It is yet another Friday and another long list of new releases. However, this week does not hold a lot that I am interested in giving a listen. Hopefully there is something of interest to you so let me know what you like.
The albums I am interested in listening to are highlighted in Blue as usual.
Usher – Hard II Love – (RCA): Usher always has some great songs and I can’t wait to see what he has in store for us on this release. He is the essence of cool, but this album cover is not the most attractive cover I have seen.
After I wrote on one of my favorite music producers “Mutt” Lange, I started thinking of other producers I tend to gravitate towards and the first one that popped into my head was Brendan O’Brien.
The 1990’s
Brendan was very busy in the ’90’s during the Grunge & Alternative movement and worked with so many of the top bands of that era. He worked with Stone Temple Pilots throughout the ’90’s on their albums ‘Core ‘(1992), ‘Purple’ (1994), ‘Tiny Music’ (1996) and even ‘No.4’ (1999). The relationship continued into the 2000’s with his work on their fifth album ‘Shangri-La Dee Da’ (2001).
It is finally time for another music challenge. Go and listen to an album based solely on the Band’s name, the album name or the album cover. Let me know what you pick, why and what you thought about the album.
Here is my pick for the music challenge…The band is called Steve ‘n’ Seagulls. The name of the band and that unusual album cover are why I picked this one for my music challenge. The band name is a pun on the iconic actor (not really iconic) Steven Seagal.
They are a country band from Finland. You read that correctly…they are from Finland and they are a country band. I don’t know if I have ever heard of a Finnish country band. Wow! If you want proof, see below…
For My Sunday Song #6, I wanted to showcase the new video by Jordan Feliz for his song “Never Too Far Gone”. The video came out this past Friday and any chance I get to talk about Jordan Feliz, I am going to take it. I have become a huge fan of Jordan after listening to his album ‘The River’ (see album review here). It is one of my favorite albums of the year. He is a great songwriter and sings with such emotion that you instantly connect to his songs.
My take on the song is that no matter what you have done or how far you may have strayed from God, that you are never far from His grace and love. That for me is encouraging to know that He is always there for me.
If you want the actual meaning of the song, I found a great interview with Jordan Feliz on the website www.newreleasetoday.com that discusses what the song means to him. The song stems from the loss of one child to the birth of another. Jordan states:
“I was overwhelmed by holding my daughter for the first time and by the presence of God in that moment, knowing that I had been so frustrated, and the things I had said to Him in my brokenness with our lost baby. It doesn’t matter where you are going, where you’ve been, or what you’ve said, there is absolutely nothing that will separate you from the love of Jesus.”
I was online and noticed that Kiss released their first live album back on this date in 1975. I figured I would do a little post that celebrated that fact.
This was the album that made me a huge Kiss fan even to this day. The album finally brought to life the songs from their first 3 albums and made you feel you were part of the show. I know there is a lot of controversy that this isn’t really a live album as they went into the studio and cleaned it up significantly, but I don’t care. It had the feel of a live album and is still one of my favorite live albums even today.
I actually still have the vinyl release from 1975 (which is actually my brother’s album, but I have it and he doesn’t).
September has an incredible number of new releases coming out and today is the start of it all. There is now way humanly possible to get through all of them and I am not going to try. I will miss out on a lot of great stuff, but each week there is going to be too much to get through. I would have to quit my paying job and then do this full time (which doesn’t pay)…not going to happen, but wish it could.
The ones in Blue are the ones I will make every effort to listen to and enjoy! Which ones are you looking forward to hearing?
Rev Theory – Revelation – (Another Record Co): I like it loud and heavy and that is what I expect I will get with Rev Theory’s new release. I have thoroughly enjoyed their prior releases and what I hear so far sounds great. Give them a listen.
Robert John “Mutt” Lange could quite possibly be one of the greatest music producers there has ever been. He is personally responsible for some of the biggest selling albums of all time. He is the man behind the music, literally.
He started producing albums in the 70’s where he produced Graham Parker’s album ‘Heat Treatment’ and worked with the City Boys. He also worked with the Boomtown Rats which gave him his first real breakout album was their 1978 album ‘A Tonic for the Troops”.
But the big break came with the success of his work with AC/DC. He produced the 1979 album ‘Highway to Hell’ and then the 1980 classic ‘Back in Black’ which is the second largest selling album of all time at over 50 million albums. ‘Back in Black’ was one of the albums I picked up just recently (read about it here). He went to do another album for AC/DC in 1981, ‘For Those About To Rock We Salute You’.
Can you fall in love with an album or an artist by hearing only one song? The answer for me is a resounding YES!! That happened to me many moons ago when I heard one of the coolest songs I have ever heard. The song was “Not That Cool” by Will Hoge. The song was about me. He reached into my soul and wrote this song just for me. Ok, he didn’t really, but it felt like it was.
Not That Cool” was about a young man that wants to talk to a women but the only problem was he doesn’t feel cool enough to approach her and use a corny line. It was me. I am so not cool and could never have the courage to walk up to a pretty woman and give her a line. I was a little too shy for that. However, I still managed to snag a very beautiful woman and somehow she agreed to marry me. Almost 15 years later, we are still together.
This was the song that introduced me to the amazingly talented, singer, songwriter Will Hoge and the album was ‘Blackbird On A Lonely Wire’. The album came out in 2003 on Atlantic Records and was his 2nd studio release with a major label. After hearing “Not That Cool”, I immediately went out and bought the whole album.
Will Hoge has been described as Americana, Alt. Country with a Southern Rock flair and it fits him perfectly. This album throws in a little pop as well as some blues aspects to various songs. The album flow is wonderful and the songs are well placed.
After the fun of “Not That Cool”, he goes straight into another upbeat song “”Be The One”. The song keeps the energy going with a radio friendly song that sadly I never heard on the radio. Then he slows things down a little with “King of Grey” and brings a little country to the sad feeling song.
Things pick right back up with a Tom Petty sounding song called “Secondhand Heart”. The song style would fit perfect on any Petty album. “Hey Tonight” comes next and adds a little pop back into another very radio friendly song.
“Doesn’t Have to Be That Way” brings a little blues sound mixed with his raspy rock voice and when you hear it you will realize why it is my second favorite song on the album. The song shows off his voice and song writing talents.
“It’s A Shame” has a little darker tone and a nice rock sound to it. A great follow-up to “Doesn’t Have to Be That Way”. Will adds a little piano into another country song called “Someone Else’s Baby”. A great sounding song.
Will Hoge rocks out on the next song “TV Set”. A very fast, fun paced song that will get you moving. I love the way he mixes genres in his songs and from one song to the next. Somehow it works.
“Better Off Now” is another song that has a Petty sound and might be a big reason I like this album as I am a big Tom Petty fan. “All Night Long” goes back to full on rock song and races through with heavy beats and great guitars.
Will changes pace again on the final song “Baby Girl”. He pulls out the acoustic guitar and slows it down with a beautiful ballad. A sweet love song and the longest song on the album at over 5 minutes.
Overall it is a fantastic album and my favorite Will Hoge album mainly because it was my first. If you aren’t familiar with Will Hoge, this is a great introduction. He has over 8 studio albums and numerous extended play and live albums so there is plenty to enjoy. I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing him live yet, but I feel it is probably where he shines. I hope you check him out and if you do, let me know what you think.
For My Sunday Song #5, I chose “How Great Thou Art”. Last week was one of the hardest weeks of my life. My mother passed away last Sunday and went on to a better place where she can watch down upon us and protect us forever as a mother always does. This song was sung during her funeral and for that reason, I am dedicating this post to her. She was loved very much and will certainly be missed. I feel a little piece of me is now lost, but at the same time I feel her presence with me.
My favorite version of this song was performed by Carrie Underwood and Vince Gill and the song will hold a special place in my heart forever. It was one of the most powerful performances of this song I have ever seen and it moved my to tears as I was listening to it again for this post. With that, I will leave you with the song to enjoy and these final words…I Love You Mom!!
Do kids nowadays know what a B-Side is? With today’s music environment, they no longer exist. Now when a single is released, you just download that single. There is no longer another song purchased along with the single. That makes me sad.
I guess the so called Deluxe Edition of albums is like getting all your B-Sides at one time, but where is the fun in that. And are albums really “deluxe editions” if they don’t offer a non-deluxe edition? I think that would just be called an album.
Some B-Sides went on to be as big as the A-Side of even bigger. A couple examples would be with Kiss and Queen. For Kiss, “Beth” was the B-Side on the single for “Detroit Rock City”. A radio station added the song to their playlist and it went on to be Kiss’ biggest hit and reached #7 on the Billboard charts. Queen had the same thing happen. The B-Side for “We Are the Champions” was “We Will Rock You” The 2 songs now are played together and are 2 of the bands biggest and most played songs.
Usher – Hard II Love – (RCA): Usher always has some great songs and I can’t wait to see what he has in store for us on this release. He is the essence of cool, but this album cover is not the most attractive cover I have seen.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 