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…

IMG_0323

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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” →

Friday New Releases – September 22nd

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Another Friday is upon us and another day of new music.  There is a little of everything on tab for this week so hopefully there is something you can find you want to give a spin.  I have quite a few this week and they are highlighted in Blue as usual.

  • 613Ur6oUHlL._AC_US218_  Black Country Communion – BCCIV – (J&R Adventures):  BCC is back with their 4th album.  I thought they might have been done after their last one so I am thrilled to see a new release.  If you don’t know who they are, the band consists of some quite talented musicians you might have heard about…Glenn Hughes, Joe Bonamassa, Jason Bonham and Derek Sherinian.  Not a bad line-up.  Definitely worth checking out.

  • 615l-IJwJwL._AC_US218_  H.E.A.T – Into the Great Unknown – (Frontiers Records): This Swedish rock band brings us their 5th release and first after losing original guitarist Eric Rivers.  I am interested to hear it despite 2 of the original members now gone including the lead singer.  That usually really bothers me when you lose the singer, but Erik Gronwell can hold his own and has done a fine damn job since taking over.  Here is to hoping for more of the same greatness from these guys.
  • 411N1zML8KL._AC_US218_  The Killers – Wonderful Wonderful – (Island Records):  For some reason, I really like The Killers.  When they are good, they are really good and Brandon Flowers has been sounding great lately.  I am digging the new song “Run for Cover” so hoping the rest of the album is on par with that one.

  • 61KFg3CH+0L._AC_US160_  Mastodon – Cold Dark Place E.P. – (Reprise Records):  It is only an E.P., but anything from this Atlanta Metal band is worth grabbing.  Bring it on.

  • images-1  Fergie – Double Duchess – (Retrofuture Productions):  Okay, yes I am interested in hearing Fergie.  I have my guilty pleasures.  She proved she can rock out when she did a song for Slash so I definitely want to hear what she brings to the table this time around.

  • 4192A8z6v8L._AC_US218_  Otherwise – Sleeping Lions – (Century Media)
  • 61FIiVNH5OL._AC_US218_  Macklemore – Gemini – (Bendo LLC)
  • 513lUqo6OtL._AC_US218_  Matthew West – All In – (Sparrow)
  • 61EuJwZ3BCL._AC_US218_  Josh Ritter – Gathering – (Pytheas Recordings)
  • 51CVVBAaSrL._AC_US218_  Midland – On the Rocks – (Big Machine)
  • 51nMKZQR5nL._AC_US218_  Van Morrison – Roll With The Punches – (Exile Productions)
  • 61LDM-QpKqL._AC_US218_  Leon Russell – On A Distant Shore – (Palmetto)
  • 61d5C7z7dcL._AC_US218_  Chris Hillman – Bidin’ my Time – (Rounder)
  • 61KHcRSiqCL._AC_US218_  Steve Martin / The Steep Canyon Rangers – “The Long-Awaited Album” – (Rounder)
  • 51T3BQ1iCJL._AC_US218_  Cradle of Filth – Cryptoriana: The Seductiveness of Decay – (Nuclear Blast)
  • 51sZCZfQfIL._AC_US160_  Lecrae – All Things Work Together – (Reach Records)
  • 51NFpv8xsDL._AC_US218_  Haley Reinhart – What’s That Sound? – (Concord Records)
  • 51o8JkMVkwL._AC_US218_  Brian Wilson – Playback: The Brian Wilson Anthology – (Rhino/Warners)

Lifehouse – Deep Dive Playlist

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Lifehouse has been around since 1999 when they were known as Blyss, but it was their debut album under the name Lifehouse in 2000 that made them stars.  The album was ‘No Name Face’ and the song was “Hanging By a Moment” that brought them to my attention.  They have quietly been releasing albums ever since and now have 7 studio albums.

I think part of my enjoyment of the band is due to Jude Cole.  One of my all time favorite albums is by him called “A View From 3rd Street”.  Jude has been producing and writing songs with them for most of their career (around 2005) and that has shown through in the maturity of the songs and albums.

They finally released a greatest hits compilation back on July 14th, 2017 and it was pretty good as it had 18 tracks.  However, it was missing several songs that are better than some of the ones on the compilation.  So I figured why don’t I do a deep dive and give you the non-singles I think are the best.  I hope you enjoy.  They are in no particular order except my #1 favorite song is the last one on the list!

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Nickelback – ‘Feed the Machine’ – Album Review

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I know what you are asking…Why on Earth am I doing a Nickelback review???  I have asked myself that same question over and over again.  But I do have a reason.  I wanted to see if I could objectively review an album despite any prior biases I might have with the band.  It was more of an experiment…a challenge.

Let me give you some history.  I started out as a fan of Nickelback…I mean who didn’t back in the day.  They wrote really catchy songs that got stuck in your head.  Over time, that like became boredom as everything they ever did was the same old shit.  No growth, no diversity.  Then further on, they became a joke, a caricature of themselves.

Then they became down right irritating with stupid, worthless feuds such as the recent spat with Stone Sour’s Corey Taylor.  Now I can’t even listen to Stone Sour’s album as a result.  They both had albums coming out around the same time so the spat was probably planned for publicity that neither band really needed.  It was so fucking stupid (excuse my language but it was).

That got me thinking even more (which is dangerous).  Do I not like them anymore because of all the negativity that I have heard over the years or is it because they really aren’t that good.  That thought intrigued me.  So, I forced myself to try and wipe all that out of my head and do a solid review on this album as if it wasn’t Nickelback.  As if I hadn’t heard of this band or had no idea who did the album.  Did it work???

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