady doing the “drug dance” barefoot at the outdoor concert, and the dimension of the music doesn’t come through on the CD like it should. I’m guessing the budget wasn’t there for the big production in 2004. With this talent, I suspect The Arcade Fire will keep getting bigger and bigger –and the music will too.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Last Thoughts on Brad Paisley 5th Gear
5th Gear is a nice country record. To enjoy it, you’ll need to be open to new country in the first place, but if you’ve ever dabbled in Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Shania, Faith, even The Dixie Chicks—I think you’ll find some redeeming qualities in Brad Paisley’s 5th Gear. Let’s highlight a few:
A Real Duet:
I found the duets to be contrived and corporate on Bon Jovi’s Lost Highway record. My feeling on duets is they should feel like an art house movie. The reason Harvey Keitel and Parkey Posey show up in some little indie picture is both actors thought the script was too good to pass up. A duet should be the same, only the script is the song. There needs to be a sense that both singers regardless of their fame simply couldn’t pass up the chance to sing this one. It’s not about singing with the other person as much as it is a mutual admiration for the song itself. Both singers must truly love the work.
5th Gear has this with a Carrie Underwood duet titled “Oh Love.” The lyric is Hemmingway sparse, and the song manages to sound both simple and important at the same time. It doesn’t hurt that Carrie Underwood has the same nose as Elvis either. I’m not joking, check it out. I’m a big fan. There’s a moment in “Oh Love” where I thought to myself that they should let the lyric explode a bit, but that wouldn’t have been right for the song. And a good duet is all about the song. “Oh Love” hits all the marks.
Again there are plenty of stories and plenty of guitars on 5th Gear. “If Love Was a Plane” shows how amazing our resolve is to keep falling into love when the success rate would be unthinkable when applied to anything else –in this case air travel. “With You, Without You” allows Paisley to riff a bit more on his guitar. And “Better Than This” carries on 5th Gear’s overall glass half full theme as Paisley imagines several hyperbolic ways (Waylon and Willie showing up to play requests for instance) things could, in fact, get better.
There’s a term hockey players use a lot when describing other players. They’ll say he’s a “tough, honest player.” In many ways 5th Gear is a “tough, honest” album. It has a prevailing theme in optimism. It has the country stories. It has the had-to-be-there duet. It has some masterwork picking (“Throttleneck”). It contains 16 hard working songs, albeit a few of them silly. But I can see why it’s tough to keep for Target to keep this CD in stock. Especially up here in Minnesota during cabin season.
A Real Duet:
I found the duets to be contrived and corporate on Bon Jovi’s Lost Highway record. My feeling on duets is they should feel like an art house movie. The reason Harvey Keitel and Parkey Posey show up in some little indie picture is both actors thought the script was too good to pass up. A duet should be the same, only the script is the song. There needs to be a sense that both singers regardless of their fame simply couldn’t pass up the chance to sing this one. It’s not about singing with the other person as much as it is a mutual admiration for the song itself. Both singers must truly love the work.
5th Gear has this with a Carrie Underwood duet titled “Oh Love.” The lyric is Hemmingway sparse, and the song manages to sound both simple and important at the same time. It doesn’t hurt that Carrie Underwood has the same nose as Elvis either. I’m not joking, check it out. I’m a big fan. There’s a moment in “Oh Love” where I thought to myself that they should let the lyric explode a bit, but that wouldn’t have been right for the song. And a good duet is all about the song. “Oh Love” hits all the marks.
Again there are plenty of stories and plenty of guitars on 5th Gear. “If Love Was a Plane” shows how amazing our resolve is to keep falling into love when the success rate would be unthinkable when applied to anything else –in this case air travel. “With You, Without You” allows Paisley to riff a bit more on his guitar. And “Better Than This” carries on 5th Gear’s overall glass half full theme as Paisley imagines several hyperbolic ways (Waylon and Willie showing up to play requests for instance) things could, in fact, get better.
There’s a term hockey players use a lot when describing other players. They’ll say he’s a “tough, honest player.” In many ways 5th Gear is a “tough, honest” album. It has a prevailing theme in optimism. It has the country stories. It has the had-to-be-there duet. It has some masterwork picking (“Throttleneck”). It contains 16 hard working songs, albeit a few of them silly. But I can see why it’s tough to keep for Target to keep this CD in stock. Especially up here in Minnesota during cabin season.
The Country Eddie Van Halen
My apologies. The way I write these reviews tends to be in sections. On the Brad Paisley disc I had focused my attention on the front half (first 8 songs) for my first post. As it turns out Paisley does fly his freak flag with impressive guitar work on both “Mr. Policeman” and the instrumental finisher “Throttleneck.”
It’s almost as if Paisley is brown nosing me by including a guitar instrumental like “Throttleneck” to closeout the 5th Gear album. It’s a good one too, enough to set teenage boys’ imaginations on fire like “Eruption” did for the Van Halen generation. Too bad Paisley included some goofy outtakes on the album after “Throttleneck.” The record should have ended after this explosion of harmonics and finger tapping. Awesome stuff. “Throttleneck” must have them screaming “Yahoo!” live. The world needs more crazy ass guitar instrumentals with titles like “Throttleneck,” thanks for listening Mr. Paisley.
It’s almost as if Paisley is brown nosing me by including a guitar instrumental like “Throttleneck” to closeout the 5th Gear album. It’s a good one too, enough to set teenage boys’ imaginations on fire like “Eruption” did for the Van Halen generation. Too bad Paisley included some goofy outtakes on the album after “Throttleneck.” The record should have ended after this explosion of harmonics and finger tapping. Awesome stuff. “Throttleneck” must have them screaming “Yahoo!” live. The world needs more crazy ass guitar instrumentals with titles like “Throttleneck,” thanks for listening Mr. Paisley.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Brad Paisley is as American as a Tootsie Roll at a Parade
Early returns on Brad Paisley have been good. I found myself in a crowded elevator right after buying his new CD 5th Gear. When someone asked me what CD it was I said, “The new Brad Paisley.” This was followed by awkward silence.
But when I walked out of the elevator a guy did his best Wolf Man from Top Gun (“Gutsiest move I ever saw man”), pulling me aside to say, “Brad plays a mean guitar man. I’m not into the whole new country thing but I’ll always check out Keith Urban and Brad Paisley because they can flat out play.”
So that’s what I heard a lot about, Brad the ax man. I was also informed early on that Brad writes his own music which is damn near impossible in the manufactured Nashville country scene. And does he ever, 5th Gear boasts 16 tracks.
Having flirted with country, and never having got there on the Bon Jovi record. I nearly rejoiced when listening to the opening track “All I Wanted Was A Car” and this letter jacket of a lyric:
My buddy Blake was all-state with dreams of the NFL
Jenny McClain had big brains
She got a scholarship to Yale
And there was Hershel who did two commercials
And he was going to be a movie star
But all I wanted was a car
All I wanted was a car
Bring on the stories. Don’t get me wrong, the Bon Jovi record is nice. I was just in a guy’s office and he had it playing. It’s a good late years Bon Jovi record. But it’s not a country record. It’s not country because it’s missing the central ingredient of stories, and it’s not country because at the end of the day you still must acknowledge you’re listening to Bon Jovi. And when that happens, the cowboy boots don’t go all the way up the leg.
5th Gear is filled with stories. Including “All I Wanted Was a Car” and a nice ballad “Letter to Me” where we find an older Paisley consoling the 17 year old version of himself that a teenage break up isn’t the end of the world. I love the detail of country music, and Paisley does a nice job sprinkling nuggets like “a Skoal can and a playboy that no one else would know you hid” under the bed to confirm the letter is in fact being written by himself on “Letter to Me”, before dispensing advice like, “and when you get a date with Bridget make sure the tank is full
on second thought forget it, that one turns out kinda cool.” But while those lines get a smile, it’s the advice to not be blinded by the Friday Night Lights of youth that are the best parts of the track, and the more subtle lyrics like “p.s. go hug aunt Rita every chance you get” that makes “Letter to Me” a grand country song.
Another nice little story is “Online” about a tuba player who lives with his folks transforming into a Calvin Klein model online. I have trouble with “Online” because the lyrics sound like the script for a really bad country music video. But the song itself is catch as hell. It’s the one you’ll find yourself going back to. And the transition at the end where an entire marching band is playing the melody is fantastic. There’s just a touch too much cheese on the curd here, or I could really get into this one.
“I’m Still a Guy” and “Ticks” are classic new country with Paisley offering to check his lady’s back (and front) for ticks, and a refusal to apologize for still “having a set” in an increasingly metro world. The problem is if Paisley would have written “I’m Still A Guy” for Toby Keith—it would have done a lot better.
The other issue I have with the Brad Paisley record is clearly this guy has the chops to be a major ax man. But nowhere on 5th gear does he ever truly fly his freak flag. He bends a nice little solo on “Some Mistakes” and they bury some guitar magic at the very end of several tracks. I suppose in the neutered world of Nashville, mad chops like Paisley’s are seen as some sort of genetic mutation –something to be concealed. Whenever Paisley’s eyes turn green and his jean shorts start to rip on 5th Gear, some producer is there to turn down the volume and keep everything on an even keel. Don’t want to lose the Hershey’s sponsorship . . .
I think my favorite part of 5th Gear is the middle-aged optimism. On songs like “It Did,” Paisley talks about life as one never ending crescendo. “It Did” is Paisley’s response to all those moments when you think “It doesn’t get any better than this.” Paisley’s just keep livin’ spirit of optimism permeates the disc, and is an interesting point of view. Instead of waxing poetic about youth or the best days gone by, Paisley tends to go the other way telling his 17 year old self on “Letter to Me”:
“you should see your kids and wife
and I'd end by saying have no fear
these are no where near the best years of your life.”
Paisley lays down 16 tracks on 5th Gear, writes some nice songs with his writing partner, Kelley Lovelace, and gives enough of a glimpse of the guitar to know he’s got a beast inside waiting to come out. Most importantly, 5th Gear has the storytelling necessary to be a summertime country record, and you don’t need to explain away the Bon Jovi part.
But when I walked out of the elevator a guy did his best Wolf Man from Top Gun (“Gutsiest move I ever saw man”), pulling me aside to say, “Brad plays a mean guitar man. I’m not into the whole new country thing but I’ll always check out Keith Urban and Brad Paisley because they can flat out play.”
So that’s what I heard a lot about, Brad the ax man. I was also informed early on that Brad writes his own music which is damn near impossible in the manufactured Nashville country scene. And does he ever, 5th Gear boasts 16 tracks.
Having flirted with country, and never having got there on the Bon Jovi record. I nearly rejoiced when listening to the opening track “All I Wanted Was A Car” and this letter jacket of a lyric:
My buddy Blake was all-state with dreams of the NFL
Jenny McClain had big brains
She got a scholarship to Yale
And there was Hershel who did two commercials
And he was going to be a movie star
But all I wanted was a car
All I wanted was a car
Bring on the stories. Don’t get me wrong, the Bon Jovi record is nice. I was just in a guy’s office and he had it playing. It’s a good late years Bon Jovi record. But it’s not a country record. It’s not country because it’s missing the central ingredient of stories, and it’s not country because at the end of the day you still must acknowledge you’re listening to Bon Jovi. And when that happens, the cowboy boots don’t go all the way up the leg.
5th Gear is filled with stories. Including “All I Wanted Was a Car” and a nice ballad “Letter to Me” where we find an older Paisley consoling the 17 year old version of himself that a teenage break up isn’t the end of the world. I love the detail of country music, and Paisley does a nice job sprinkling nuggets like “a Skoal can and a playboy that no one else would know you hid” under the bed to confirm the letter is in fact being written by himself on “Letter to Me”, before dispensing advice like, “and when you get a date with Bridget make sure the tank is full
on second thought forget it, that one turns out kinda cool.” But while those lines get a smile, it’s the advice to not be blinded by the Friday Night Lights of youth that are the best parts of the track, and the more subtle lyrics like “p.s. go hug aunt Rita every chance you get” that makes “Letter to Me” a grand country song.
Another nice little story is “Online” about a tuba player who lives with his folks transforming into a Calvin Klein model online. I have trouble with “Online” because the lyrics sound like the script for a really bad country music video. But the song itself is catch as hell. It’s the one you’ll find yourself going back to. And the transition at the end where an entire marching band is playing the melody is fantastic. There’s just a touch too much cheese on the curd here, or I could really get into this one.
“I’m Still a Guy” and “Ticks” are classic new country with Paisley offering to check his lady’s back (and front) for ticks, and a refusal to apologize for still “having a set” in an increasingly metro world. The problem is if Paisley would have written “I’m Still A Guy” for Toby Keith—it would have done a lot better.
The other issue I have with the Brad Paisley record is clearly this guy has the chops to be a major ax man. But nowhere on 5th gear does he ever truly fly his freak flag. He bends a nice little solo on “Some Mistakes” and they bury some guitar magic at the very end of several tracks. I suppose in the neutered world of Nashville, mad chops like Paisley’s are seen as some sort of genetic mutation –something to be concealed. Whenever Paisley’s eyes turn green and his jean shorts start to rip on 5th Gear, some producer is there to turn down the volume and keep everything on an even keel. Don’t want to lose the Hershey’s sponsorship . . .
I think my favorite part of 5th Gear is the middle-aged optimism. On songs like “It Did,” Paisley talks about life as one never ending crescendo. “It Did” is Paisley’s response to all those moments when you think “It doesn’t get any better than this.” Paisley’s just keep livin’ spirit of optimism permeates the disc, and is an interesting point of view. Instead of waxing poetic about youth or the best days gone by, Paisley tends to go the other way telling his 17 year old self on “Letter to Me”:
“you should see your kids and wife
and I'd end by saying have no fear
these are no where near the best years of your life.”
Paisley lays down 16 tracks on 5th Gear, writes some nice songs with his writing partner, Kelley Lovelace, and gives enough of a glimpse of the guitar to know he’s got a beast inside waiting to come out. Most importantly, 5th Gear has the storytelling necessary to be a summertime country record, and you don’t need to explain away the Bon Jovi part.
Friday, August 10, 2007
31 Reasons The White Stripes Icky Thump is the best album of 2007 (thus far).
21. The whole are Meg and Jack White siblings or were they once married thing came up again yesterday. Best I can tell they are brother and sister. But I’ve heard from others that they used to be married, and the whole brother sister thing is a little joke. I’m not going not going to try and find out for sure. I actually don’t care either way, the whole thing totally amuses me.
22. I need to call out track 12 “Catch Hell Blues” again. That song is also completely unreal. It is so raw, but so perfectly crafted. The drums, the Zombie guitar riff—it’s one giant spiral of a rock song. I can’t wait to play it for my kids, it will melt their minds.
23. I’d be remiss not mention the other half of the duo. I must say Meg kills it on the drum kit on Icky Thump’s biggest songs including “I’m Slowly Turning Into You” and “Catch Hell Blues.”
24. Someone once said this to me about the White Stripes. “It’s like you’ve found the worst Led Zeppelin record. It might be the worst one, but hey it’s still Zeppelin.” I think that might even be selling them short, but in a world of Zach Braff shoe-gazer rock, I must say anything that rubs against Zepp or AC/DC is just fine by me.
25. The back half of Icky Thump is southern fried. Like the first couple Kings of Leon records, the Stripes get their woods on. This side of the album, the music suddenly has a crinkly brown paper bag on it.
26. On songs like “Rag & Bone” Jack sounds like Tommy Lee Jones in the Fugitive, “Doghouse! Outhouse Old folks house!” – holding court over the music like Johnny Depp playing Boss Hog.
27. “Rag & Bone” is also reminiscent of old Van Halen stuff (“Hot for Teacher”) with it’s tap-tap intro and loose top-hat vocal.
28. Another plug for “Catch Hell Blues” is how it sounds like they laid it down in one take. But if you listen to Jack it’s just taunting. He knows this song kills it. “If you’re looking for hot water, don’t act shocked when you get burned baby,” “If you really want some hot water I can help you find it” and “Try and catch me!” make me thing he knows The White Stripes are the heavyweight champion of the world. And the water is boiling.
29. The White Stripes continue to populate their tour with the most random places on the planet. Deciding to visit states and provinces they haven’t been to previously. Last I read when they had to postpone the tour for Jack’s new baby they were playing in some small town in New Mexico.
30. The solo in “Catch Hell Blues” leading into the final riff.
31. Even “Little Cream Soda” – not the best song on the album has guitar big enough to be played on the Apaches flying into Baghdad. God bless The White Stripes.
22. I need to call out track 12 “Catch Hell Blues” again. That song is also completely unreal. It is so raw, but so perfectly crafted. The drums, the Zombie guitar riff—it’s one giant spiral of a rock song. I can’t wait to play it for my kids, it will melt their minds.
23. I’d be remiss not mention the other half of the duo. I must say Meg kills it on the drum kit on Icky Thump’s biggest songs including “I’m Slowly Turning Into You” and “Catch Hell Blues.”
24. Someone once said this to me about the White Stripes. “It’s like you’ve found the worst Led Zeppelin record. It might be the worst one, but hey it’s still Zeppelin.” I think that might even be selling them short, but in a world of Zach Braff shoe-gazer rock, I must say anything that rubs against Zepp or AC/DC is just fine by me.
25. The back half of Icky Thump is southern fried. Like the first couple Kings of Leon records, the Stripes get their woods on. This side of the album, the music suddenly has a crinkly brown paper bag on it.
26. On songs like “Rag & Bone” Jack sounds like Tommy Lee Jones in the Fugitive, “Doghouse! Outhouse Old folks house!” – holding court over the music like Johnny Depp playing Boss Hog.
27. “Rag & Bone” is also reminiscent of old Van Halen stuff (“Hot for Teacher”) with it’s tap-tap intro and loose top-hat vocal.
28. Another plug for “Catch Hell Blues” is how it sounds like they laid it down in one take. But if you listen to Jack it’s just taunting. He knows this song kills it. “If you’re looking for hot water, don’t act shocked when you get burned baby,” “If you really want some hot water I can help you find it” and “Try and catch me!” make me thing he knows The White Stripes are the heavyweight champion of the world. And the water is boiling.
29. The White Stripes continue to populate their tour with the most random places on the planet. Deciding to visit states and provinces they haven’t been to previously. Last I read when they had to postpone the tour for Jack’s new baby they were playing in some small town in New Mexico.
30. The solo in “Catch Hell Blues” leading into the final riff.
31. Even “Little Cream Soda” – not the best song on the album has guitar big enough to be played on the Apaches flying into Baghdad. God bless The White Stripes.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
31 Reasons The White Stripes Icky Thump Is The Best Album Of 2007 So Far – Part II
11) There is a pretty serious account guy in my office. The other day a new White Stripes convert was playing her album in the office. He asked her what it was. And after pausing for a moment he said, “That’s the worst music I’ve ever heard.”
12) Actually, that’s worth two spots on the list. Rock & Roll is not for everyone, especially people in slacks.
13) While I don’t think the Stripes every truly get me to think because my head is bobbing too much, I do like the “why don’t you kick yourself out you’re an immigrant too. Can’t be a pimp and a prostitute” bit on Icky Thump as it relates to illegal aliens in this country. Don’t we have something better to do? Sure, make it hard for them to get into the country. But once they’re here, they’ve won the lottery as far as I’m concerned.
14) People need guitar, and Jack White will not tease you. He gives it to you. I got a note in the mail the other day from the blood bank looking for Type-O blood. What the world really needs is more guitar. Just listen to a song like “You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As Your Told)” and there are so many layers to the guitar. He does the rubber band thing at the intro, goes power chords, and still snaps off the acid bagpipe solo to get the tartar off those hard to reach places.
15) Yes people need guitar gods. A couple bands right now get this, namely Wolfmother and The White Stripes. Even a less than great song like “Bone Broke” comes with a monster riff at the bottom of the cereal box.
16) Jack White needs to do an instrumental guitar track, that would be classic. Think “Eruption” by Van Halen. That would be so throwback cool. And it would be killer. That’s what teenage boys need, instrumental guitar tracks and heroes.
17) I got to say I like the whole Taboo aspect to this band. Jack and his sister Meg. A duo (2 people!) make this much music for Christ’s sake. And it sort of feels like they love each other in an Angelina Jolie and her brother sort of way. They must have something weird going on. You can’t make music this creative and cut the crusts off your PB&J. And if it sounds like this, I don’t care what comes out on the therapy couch.
18) “300 M.P.H. Torrential Output Blues” does a nice job of painting a dingy motel room as the protagonist tries to stare in the mirror and focus on the one in the middle. It’s a leg out of the bed on the ground so I stop spinning sort of track, with nice lines like “I’m breaking my teeth off trying to bite my lip.”
19) Red heads. I’m convinced the most creative people are attracted to red headed women. Springsteen is fixated on red heads, and he always walking around with 36 new songs in his head. Jack sings about red heads, and he married one. Maybe super creative types need to reach the outer edge of the palette even on hair color—they need the full range of the spectrum. If someone is singing about a red headed woman, chances are you might want to pay more attention. Jack even named his daughter Scarlett.
20) I’ve always felt I was miscast in this era. I would have been a lot more fun in the Wild West. I would have been the cowboy with the hat flipped up in front. Love to laugh, love to travel. Love the tie your horse up beginnings of relationships. And if an iPod fit into my holster, I’d play a song like “Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn” as I shook off a whiskey hangover with aid of my dusty canteen. I know they’re doing more of a Scottish thing here with the bagpipes and all, but the trippy sequence that bends into “St. Andrew (This Battle is in The Air)” sounds more like a gallop to me. Love the psychedelic “St. Andrew” – we don’t have enough weird shit on records anymore. Ride with me!
“Li De Li De Li Oh Oh
Well A Li De Li De Li Oh Oh
Li De Li De Li Oh Oh
Well A Li De Li De Li Oh Oh”
12) Actually, that’s worth two spots on the list. Rock & Roll is not for everyone, especially people in slacks.
13) While I don’t think the Stripes every truly get me to think because my head is bobbing too much, I do like the “why don’t you kick yourself out you’re an immigrant too. Can’t be a pimp and a prostitute” bit on Icky Thump as it relates to illegal aliens in this country. Don’t we have something better to do? Sure, make it hard for them to get into the country. But once they’re here, they’ve won the lottery as far as I’m concerned.
14) People need guitar, and Jack White will not tease you. He gives it to you. I got a note in the mail the other day from the blood bank looking for Type-O blood. What the world really needs is more guitar. Just listen to a song like “You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As Your Told)” and there are so many layers to the guitar. He does the rubber band thing at the intro, goes power chords, and still snaps off the acid bagpipe solo to get the tartar off those hard to reach places.
15) Yes people need guitar gods. A couple bands right now get this, namely Wolfmother and The White Stripes. Even a less than great song like “Bone Broke” comes with a monster riff at the bottom of the cereal box.
16) Jack White needs to do an instrumental guitar track, that would be classic. Think “Eruption” by Van Halen. That would be so throwback cool. And it would be killer. That’s what teenage boys need, instrumental guitar tracks and heroes.
17) I got to say I like the whole Taboo aspect to this band. Jack and his sister Meg. A duo (2 people!) make this much music for Christ’s sake. And it sort of feels like they love each other in an Angelina Jolie and her brother sort of way. They must have something weird going on. You can’t make music this creative and cut the crusts off your PB&J. And if it sounds like this, I don’t care what comes out on the therapy couch.
18) “300 M.P.H. Torrential Output Blues” does a nice job of painting a dingy motel room as the protagonist tries to stare in the mirror and focus on the one in the middle. It’s a leg out of the bed on the ground so I stop spinning sort of track, with nice lines like “I’m breaking my teeth off trying to bite my lip.”
19) Red heads. I’m convinced the most creative people are attracted to red headed women. Springsteen is fixated on red heads, and he always walking around with 36 new songs in his head. Jack sings about red heads, and he married one. Maybe super creative types need to reach the outer edge of the palette even on hair color—they need the full range of the spectrum. If someone is singing about a red headed woman, chances are you might want to pay more attention. Jack even named his daughter Scarlett.
20) I’ve always felt I was miscast in this era. I would have been a lot more fun in the Wild West. I would have been the cowboy with the hat flipped up in front. Love to laugh, love to travel. Love the tie your horse up beginnings of relationships. And if an iPod fit into my holster, I’d play a song like “Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn” as I shook off a whiskey hangover with aid of my dusty canteen. I know they’re doing more of a Scottish thing here with the bagpipes and all, but the trippy sequence that bends into “St. Andrew (This Battle is in The Air)” sounds more like a gallop to me. Love the psychedelic “St. Andrew” – we don’t have enough weird shit on records anymore. Ride with me!
“Li De Li De Li Oh Oh
Well A Li De Li De Li Oh Oh
Li De Li De Li Oh Oh
Well A Li De Li De Li Oh Oh”
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
When it comes to country - Bon Jovi are all hat, no cattle
The Target version of Bon Jovi’s Lost Highway comes with two bonus tracks: “Walk Like a Man” and a live version of “I Love This Town” recorded at the Cannery Ballroom in Nashville, TN.
I think that’s the main problem I have with Lost Highway. It’s not a country record, it’s just being marketed as a country record. It’s so deliberate that it’s annoying. The guest appearances by Big & Rich, Leann Rimes, the religion, the Nashville venue—it’s all by design. And it’s all probably a result of the successful collaboration with Jennifer Nettles from Sugarland on “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.”
If Lost Highway is a nice record, it’s certainly not a memorable one. And for context it’s important to remember that these are the lads who cranked our Slippery When Wet. We can’t let them off the hook too easy, even if we’re not using them to decorate our lockers anymore.. . “Everybody’s Broken” is a blatant rip off of Robbie Williams’ “Get a Little High” but not as strong or fresh.
At best the songs on Lost Highway sound like a poor man’s “Thunder Road.” Like pockets inside out poor I might add. This is particularly true of the title track, a big SUV of a song. Nothing special, but it would sound good on a truck commercial.
Lost Highway has some duets, including LeAnn Rimes guesting on “’Til We Ain’t Strangers Anymore.” The problem with the duets on Lost Highway is it doesn’t sound like the two singers are loving each other. There’s nothing in the voices to suggest that these people are happy to be finishing each other’s sentences. This is not June and John. Instead it sounds like a forced marriage, a little bit like Bon Jovi and country I suspect.
I think that’s the main problem I have with Lost Highway. It’s not a country record, it’s just being marketed as a country record. It’s so deliberate that it’s annoying. The guest appearances by Big & Rich, Leann Rimes, the religion, the Nashville venue—it’s all by design. And it’s all probably a result of the successful collaboration with Jennifer Nettles from Sugarland on “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.”
If Lost Highway is a nice record, it’s certainly not a memorable one. And for context it’s important to remember that these are the lads who cranked our Slippery When Wet. We can’t let them off the hook too easy, even if we’re not using them to decorate our lockers anymore.. . “Everybody’s Broken” is a blatant rip off of Robbie Williams’ “Get a Little High” but not as strong or fresh.
At best the songs on Lost Highway sound like a poor man’s “Thunder Road.” Like pockets inside out poor I might add. This is particularly true of the title track, a big SUV of a song. Nothing special, but it would sound good on a truck commercial.
Lost Highway has some duets, including LeAnn Rimes guesting on “’Til We Ain’t Strangers Anymore.” The problem with the duets on Lost Highway is it doesn’t sound like the two singers are loving each other. There’s nothing in the voices to suggest that these people are happy to be finishing each other’s sentences. This is not June and John. Instead it sounds like a forced marriage, a little bit like Bon Jovi and country I suspect.
Monday, August 6, 2007
31 Reasons The White Stripes “Icky Thump” is the best album of 2007 – Part I.
1) Both my 9 and 6-year old kids have requested “Icky Thump” by name from the backseat of the Jeep. Before it played my daughter told her friend, “This is the weirdest rock song ever. It’s called Icky Thump.”
2) The entire album has a signature sound. The whole bagpipe guitar thing is unlike anything I’ve heard before.
3) “You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As Your Told)” sounds like the ‘70s. It’s a big AM Radio, Dazed and Confused, bushy sideburn track that takes you right back. Or takes you there for the first time.
4) When Jack goes off at the end of “You Don’t Know What Love Is” on his guitar solo. It sounds like a dentist drill. But something about it makes you not want the Novocain. It would just dull the pain.
5) Jack White is clearly a guitar God. “Catch Hell Blues” has a mammoth Rob Zombie guitar riff contained just below the surface. It’s as if Jack just wants to let you know he can. One day he will let that shit out. For now his outtakes are better than most band’s best riffs.
6) On “I’m Slowly Turning Into You” he does release the beast. My ears will never be the same. Longing for that AC/DC lava of sound, try this one on for size.
7) Icky Thump has straight ahead rock and it also has odd. “Conquest” reminds me of something you might have heard back on the Dr. Demento radio hour alongside “Fish Heads.” It’s weird in a talkie film kind of way. Like an old Western, only with swords.
8) Jack White is a true creative. He’s the Johnny Depp of rock. Always into interesting projects. Always into interesting sounds. Always delivers.
9) Johnny Depp has France, the White Stripes have Canada. The Icky Thump tour features almost all Canadian shows. Why? Because the White Stripes hadn’t played there and wanted to hit all the Canadian provinces this tour. It’s just what made sense to them. How’s that for rock & roll eccentricity?
10) The words. How about this lyric from “300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues”
“One thing's for sure: in that graveyard I'm gonna have the shiniest pair of shoes.”
2) The entire album has a signature sound. The whole bagpipe guitar thing is unlike anything I’ve heard before.
3) “You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As Your Told)” sounds like the ‘70s. It’s a big AM Radio, Dazed and Confused, bushy sideburn track that takes you right back. Or takes you there for the first time.
4) When Jack goes off at the end of “You Don’t Know What Love Is” on his guitar solo. It sounds like a dentist drill. But something about it makes you not want the Novocain. It would just dull the pain.
5) Jack White is clearly a guitar God. “Catch Hell Blues” has a mammoth Rob Zombie guitar riff contained just below the surface. It’s as if Jack just wants to let you know he can. One day he will let that shit out. For now his outtakes are better than most band’s best riffs.
6) On “I’m Slowly Turning Into You” he does release the beast. My ears will never be the same. Longing for that AC/DC lava of sound, try this one on for size.
7) Icky Thump has straight ahead rock and it also has odd. “Conquest” reminds me of something you might have heard back on the Dr. Demento radio hour alongside “Fish Heads.” It’s weird in a talkie film kind of way. Like an old Western, only with swords.
8) Jack White is a true creative. He’s the Johnny Depp of rock. Always into interesting projects. Always into interesting sounds. Always delivers.
9) Johnny Depp has France, the White Stripes have Canada. The Icky Thump tour features almost all Canadian shows. Why? Because the White Stripes hadn’t played there and wanted to hit all the Canadian provinces this tour. It’s just what made sense to them. How’s that for rock & roll eccentricity?
10) The words. How about this lyric from “300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues”
“One thing's for sure: in that graveyard I'm gonna have the shiniest pair of shoes.”
Bon Jovi Sounds Like Beer
So I’ve been hearing a lot about the Jovi. Friends, co-workers, they all seem to want me to believe Bon Jovi is making a resurgence.
After my first few listens to Bon Jovi’s new record Lost Highway I wasn’t feeling it.
It just wasn’t that great. And worse, it seemed like maybe Jon Bon had gone the born again Christian route with lots of religious references in the music. Don’t get me wrong, nothing wrong with faith -just keep the God out of my rock. When it is there I tend to prefer the spiritual (U2) side more than the heavy-handed religious stuff. I feared maybe Bon Jovi had gone the route of Tim McGraw who recently seems to have lost touch with what made him famous in the first place. The mustached and heavy Tim McGraw I went to see at the State Fair years ago doesn’t look much like the all white outfit newly religious Tim of today. It’s almost as if he’s casting himself to replace George Burns in the next “Oh God!” movie.
Turns out the born again thing wasn’t really there, but I returned to the office explaining to people I wasn’t feeling the Jovi. But the pregnant gals in the elevator would set their hands on their bellies give a knowing glow and say, “Just keep listening.”
And you know what, they were right. It got better. Lost Highway is Michelob Golden Light music. You’re not proud to be ordering it, you can drink a lot of it, and it sounds better with wheelbarrows and wood chips nearby.
But despite what you may have heard, Lost Highway is not a country record. Sure it has that new country cross format appeal, but it’s missing the central ingredient of country music . . .stories. At its core country music is about the stories. That’s why it’s great road music, great yard work music. That’s why if I had to pick a format to listen to on a desert island it would be country.
In fact, Jon Bon Jovi’s solo effort for the Young Guns 2 soundtrack is a lot closer to a country record at its core as he told tall tales on songs like “Blood Money”, and “Santa Fe.” Truth be told, that old Young Guns 2 soundtrack puts Lost Highway to shame.
That being said, Lost Highway is a nice little 18 pack of canned beer. It starts fast with the title track “Lost Highway” leaping off the page. We’re not sure where we’re going, but we’re going to get their fast with the “dashboard Jesus” leading the way. “Lost Highway” is a nice, if not memorable, opener –pretty much what you’d expect from the boys.
Jovi get their Will Smith on for “Summertime” a juicy fruit, beach ball number that’s OK as long as the top is down. The first single “(You want to) Make a Memory” is an interesting track. It’s a big song, that’s incredibly soft. You have to turn the volume up to even hear it, but I think that’s what makes it work. File it under guilty pleasure along with the Goo Goo Dolls. You can’t help but sing this one in the car.
“Whole Lot of Leavin’” is one of the songs that probably had people referring to Lost Highway as a country album. It has a lot of similarities to new country fare including the title. This one has a little more fall leaves, a little more “September” to the sound. Wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes a deep single depending on how long the record stays on radio.
“We Got it Going On” features hick-hop superstars Big & Rich (Of “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” fame). The last time anything felt this desperate was when Harrison Ford got an earring. Terrible all the way down to the awkward shout outs. Plain awful.
I remember when I was growing up there was this rumor that Jon Bon Jovi actually couldn’t sing. As the story went, his voice was totally produced and he got tons of help in the studio from computers and such. Time has come to reveal that this is far from the case with the ageless Jon Bon doing his best to replace Dick Clark. But the guys do get a great mix from time to time. This is true specifically on “Any Other Day.” If the CD sticker is any indication, “Any Other Day” is likely to be a single, and probably because it has that glossy sheen. If you listen to a lot of music I ask you to try this one on for size if for no other reason than to hear the mix. It sounds expensive. It also sounds pretty good. “Any Other Day” is one of the better tracks on the album, fails to reach mix tape status, but it’s nice.
That’s the thing with Lost Highway overall. It’s just “B-grade” good. It’s like you’re grilling on the driveway with a couple beers and the local new country station manages to put together a nice 45 minute block of music. That’s basically what Bon Jovi has done here. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a sure thing. It will sound good in the yard, in the truck, and by the pool.
Not country. Not brilliance. But I’m glad they’re still around.
After my first few listens to Bon Jovi’s new record Lost Highway I wasn’t feeling it.
It just wasn’t that great. And worse, it seemed like maybe Jon Bon had gone the born again Christian route with lots of religious references in the music. Don’t get me wrong, nothing wrong with faith -just keep the God out of my rock. When it is there I tend to prefer the spiritual (U2) side more than the heavy-handed religious stuff. I feared maybe Bon Jovi had gone the route of Tim McGraw who recently seems to have lost touch with what made him famous in the first place. The mustached and heavy Tim McGraw I went to see at the State Fair years ago doesn’t look much like the all white outfit newly religious Tim of today. It’s almost as if he’s casting himself to replace George Burns in the next “Oh God!” movie.
Turns out the born again thing wasn’t really there, but I returned to the office explaining to people I wasn’t feeling the Jovi. But the pregnant gals in the elevator would set their hands on their bellies give a knowing glow and say, “Just keep listening.”
And you know what, they were right. It got better. Lost Highway is Michelob Golden Light music. You’re not proud to be ordering it, you can drink a lot of it, and it sounds better with wheelbarrows and wood chips nearby.
But despite what you may have heard, Lost Highway is not a country record. Sure it has that new country cross format appeal, but it’s missing the central ingredient of country music . . .stories. At its core country music is about the stories. That’s why it’s great road music, great yard work music. That’s why if I had to pick a format to listen to on a desert island it would be country.
In fact, Jon Bon Jovi’s solo effort for the Young Guns 2 soundtrack is a lot closer to a country record at its core as he told tall tales on songs like “Blood Money”, and “Santa Fe.” Truth be told, that old Young Guns 2 soundtrack puts Lost Highway to shame.
That being said, Lost Highway is a nice little 18 pack of canned beer. It starts fast with the title track “Lost Highway” leaping off the page. We’re not sure where we’re going, but we’re going to get their fast with the “dashboard Jesus” leading the way. “Lost Highway” is a nice, if not memorable, opener –pretty much what you’d expect from the boys.
Jovi get their Will Smith on for “Summertime” a juicy fruit, beach ball number that’s OK as long as the top is down. The first single “(You want to) Make a Memory” is an interesting track. It’s a big song, that’s incredibly soft. You have to turn the volume up to even hear it, but I think that’s what makes it work. File it under guilty pleasure along with the Goo Goo Dolls. You can’t help but sing this one in the car.
“Whole Lot of Leavin’” is one of the songs that probably had people referring to Lost Highway as a country album. It has a lot of similarities to new country fare including the title. This one has a little more fall leaves, a little more “September” to the sound. Wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes a deep single depending on how long the record stays on radio.
“We Got it Going On” features hick-hop superstars Big & Rich (Of “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” fame). The last time anything felt this desperate was when Harrison Ford got an earring. Terrible all the way down to the awkward shout outs. Plain awful.
I remember when I was growing up there was this rumor that Jon Bon Jovi actually couldn’t sing. As the story went, his voice was totally produced and he got tons of help in the studio from computers and such. Time has come to reveal that this is far from the case with the ageless Jon Bon doing his best to replace Dick Clark. But the guys do get a great mix from time to time. This is true specifically on “Any Other Day.” If the CD sticker is any indication, “Any Other Day” is likely to be a single, and probably because it has that glossy sheen. If you listen to a lot of music I ask you to try this one on for size if for no other reason than to hear the mix. It sounds expensive. It also sounds pretty good. “Any Other Day” is one of the better tracks on the album, fails to reach mix tape status, but it’s nice.
That’s the thing with Lost Highway overall. It’s just “B-grade” good. It’s like you’re grilling on the driveway with a couple beers and the local new country station manages to put together a nice 45 minute block of music. That’s basically what Bon Jovi has done here. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a sure thing. It will sound good in the yard, in the truck, and by the pool.
Not country. Not brilliance. But I’m glad they’re still around.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Prince is in my Jeep and he's em-BARE-ASS-ing me!
The exact reason I love Prince, is the same reason I don’t love most of his records.
Dude is a freak. And I mean that as a compliment. Prince is a true creative in the sense that I truly don’t believe he steals. Prince invents. He’s prolific, and he always comes to bat with something unexpected.
Trouble is a lot of it is really weird, and Planet Earth is no different. This is the man who wore leather pants with the ass cut out after all. Put it this way, there are multiple tracks on Planet Earth where if I’m listening to them in the Wrangler and another car is nearby I have to turn it down because Prince is either calling out to his “Future Baby Mama [Track 5]” or bragging about his prowess in the sack in “Mr. Goodnight [Track 6].”
Considering Prince’s euphoric medley of a live show, I think a great way to judge any Prince record is by asking yourself what off the new album he would play live. Maybe Prince is getting older, but I only can find 3 tracks off Planet Earth that make my set list. “Guitar” is good enough to open a show, even has the classic Prince panting (think Dropped it on the Floor (Sex Sex) Is all I heard! from “Let’s Go Crazy”) and solos. Beyond that, “The One U Wanna C” is a good time get-up and “Chelsea Rodgers” is a straight up funk jam.
The rest of the record has some nice horn section, enthusiastic back up singers, moody ballads, and a little Paisley Park vocal mixed in. Nothing you’ll have any appetite to listen to more than once. And a big step down from even lesser known Prince albums like Around the World in a Day, Emancipation, and Sign “O” The Times.
And it’s too bad, because Prince tackles some heavy themes on Planet Earth including the environment and an anti-war stance on “Revelation.” Trouble is it’s easy to be apathetic to the cause when you’re apathetic to the protest song.
Dude is a freak. And I mean that as a compliment. Prince is a true creative in the sense that I truly don’t believe he steals. Prince invents. He’s prolific, and he always comes to bat with something unexpected.
Trouble is a lot of it is really weird, and Planet Earth is no different. This is the man who wore leather pants with the ass cut out after all. Put it this way, there are multiple tracks on Planet Earth where if I’m listening to them in the Wrangler and another car is nearby I have to turn it down because Prince is either calling out to his “Future Baby Mama [Track 5]” or bragging about his prowess in the sack in “Mr. Goodnight [Track 6].”
Considering Prince’s euphoric medley of a live show, I think a great way to judge any Prince record is by asking yourself what off the new album he would play live. Maybe Prince is getting older, but I only can find 3 tracks off Planet Earth that make my set list. “Guitar” is good enough to open a show, even has the classic Prince panting (think Dropped it on the Floor (Sex Sex) Is all I heard! from “Let’s Go Crazy”) and solos. Beyond that, “The One U Wanna C” is a good time get-up and “Chelsea Rodgers” is a straight up funk jam.
The rest of the record has some nice horn section, enthusiastic back up singers, moody ballads, and a little Paisley Park vocal mixed in. Nothing you’ll have any appetite to listen to more than once. And a big step down from even lesser known Prince albums like Around the World in a Day, Emancipation, and Sign “O” The Times.
And it’s too bad, because Prince tackles some heavy themes on Planet Earth including the environment and an anti-war stance on “Revelation.” Trouble is it’s easy to be apathetic to the cause when you’re apathetic to the protest song.
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