Year: 2017

Living Colour – Shade – Album Review

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The band that brought us “Cult of Personality” back in 1988 is back after an 8 year hiatus from their last album.  Living Colour released their new album, ‘Shade’ on September 8th 2017 and it sounds like this band has a lot to say.  Their social commentary on today’s society is definitely worth listening to and not only will it open your eyes to life today, it will open your ears to some damn fine music.

The title of the album, ‘Shade’, has many different meanings for this album.  It could be referring to the many shades of color the album brings in its different styles and sounds.  Or is the band throwing ‘Shade’ at America and all that has been happening over the years.  I think it is both, but you should listen and decide for yourself.

What I really love about this album is the variety of the songs.  You, of course, get some hard rock, some funk, some blues and some hip hop and when they mix them up together in the song it gets even better.  Corey Glover sounds amazing throughout as does Vernon Reid with his kick ass solos, Doug Wimbash’s bass thumping and Will Calhoun’s drum keep the timing set perfectly.

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My Sunday Song – “Southern Cross” by Crosby, Stills & Nash

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For My Sunday Song #60, I am highlighting my favorite Crosby, Stills & Nash song “Southern Cross”.  The song was released in September 1982 and was featured on the album ‘Daylight Again”.  I remember seeing the video on MTV as it was in heavy rotation for awhile.  I just loved the laid back feel of the song and of course watching the boat sail across the water.  It seemed so relaxing. I really enjoy the phrasing of the lyrics and the song flow.  It is the song that actually made me a little fan of the group.

The song is about a man who decided to take a journey by sailing across the Pacific due to a failed relationship.  He determines all he needs is a boat and his music.  He hopes he will find that woman on his trek that will make him forget his past relationship and find a love that will endure (and you know it will).

In researching the song, I now know what the Southern Cross is.  I thought it was the boat as that is what the video would have you believe.  No.  The Southern Cross is a star constellation that is only seen in the Southern Hemisphere and some of the tropics.  Sailors in the Southern Hemisphere use it to navigate by.  The constellation is called Crux which means cross (thanks wikipedia).

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Friday New Releases – October 6th

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Welcome to October and of course, I have a list of new releases for you to check out.  There are definitely some I am getting this week and I will talk about those as they will be highlighted in Blue.  There are not a ton, but hopefully you will find something.  I know I have.

  • 61VQ92of-mL._AC_US160_  Whitesnake – Whitesnake (30th Anniversary Edition) – (Parlophone Records):  Duh!! No Brainer!!!  I can’t believe it has been 30 years since this album was released.  I have it on Vinyl, but I want this CD see.  With classics like “Still of The Night”, “Here I Go Again” and “Is This Love” you can’t go wrong with this one.  The only downside is the Super Deluxe Edition, which I ordered, is on hold until October 27th.  Oh well, still can’t wait to get ahold of it.

  • 61FIqt+D+pL._AC_US218_  The Darkness – Pinewood Smile – (Canary Dwarf Ltd):  The glam metal band that glorifies the excess of 80’s rocks brings us their new album.  After 5 albums has the schtick gotten old?  We will see.

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Bob Rock – Producer Extraordinaire #4

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We are now on our 4th Producer Extraordinaire in this series.  We have seen Robert John “Mutt” Lange, Brendan O’Brien and Bruce Fairbairn so far, and now it is time for Bob Rock.  Bob Rock actually got his start as a recording engineer and mixer under the great Bruce Fairbairn so he learned from one of the best.

Bob’s musical career started back in 1979 / 1980 when he started engineering from Bruce as well as joined the band Payola$ who had a big hit in 1980 called “Eyes of a Stranger”. They were pretty successful in Canada and won a Juno Award in 1983 for Single of the Year.  However, Bob’s real talent (or at least to me) is his ability to work with bands and produce amazing albums.

METALLICA:

Bob Rock has worked with some of the biggest bands in the world, but they don’t get bigger than Metallica.  Bob was selected as the Producer for the band’s biggest album they had ever done, however, at the time they did not know it would become so big. “The Black Album” as it is commonly known made Metallica cool in the mainstream world as well as the Thrash world.

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Jonny Lang – Signs – Album Review

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Grammy Award winning artist, Jonny Lang, is back with his new album, ‘Signs’.  If you aren’t familiar with Jonny, you are definitely missing out.  He is a Blues, Gospel and rock guitarist, songwriter and singer.  There is nothing this man can’t do.  He brings in so many influences and crafts them into heartfelt and moving songs that are either blues or straight up rock & roll and when he mixes the two together, watch out!!

I remember when his first album came out in 1997, ‘Lie to Me’, and he was only 16 years old.  I heard that album and couldn’t believe what I was hearing.  No 16 year old should be able to pull off what this kid could do.  Years went by and he struggled with substance abuse and in 2000 came clean.  He found Christianity after shunning it for so long and it changed his perspective on everything.  His writing, playing and vocals started hitting on all cylinders.  He won a Grammy in 2006 for his album ‘Turn Around’ and he kept putting out incredible music.

Now in 2017, can he still produce albums that strike a chord with you after 20 years in the business?  Oh yes he can.  Jonny Lang has released what could possibly be the album of the year for me.  His vocals, songwriting and guitar playing (damn can he play a guitar) are nothing short of awe-inspiring.  Sit back and let me walk you through this masterpiece.

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My Sunday Song – “Life’s Been Good” by Joe Walsh

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For My Sunday Song #59, I have to go with Joe Walsh’s classic song “Life’s Been Good”.  The song is off his 1978 album ‘But Seriously, Folks…” and was released as a single in May of that year.  The song has two versions, the album cut which is an epic 8:56 and the radio edit which is only 4:35.  The radio edit is great, but the full version is where all the magic happens.

“Life’s Been Good” is song that speaks to the excess of the rock gods of the 70’s.  Lyrically, it paints a beautiful picture of how everyone thinks the huge Rock Stars live and probably resonated because everyone wants to be that Rock Star.  The song hits all the high points, the mansion, the exotic sports car, the hit records, the fans and the money.  What’s not to like.

The song is a mid-tempo beat with almost a reggae feel to it.  It has a great guitar riff throughout and includes a bizarre little inside joke about 10 seconds after the song ends.  Walsh very humorously goes “uh-oh, here comes a flock of wah wahs” followed by a chorus of duck or geese noises.  I have no idea what the inside joke was, but it is quite funny regardless.  I wonder what they were smoking?????

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Friday New Releases – September 29th

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Welcome to the last Friday New Releases of the month.  There are too many new releases this week and no way to even come close to listening to it all.  There a handful I will attempt to get to and those will be highlighted in Blue, but doesn’t mean there aren’t others on this list I don’t want to hear.  I have to some way prioritize the listening choices.  I am sure there is something on here that you will find exciting.  Let me know what you are interested in getting.

  • 91+F7bRBJkL._AC_UL160_SR160,160_.jpg  Shania Twain – Now – (Universal Nashville):  Oh Shania, how we have missed you.  Back with her first album in 15 YEARS!!!.  I have heard a couple songs off the album and haven’t been overly impressed so I am little worried about this one.  My wife and I enjoy Shania and went saw her in concert about 2 years ago and we also had “From This Moment” played at our wedding.  As a result, I will give this a listen despite my hesitations.

  • 51-RUWDsUjL._AC_US218_  Black Stone Cherry – Black to Blues EP – (Mascot Label Group): The Southern Hard Rock band is bringing us a little EP to hold us over until their next album…I am so cool with that.  They don’t seem to ever disappoint and I could use a good old rock album about now.

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1991 – The Greatest Year in Music?

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Is 1991 the greatest year in music?  Who knows.  I do know it is one of the most influential years in music.  I know it was the death of 80’s rock and the start of a new style of music called Grunge.  There were so many great albums that came out in that year, some that changed the landscape of music and some that were mostly ignored but were great just the same.

I have asked this question a couple other times…one for 1983 and one for 1987.  I think both years were exceptional and now that I have picked 1991 as another year, I am noticing a pattern of great years coming every 4 years.  I am definitely going to explore to look into that possible trend more.  For now, I will keep focusing on the year that was…1991.

Grunge/Alternative Music

We will start off with the introduction of the new genre of music called Grunge.  This subgenre of alternative music actually started in the mid-80’s mostly around the great city of Seattle. It was 1991 that saw this music go mainstream.  This music killed off the Hair Bands of the 80’s and the music I grew up with and loved.  What were those influential albums that changed the music landscape?  Easy…

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“My First Time” with White Lion’s ‘Pride’

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I recently read an article on Mike Tramp that said he was releasing a limited edition box set called “This and That” which would contain 5 CDs and 1 DVD of previously unreleased material as well as some new tracks.  It sounds interesting and got me to thinking about his old band White Lion.  And I immediately remembered ‘Pride’.

Little did I know at the time that ‘Pride’ was not their debut album.  They actually had an album prior called ‘Fight to Survive’ that never amounted to anything.  Since “My First Time” is supposed to be the first time I discover a band and it is not on their debut album, then ‘Pride’ worked.

‘Pride’ came out in 1987 slap dab in the middle of the Hair Band explosion.  That means BIG HAIR!!  Did White Lion have it…uh…YES…

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My Sunday Song – “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles

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For My Sunday Song #58 I am going to tackle my favorite Beatles song, “Here Comes the Sun”.  Notice I said my favorite and I did not say the best.  I don’t want anyone getting a hair up there tail because I said the best.  My intention is to not start an argument as I know there are many people passionate about their Beatles.

The song was recorded in 1969 and released on their album ‘Abbey Road’ the same year. The song only features three of the Beatles, George, Ringo & Paul as John was recovering from a car crash.

Lyrically, it is a very simple song but musically there is a lot going on.  Paul did the bass, of course and Ringo on drums while George did everything else, and I mean everything else.  He is credited with both the acoustic and electric guitars, the harmonium, and introducing the band to a Moog synthesizer (which might have looked like something below).
Wall of MOOG Continue reading “My Sunday Song – “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles” →