Month: July 2018

Tuesday’s Memes – Music Streaming

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Since no one buys albums anymore, we might as well do a collection of memes on Music Streaming.  It is only fair we show memes of the glory of music streaming or what we actually hate about it or both.  If you haven’t moved over to the digital age, you aren’t really missing a whole lot other than convenience, mobility and access to every freaking song on the planet all for the price of a CD.  But having the CD or vinyl in your hand is still the best thing ever!!

Here we go…

Apple Music…

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Needtobreathe – Forever On Your Side (Niles City Sound Sessions) E.P. – Album Review

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Needtobreathe released their new E.P. titles ‘Forever On Your Side (Niles City Sound Sessions)’ which is a longer name than the album as the album is merely an E.P. featuring only 4 tracks.  The Niles City Sound Sessions is actually a place in Fort Worth, Texas with a trio of producers that call themselves Niles City Sound.  Needtobreathe sat with them for a time and these four songs came from that session.

I have ordered this on a beautiful 10″ Pink Vinyl, but it won’t actually come until September which is a long way from now.  I will have been to the concert supporting this release before I actually have the physical product.  The concert is August 21st out in the blistering heat at the Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre.  Nothing like a concert, outside in the middle of Summer!!!

The band consists of the following members…

  • Bear Rinehart – vocals
  • Bo Rinehart – guitar, banjo, mandolin
  • Seth Bolt – bass, percussion
  • Josh Lovelace – piano, organ

Since it is only 4 tracks, let us get right to it…

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“Bridges Burn” was is the first track and it opened up with some weird “da-doo, da-doo, doo, doo, doo, doo nonsense (it isn’t that bad once you hear the rest of the song).  I became skeptical real quick. Thankfully that was extremely short-lived. The song then turns into a classic Needtobreathe.  The slow groove along with the piano accompaniment and Bear Rinehart’s vocals pouring out the emotion and allows you to feel everything he is releasing into the song.  They are still incorporating some electronic elements, but not enough to distract.

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My Sunday Song – “Sympathy for the Devil” by The Rolling Stones

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For My Sunday Song #102, we explore “Sympathy for the Devil” by the Rolling Stones.  Probably not the best day to be visiting a song about the Devil, but then again maybe it is the best day.  The song is off their 1968 album ‘Beggar’s Banquet’ and went only to #55 on the Billboard Hot 100, but that doesn’t take away from the fact it is one of my favorite Stones’ song.

The song was very controversial for the time and gave the Stones an image of being bad boys as opposed to the clean cut image of that little known band called The Beatles.  The band was accused of being satan worshippers and being into the occult.  The problem is that no matter if they were or were not, people don’t like something different and always tend to look for the bad and always blamed rock & roll.

The song isn’t a celebration for the Devil and the song isn’t even asking you to sympathize with him…although the Devil is asking you to do that when you read the lyrics.  The song is strictly a march through time and all the evil that has occurred throughout.  The person talking in the song is assumed to be the Devil as he travels through time, but is it the devil that was there or just some evil person who the devil is taking the credit?

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The song was inspired by the book from Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov and his novel The Master and Margarita.  The book was given to Mick Jagger by his then girlfriend Marianne Faithfull.  When Mick wrote the song, it was originally written as a folk song and quite different than the final version.

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Friday New Releases – July 27th

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Finally!  A week with a few releases I am actually interested in.  There is still not a ton of releases, but hopefully something you like.  My choices are highlighted in Blue.  At work, I am in the middle of budget season and my time is limited, but I will find time for a few of these selections.  Let me know what I missed and what you are interested in listening to this week.  Thanks and have a great weekend.

  • 616DTDnRtSL._AC_US436_QL65_  Dee Snider – For the Love of Metal – (Napalm Records):  Dee Snider’s last release, We Are the Ones, was exceptional.  This one is supposed to be harder and better so we will be popping it on first on the way to work.  Let’s hope another great album has been made.  If the below song is any indication, it will be.

  • 817yyfE8W5L._SX522_  Halestorm – Vicious – (Atlantic Record):  Lzzy Hale and the boys are back in full force.  It feels like it has been ages since new music, but it has only been 3 years since the last album and a little over a year since the last E.P., but that is too long for me.  When this band turns it up, watch out, they will blow your ears off and this sounds like it will do just that.

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Ratt – ‘Detonator’ – Album Review

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The year is 1990 and we are getting to the end of the Hair Metal era, but at the time, no one knew that end was coming.  Ratt released their fifth album in August of 1990 and it brings us to the end the long running stream of Platinum albums.  It is also the last Ratt album with the line-up that has been on all 5 of their albums.

  • Stephen Pearcy – vocals
  • Robbin Crosby – lead guitar
  • Warren DeMartini – lead guitar
  • Juan Croucier – bass guitar
  • Bobby Blotzer – drums

After the disappointing reception for ‘Reach for the Sky’ (although it did go Platinum), the band needed to make a change.  That change was not to use Beau Hill as producer on the next album as he had produced all previous albums to much success.  The band (or label) brought in powerhouse songwriter Desmond Child.  You know Desmond…he had great success writing with Kiss, Aerosmith and a few Bon Jovi classics.

And did he ever get involved in the songwriting as he has writing credits on 10 of the 11 tracks on the album.  Not only did Desmond assist with songwriting, he was also the executive producer along with Sir Arthur Payson.  While Ratt did maintain the classic Ratt sound which was a little bluesy and little sleazy, the songs were much more polished and contained more hooks than a fisherman’s tackle box.  It definitely leaned to a more Glam rock image than prior albums.

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Tuesday’s Memes – CD’s

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We have done vinyl, cassette tapes and now it is time for the Compact Disc or CD for short.  The greatest musical sound since well…vinyl.  Vinyl is still the best for at least the Classic Rock era.  So sit back and enjoy the collection of Memes covering the CDs.  I hope you enjoy…

The Struggle was Real!!

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The Original vs. The Cover vs. The Cover – “Rock On”

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For this month’s edition of “The Original vs. The Cover”, we are going to take on a third version as we tackle the David Essex song “Rock On”.  We will battle it out between David Essex’s original version vs. covers by both Michael Damian and Def Leppard.

The song was written for a movie that David was starring in called “That’ll Be the Day” which also had Ringo Starr and Kieth Moon.  The song, however, was not used in the movie.  David wrote the song based on his character from the movie and it has a pure old rock & roll rebellious attitude.  The song is actually a tip-of-the-hat to the old time rockers as it mentions “Blue Suede Shoes” and “Summertime Blues” as well as it gives a shout-out to an old Hollywood rebel James Dean.

Since we have three versions, we might as well jump right into it.

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David’s version hit #3 on the UK singles chart in 1973 and didn’t do that great in the US, but doesn’t mean we Americans don’t love it.  The song is very unique in that there are no instruments that play any chords which means there is No Guitar and No Piano on the song at all.  It is all bass, percussion and horns.  It is really stripped down.

You can tell a major influence of the song is Jamaican raggae and the whole dub style.  The song is driven by the bass line which was done by Herbie Flowers.  According to Wikipedia…”(Herbie’s) double-tracked bass guitar was treated with a prominent “slapback” delay effect, creating a complex polyrhythmic backbeat.”

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My Sunday Song – “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who

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For My Sunday Song #101, we go back to picking some of my favorite songs and no theme behind these next 10.  First up is “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who.  The song is off their album ‘Who’s Next’ and was the final song on the album as well as a single which wen tall the way to #15 on the Billboard Hot 100.  If you aren’t familiar with it, you might know it as the song on the opening credits for the CBS show CSI: Miami.

The song was written during the ‘Lifehouse’ project the Who were working on.  This was another rock opera following the success of ‘Tommy’; however, the project was later scrapped.  This song was so good that they felt it would work as a standalone song on the album that became ‘Who’s Next’.

The song is about a revolution and you can see that through the lyrics.  The beginning of the song is of course the beginning of the uprising of the revolution.  The middle of the song has the revolution over with the new people in power and the song ends with the new people in power being just as bad as the previous people so they have to start a new revolution.  It is a stark look at the reality of government.  You might vote someone new into office, but they are just as bad or worse than who was previously in power.  It is a constant struggle across the globe.

The song itself is absolutely amazing.  It is over 8 minutes long or you can get the single edit which is shortened to a measly 3:36, but you miss the whole power behind the song.  The original “full” version is a stroke of genius musically.  Pete outdoes himself with both his guitar work and his work on the synthesizer which is the main focus of the song.  The synthesizer is symbolic of the revolution and you can track the progression with the impact of it during the song.

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Friday New Releases – July 20th

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Wow!  What a crappy week for releases.  Not in what is being released, but the lack of releases.  There isn’t much to choose from.  I hope there is something for you, but it is slim pickin’s.  Have a great weekend!!  I will at least stick a music video with them if there is one so you can check them out.

  • 51sT8Mvbj3L._AC_US436_QL65_  Rick Astley – Beautiful Life – (BMG Music):  Ok, I am a little interested in checking this one out, I will admit it. And I just noticed this got bumped up and released last week…sorry about that.

  • 61Bw1MqavoL._AC_SX200_SY200_  Powerwolf – Sacrament of Sin – (Napalm Records)

  • 51YpyZt+uoL.jpg  Paul Carrack – These Days – (Carrack UK)
  • 91vhMBEG4DL._SX522_  Al Di Meola – Elegant Gypsy & More (LIVE) – (Earmusic)

Les Paul and Mary Ford – ‘The Hit Makers!’ – Album Spotlight

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Several months back, I came across this beauty in a collection that I had to have.  It was Les Paul and Mary Ford’s ‘The Hit Makers’ from 1955.  The original album came out in 1953 and was a 10″ record. This one is a 12″ re-release just two short years later and it added four more songs than the original.

Now it is pretty simple as to why I would want an album that is 63 years old.  The album features Les Paul.  This amazing guitarist and guitar builder is known worldwide and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have some of his music in my collection.  And it doesn’t disappoint.  I could go into the history of Les Paul, but will save that for another post some time in the future.

Les Paul and Mary Ford met in the Summer of 1945 and married four years later.  They recorded numerous albums together and ‘The Hit Makers!’ is a greatest hits collection of their music. The album is a mixture of instrumentals highlighting the great guitar playing of Les Paul and songs with Mary Ford singing away.  Shortly after the release, the hits started to dry up a little as the start of something called “Rock & Roll” hit the radio airwaves.

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