Month: September 2018

The Original Vs The Cover – “Higher Ground”

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For this month’s The Original Vs The Cover, we are comparing the versions of the song “Higher Ground” originally performed by Stevie Wonder and then later covered by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  Two great artists and two very different versions so which will come out on top.

The song was written by Stevie Wonder and it came out on his 1973 album ‘Innervisions’.  It went all the way to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the R&B chart.  It was a very successful song for Stevie and in 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it #265 on the Top 500 Songs of all time.  Not bad.

The song is possibly about two things.  One being second chances and the other is reincarnation (which could also be considered a second chance I guess).  Stevie wrote the song and recorded it in a span of 3 hours which to me is amazing.  According to Stevie, he felt a sense of urgency to get it done as if something was going to happen and he needed to finish it.  Just a few months later, he was in a car accident that put him in a coma for four days (3 days after the album was released).

Okay, let us get to the songs…

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Stevie’s song is pure 70’s funk.  It has such an awesome little groove and that unique wah sound comes from a clavinet using a Mu-Tron III pedal.  What are those?  Here is a picture (thanks wikipedia).

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Lit – These Are the Days – Album Review

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Lit, the Pop punk, power pop, California rock band is back after five years with a new album and a very different sound.  They went from California Rock to California Country and why I have no idea.  They have always been a rock band; although that sound has changed a little over the years as they have grown as writers and musicians, they were still rock at heart.

Now I will admit, if you listen to their lyrics on their old albums, they could be Country songs as the word-play they do in the songs is similar to what you hear in Country music, only better because it was rock & roll.  Their music always made me feel good like I should be partying out on the beach with music blaring and a surf board in my hand (I have never surfed, but I wanted to if there were no sharks and no one watching to laugh).

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My Sunday Song – “Hell is For Children” by Pat Benatar

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For My Sunday Song #108, I am going to discuss the song “Hell is for Children” by powerhouse singer Pat Benatar.  The song was recorded in 1980 and released on her album ‘Crimes of Passion’ which went to #2 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart.  The song itself was never released as an official single, but became a hit nonetheless.

The song was inspired by an article that Pat had read in the New York Times that told the story of child abuse.  She was so moved by the article that she started writing this song.  In a time when no one was speaking publicly about child abuse, it was really groundbreaking for an artist to tackle such an intense subject.

The lyrics capture the sadness and despair the children of abuse face each day. Just read the opening verse:

“They cry in the dark, so you can’t see their tears
They hide in the light, so you can’t see their fears
Forgive and forget, all the while
Love and pain become one and the same
In the eyes of a wounded child”

The lyrics go on to talk about the abuser telling the kids not tell mommy and to lie to everyone about what happened while they apologize for what they had done yet continue to abuse.  It doesn’t get more raw than this song, so powerful.

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Friday New Releases – September 7th

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It is the first Friday of September and there is a long list of releases.  Everyone starts putting out their new albums in the Fall and there are some big ones coming, but let us focus on today.  The ones I am looking forward to are highlighted in Blue.  Let me know what you want to listen to and which ones I might have missed on the list.  Thanks and have a great music weekend!!

  • 917OiMivKZL._SX522_  Alter Bridge – Live a the Royal Albert Hall (feat. the Parallax Orchestra) – (Napalm Records):  I am surprised by another live record after last year’s release.  That is ok.  There are some different songs in the set list and a little orchestra along with it.  I will give it a listen and then decide on buying.

  • A11xhBfgFwL._SX522_  Lenny Kravitz – Raise Vibration – (Roxie Records):  I have always loved Lenny so this is a no brainer to stream.  His last few have been so-so so again I will stream it before I buy it.  Just so you know, I don’t always do that as I do have 4 or 5 albums on pre-order without hearing a lick.  Only a few bands get that special treatment.

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Billy Raffoul – 1975 E.P. – Album Review

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Before we get into the album review, let me go into the story of how I came across Billy Raffoul.  My wife and I went to see Needtobreathe in concert on August 21st, 2018 (CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW).  Billy was the opening act of a triple bill.  When we arrived he came storming on stage before we got to our seat.  We didn’t mean to arrive then, traffic just sucked.

When I go to a show, I enjoy watching the opening acts and giving them the respect they deserve.  Hey, you never know if they will be the next big thing.  Watching Billy, I felt that he could be just that.  While I was listening to him, I turned to my wife and told her that I loved his voice.  It has this Jeff Buckley raspiness that was incredible.  Imagine my surprise when I read his bio online, it actually mentions that same Buckley feel.  Glad I wasn’t imagining things.

I can’t tell you the songs he sang as I had never heard of him before, but I do know he played Jimi Hendrix’s Fire.  Hell, he is a lefty like Jimi and has that same upside down lefty guitar.  I am sure he knows he could actually buy a left handed guitar!!

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Halestorm – Vicious – Album Review

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‘Vicious’ really sums up this album.  Halestorm come at you with full force and don’t let up the entire album.  From the first single “Uncomfortable” I knew this would be great.

In a music scene that is lacking bonafide Rock Stars, Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale fits that bill perfectly.  That voice and the fuck you attitude place her in realm most singers only wish they could achieve.  She isn’t one-dimensional either.  Her style and vocal delivery change up throughout and the album is never boring.

The band’s songs are loud, heavy, rowdy, dark and at times very sexual (“Do Not Disturb” and “Conflicted” in particular). It takes the line of Sex, Drugs & Rock & Roll and takes it up a notch. Musically, the band hits it on all cylinders with great guitar solos, nasty bass lines and explosive drumming especially on songs like “Painkiller”, “Black Vultures”, “White Dress” and “Skulls”.  On “The Silence”, Lzzy’s voice is channeling Ann Wilson (one of the greatest voices in rock).

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My Sunday Song – “Dead City Radio and the New Gods of Supertown” by Rob Zombie

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For My Sunday Song #107 is going to take us out into a world that is so strange and bizarre you might never want to return.  We will explore the world of Rob Zombie and his song “Dead City Radio and the New Gods of Supertown”.  The song is off his 2013 album ‘Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor’.  The song did chart at #15 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks, but that doesn’t matter for Rob Zombie.

The song is in the normal Rob Zombie industrial style music.  It is hard, heavy and slams a fist into your face.  The main draw for me is his guitar player, the guitar god himself, John 5.  John 5 is a beast of a guitarist.  The sounds and his touch are always perfection and with this one there is at times a whole Sabbath vibe with some of his tone.

The song is about the state of rock radio today.  What was once a flourishing hot bed of good music is dying off in droves.  It changed the way we listened to music, but thanks to the internet and the digital download and streaming, the art of radio is dying off.  I have to agree that radio seems to be a dying form.  The problem with radio is no variety.  They play the same songs and artists over and over and you don’t really discover new music on the radio anymore.  That is what Youtube and streaming is for now.

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