Friday New Releases – September 2, 2022

September? Is it September already? No way! Impossible…yet here we are. It is Labor Day Weekend here in the States and that means not a ton of releases as most bands don’t want to compete with peoples travel money. However, we still have around 20 for you today down from the 40 to 50 we normally see. I actually have two I want to here and they are marked in Blue! Let me know what you want to hear and what we may have missed. I hope everyone has a great weekend as I know I will enjoy my 3 day weekend!!

  • 71+DquXarOL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Megadeth – The Sick, The Dying…and the Dead – (Universal Music): I can’t believe it has been 6 years since their last effort with the phenomenal, ‘Dystopia’. I really loved that album. A lot has happened with Covid and Ellefson’s firing, Dave’s health issues…a lot. Glad to have Dave back and can’t wait to hear what’s in store this time around.
  • 819N-0dN5VL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  King’s X – Three Sides of One – (InsisdeOutMusic): King’s X is a band I never really got in to, but that doesn’t mean anything. These guys are a band’s band…musicians love these guys and they should…super talented. I will give it a listen to see if it finally clicks for me as I have mad respect for them.
Continue reading “Friday New Releases – September 2, 2022”

You Pick It! – Which Album To Review in August?

You, my reader, are going to pick an album for me to review each month.  It is really simple…first, I will give you 5 albums to choose from and second, you will tell me which one of those you would like to see reviewed on the site.  See…simple! Now, if you want to cast more than one vote, comment on the Twitter and Facebook post and you could get up to 3 votes on your favorite pick.

There are a few simple rules I have put in to place in my selections.  They are…

  • One has to be a new release (within the last month)
  • One has to be one I have never heard before (new releases don’t count for this one)
  • One has to be from a genre I don’t normally listen to at all or very often
  • And the last two are choices from my collection that I haven’t reviewed before

What are the 5 albums you ask?  Funny you should ask because I have those right here…

  New Release – Journey – ‘Freedom’

  Never Heard Before – Metallica – ‘Kill ‘Em All’

  Not My Normal Genre – Kris Kristofferson – Kristofferson

  From My Collection – Robin Trower – ‘Twice Removed from Yesterday’

  From My Collection – Hollywood Undead – ‘Swan Song’

Let me know which one you would like to see and sometime in August, I will post a review of the album that gets the most votes. You have one week to decide and from there I will start listening to the album and do a review.

Thanks for participating!!

You Picked It! – Janis Joplin – “Pearl” (1971) – Album Review

Alright…You Picked It! And this one wasn’t ever really that close. There was a lot of back and forth between Johnny Cash and Janis Joplin, but once Janis pulled ahead there was no stopping her. The winner was Janis Joplin’s 1971 album ‘Pearl’ which is one I do have in my collection. Here are the results.

  1. Janis Joplin – ‘Pearl’ – 9 votes
  2. Johnny Cash – ‘American IV: The Man Comes Around’ – 6 votes
  3. Sly & the Family Stone – ‘There’s a Riot Goin’ On’ – 3 votes
  4. AC/DC – ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirty Cheap’ – 2 votes
  5. Crobot – ‘Feel This’ – Sadly, 0 votes

Thanks to all for participating. The August choices will be up on Saturday!

JANIS JOPLIN – ‘PEARL’:

Janis Joplin died on October 4, 1970 of a heroin overdose at the tender age of 27 like so many musicians and actors before her. Janis had been recording her new album at the time of her death as they had started back in July and had recorded up to her death. Four months after her death, the album was released on January 11, 1971. It would go on to hold the #1 spot on Billboard 9 weeks and has been certified quadruple platinum. Not a bad way to go out.

Continue reading “You Picked It! – Janis Joplin – “Pearl” (1971) – Album Review”

The Original vs. The Cover vs. The Cover – “Me and Bobby McGee”

It is time for another the Original vs. the Cover and this time it is another trio of versions.  This time we are discussing the song “Me and Bobby McGee” which was written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster, but let’s be honest, Fred only gave the song the title.  The versions we are covering are the original release by Roger Miller (1969), Kris Kristofferson’s own version (1970) and then the version by Janis Joplin (1971).  There were actually two other versions released in 1970 by Gordon Lightfoot and the Statler Brothers and then in 1971, Jerry Lee Lewis released a version.  That is 6 versions in 3 years.  Insane.  I’m going to stick with my three.

The song was started by Fred Foster, the head of the label Kris was signed, when he went to Kris with a song title called “Me and Bobbie McKee” which Kris thought it he heard McGee.  Kris didn’t think he could write the song, so he avoided Foster for months until he finally got it written.

The song is about a couple that is traveling across the southern part of the country.  They are hitchhiking, singing the blues and discovering the land and each other.  They end up breaking up and going their own ways and the singer is filled with sadness and regret about them parting as I believe he loved that Bobby McGee.  I could go in to more depth about the song and the lyrics, but then this would turn in to a My Sunday Song episode where we deep dive in to the songs.  This is about which version is the best so we will get to that part of the show.

ROGER MILLER

R-10005558-1490014864-6519.jpeg Continue reading “The Original vs. The Cover vs. The Cover – “Me and Bobby McGee””