The Star Spangled Banner Rocks

This rendition by a band called Madison Rising is the most awesome version of the Star Spangled Banner I've heard since I first heard the Hendrix version.  Perfect for listening really, really (really) loud.

Headlong Flight

The video for the first single from the forthcoming new Rush Album, "Clockwork Angels," due in June.



I love the sound.  Destructo approved.

An Artist a Day: 10

Today is grunge band day.  I've been listening today to Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and Nirvana.  I completely forgot to wear Doc Martins and plaid today, but I have enjoyed listening to some music that I haven't heard in quite a while - particularly Pearl Jam's Ten and Vs. albums.

Ten came out in 1991, but got really popular in the spring and summer before my senior year in high school.  It still reminds me of senior car washes and hanging out with friends that summer.  Vs. came out during my freshman year in college and for some reason reminds me of listening to it at night in my dorm room.  "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" was my favorite song from that album, but I recall not really caring for the album much overall at the time.  I remember being really, really disappointed that it sounded so different than Ten.  And it also killed my buying of any future Pearl Jam albums.  Besides, by the time Vitology came out in the winter of 1994 grunge was all but dead anyway, at least as far as I was concerned.

By 1994 I was still into rock (after a fling with techno over the summer) , but a much more mellow kind such as Tom Petty's Wildflowers, Crowded House's Together Alone, Counting Crows' August and Everything After and Nirvana's Unplugged in New York.  I had those albums on heavy rotation that winter, along with quite a bit of Rush.  But following Kurt Kobain's suicide, Unplugged in New York captivated me.  I wasn't a Cobain fan or anything - I was just searching for meaning in the world that he had chosen to abandon.

Stone Temple Pilots burst on the scene in the summer of 1993 and I remember hearing my across-the-hall neighbor blasting "Plush" throughout the halls of the dorm the first week I arrived at college.  I went right out and bought Core and started blasting it myself.  The Purple album was kind of the soundtrack of the spring of '94 for me.  It still brings back memories of watching the Rockets win a world championship, a DeMolay trip to Kansas City where we won a championship of our own and a road trip to Colorado with my then girlfriend and her family.

These bands alone represent both very exciting "top of the world" times in high school (each band's first albums) and very confusing, dark times in college (each band's second album).  The music is still haunting after all these years, but I can finally enjoy listening without the angst and gut-wrenching baggage that they carried for me at the time.  This is some of the music that helped define who I would become as a man, and for that I love every gritty guitar-crunching note.

Playlist: 74 songs; 5.3 hours

An Artist a Day: 9

Today's artist is Willie Nelson.

'Nuff said.

An Artist a Day: 8

Today's artist is Metallica.

Metallica is one of those bands that runs hot and cold with me.  I like some of their music, but some of it I find just noisy and uninspired.  But the stuff of theirs that is good is really, really good.  In my opinion, that's the music that I own.  The black album.  S&M.  Most of Garage, Inc.  Unlike the Metallica uber-fan, I'm not a fan of their early work.  It seems immature and half-baked to me.  Their later stuff just sounds more mature and stronger to me.  Less raw, sure, but stronger.

My experience with Metallica began in middle school.  The stoners and the kids I couldn't stand to be around were the Metallica fans, so naturally I wanted nothing to do with the band.  Then, in 1991 Metallica, also known as "the black album"came out.  The first time I heard it, I was playing sand volleyball (as I did a lot in the summer before my senior year) and it was simply awesome.  But I didn't buy the album.  It was Metallica, after all.  I liked it, though.  "Enter Sandman" was on that album.  And "One."  The album was legendary.

And that was it until 1999.  That's when I heard the Metallica version of "Turn the Page" on the radio one day.  I was really into a heavier rock sound at the time and so I bought Metallica's Garage, Inc. CD.  It was a collection of cover songs, which made the purchase less risky for me.  But I soon became addicted to Metallica's growly sound on other songs, such as "No Leaf Clover" and "Fuel" from the same album.  "Whiskey in the Jar" became a staple in my music rotation almost nonstop for a long time.  Then the theme to Mission: Impossible 2 came out and I was even further hooked.  I ended up buying the black album and Load.

And then came S&M.  Metallica put out a double album of a live show with the San Francisco symphony that was both beautiful and haunting; both moody and hard-rocking.  It was (and still is) simply great to listen to.

And then that was it again.  The band lineup changed and Metallica just seemed to fall apart and fade from the radar. In the mean time, my musical tastes changed, as well, from rock to more alternative.  By the time Metallica resurfaced in 2003 I was a father and had more important things on my mind.  That, and the sound of Metallica's new album just didn't grab me.  The same is true of their subsequent work, as well.

So my Metallica catalog consists primarily of music from a four year period in the band's history, with the exception of Metallica.  It's the Metallica sound that I like.  It may have been their most "commercial" period, which will send any "real" Metallica fan screaming in the other direction, but I'm not claiming to be a Metallica fanboy.  So there.

Playlist: 75 songs; 6.9 hours

An Artist a Day: 6

Today's artists are R.E.M., Spin Doctors, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Gin Blossoms and Peter Gabriel.

Today's playlist marks the first playlist that doesn't feature a single artist or band, but instead is a group of artists with a common bond.  In the case of today, that bond is music I was listening to during my senior year in high school (minus some artists that have their own playlists).  The list was originally intended to be an REM list and was born out of the recent breakup of REM.  But it turns out that I don't really have all that much REM music, so I built today's playlist out of the REM album Life's Rich Pageant, which I had on pretty much constant repeat in my car for awhile in the fall of 1992.

1992 was a fun time for me.  It was the beginning of my senior year of high school and a pretty amazing time for me personally.  I had just made it as a varsity spirit leader, I was really expanding as a cartoonist and as an artist and I was working really hard on the school newspaper as both a cartoonist and as a writer.

The Spin Doctors were also a big part of that year's soundtrack.  The Superman-themed title song, "Pocket Full of Kryptonite," got me started listening and I found that I liked the bluesy, funky jams on their debut album, especially "What Time is It?," "Refrigerator Car," and the 12-plus minute jam "Shinbone Alley/Hard to Exist."  For awhile I actually hated the song "Two Princes" because it was on such heavy rotation on the radio stations we had playing at my senior-year place of employment, Foot Locker.

Peter Gabriel is represented on the list because of the album So.  It was already several years old in 1992, but that's when I discovered it.  And I loved the sound, especially "Red Rain" and "We Do What We're Told."  I seem to recall listening to Peter Gabriel a lot on Sundays and in the rain.  I don't know why.

Big Head Todd and the Monsters and Gin Blossoms are both from the spring of 1993.  Big Head Todd's "Broken Hearted Savior" was getting some airplay on the radio, and after a rough breakup with a girl I was dating it just spoke to me for some reason.  I liked Big Head Todd's heavy sound, and even today it sounds timeless.  Maybe it was my lack of disposable income or my changing musical tastes during college, but Sister Sweetly is the only Big Head Todd album I own.

The Gin Blossom's New Miserable Experience is an album that I started listening to some time around spring break of my senior year and carried me into my first semester in college.  I remember driving around Huntsville listening to "Hey Jealousy" and "Allison Road."  I loved that there was what seemed to be every kind of music on that album, from rock to pop to blues to country.  It was perfect for the time in my life when I was struggling to figure out who and what I wanted to be.  It was an album that couldn't really be defined, so it kept me from defining myself by the type of music I was listening to.  And for unknown reasons - and just like Big Head Todd and the Monsters - it's the only album by this band that I own.  And again, I'm not sure why.

Playlist: 85 songs, 5.9 hours

An Artist a Day: 5

Today's artist is another of my all-time favorite groups, Queen.  They may be silly (and down-right corny) at times, but they make up for it in great arrangements, serious rockers and some killer guitars by Brian May (as well as some of the greatest songs of all time).

I remember hearing some Queen songs when I was little in the late '70s and early '80s.  In fact, I remember the kid across the street, Harold, telling me that "We Will Rock You" was R-rated (which made it even more cool).  It isn't, of course, but to a 5-year old who was accustomed to listening more to his parents' Barry Manilow than any real rock, it may as well have been.

My resurgent interest in Queen came in my sophomore year of high school when a girl I dated briefly, Ann Modgling, expressed an interest in them.  A couple of weeks later, Ann was history, but my love of Queen's sound stuck around.

The Queen song "One Vision," which was featured in one of my favorite movies, Iron Eagle is a solid rocker that I kept in my tape player for most of my early driving career.  The hard-driving drums and fast beat were perfect for cranking up and tuning out the Houston traffic.

And then I heard "Killer Queen" and "I Can't Live with You" just as I was headed into the summer of 1991.  That summer brought a trip to church camp in Colorado, a job at Gap Kids in the Galleria and my first out-of-town driving experience to a Boy Scout camping trip in Galveston.  And Queen was a huge part of the sound track for all of those.

And then, for Christmas 1991 I got my first CD player and with it two Queen CDs: News of the World and A Night at the Opera.  I remember long nights sitting at my art table in my room working on one project or another to the slightly confusing sounds of the tongue-in-cheek Queen.  Part of their attraction for me was that I never could tell if they were serious or not.  And I guess that's what kept me hooked.

Playlist: 66 songs, 4.7 hours

An Artist a Day: 4

Today, day 4 of An Artist a Day, is Rush day.  I intentionally scheduled this on a Friday. Rush is my favorite band of all time, and there's nothing like turning on Rush and listening all the livelong day.  I know what you're saying: "with Rush, 8 hours is only about 5 songs..."  Har har.

iTunes picked "Oh Canada" (from the South Park soundtrack) as the first song in the playlist.  I'm sure it had a good giggle over that.  I'm not counting that one.  So the first REAL song in the playlist is, appropriately, "Dreamline," which was the song that got me hooked on Rush during my junior year of high school.  I can't listen to that song without thinking of my high school buddy, Brad Chelette.

"We are youngWandering the face of the EarthWondering what our dreams might be worthLearning that we're only immortalFor a limited time"

My Rush library consists of 209 songs and 18.3 hours of music.  Maybe I should do TWO Rush days.  Hmmmmm...

An Artist a the Day: Day 3

Today's artist is The Killers and Brandon Flowers (the lead singer of the Killers), Christmas songs and all.

It's going to be a good day.

An Artist a Day: Day 2

Today is Jimmy Eat World Day.  93 songs in the library, 6.5 hours and one of my favorite bands.  It should be a good day.

Adele Forced to Cancel US Tour Dates Due to Illness

From Adele.tv:

Adele has been forced to cancel her upcoming 10 city sold-out tour of the U.S. due to a haemorrhage into her vocal chord. Vocal chord issues forced the British singer to postpone dates earlier this year as well. Adele has just wrapped up touring around the UK and was preparing to kick off her US tour on October 7 in Atlantic City, NJ when her illness reappeared (see below for full list of cancelled US tour dates). Renowned for her powerful live vocal performances, Adele has been advised by doctors that she’ll need an extended rest period in order to begin to recuperate properly. 

Dang.  What horrible news for someone with such an amazing voice. I hope she recovers fully because I really like her music.

An Artist a Day

I've decided that from now until Thanksgiving I'm going to listen to a different artist (or group of what I deem to be similar artists) every day, all day. I'll listen to everything I have by a particular artist or band on shuffle and repeat from the beginning of the day until it's time to go home, nonstop.

This is based on my iTunes library, so there are a lot of artists or bands that would be GREAT to listen to, but that I may only have an album or two for. Basically, my criteria is that I need to have three or more albums by a band or artist. I don't want to listen to the same songs six or eight times in a day, in other words. And if I have more music than a work day will allow... too bad. I'll just play as much as I can.
Today, to start things off, I've been jamming U2. Something about fall always makes me want to listen to U2. Tomorrow is Jimmy Eat World, and so on. Every day I'll try to post here to share what artist(s) I'll be listening to that day.

My list is still somewhat fluid, so if you have any suggestions, I'm all ears.

REM No More

From E! Online News:

Michael Stipe & Co. made the announcement in a posting on their official site this morning, breaking the news by thanking their loyal fans for 31 years (!) of listening.

"To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and coconspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band," the band wrote. 

"We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening."

It's too bad, really.  I've recently started listening to my REM songs again (even songs I used to hate, such as "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"), and listening to "I Am Superman" with my son on the way to school has become a tradition of late.

Neil Peart Drum Solo on Letterman

Transitioning from a post about a no-talent hack to a post about one of the greatest of all time...

Neil Peart capped off drum solo week on the Letterman show last week. I could watch this guy play all day.



(Use this link if you're seeing this on Facebook:http://youtu.be/8F2D_LZNF8I)

Lady Gaga In a Downward Spiral

From Showbiz411:

It looks like Lady Gaga’s amazon sale really exhausted her audience. “Born this Way” sold only 105,000 in its second week. It dropped 38% from the previous week according to hitsdailydouble.com. That put it at Number 2, behind Adele’s “21″ album. ... But “Born this Way” has already gone through four singles, and none of them except the title track ever got breakthrough attention. ... “Born this Way” isn’t going to have “legs.” Instead of spending a year or six months on the charts, it’s headed to an eight week flameout.

The sooner the better. Can we please get this no-talent hack out of our lives for good?

Country Song

Great video. Thanks to Tony T for sending this.

She's In the Band

From Kottke.org:

This is my favorite bit of news today: one of the little girls (the one on the left) on the Siamese Dream album cover is now actually the bass player for the Smashing Pumpkins.

The source for this is Billy Corgan on Twitter:

Just found out the weirdest news: our bass player Nicole (@xocoleyf) just admitted she is one of the girls on the cover of Siamese Dream. She said she didn't want us to know because she thought maybe we wouldn't let her be in the band.

...And Scotty Pippen on Drums.

Hall of What?

From M&C:

Veteran singers Neil Diamond, Tom Waits and Alice Cooper are to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year, the fabled institution has announced.

Also granted the prestigious honour were Dr John and Darlene Love. Other nominees such as Bon Jovi, as well as multiple nominees LL Cool J, Donna Summer, the Beastie Boys, J Geils Band, Chuck Willis, Chic and Joe Tex will have to wait for another year. The awards will be presented on March 14 in New York.

Who the hell is Tom Waits? A quick search on his Wikipedia page doesn't help much, except to confirm that he's not a superstar, hasn't had much commercial success in the United States and has a cult following.

I think that to be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, people -at least most people - should have at least either heard of the performer (or band) or should at least be somewhat familiar (or even have heard) some of their music. I think that to be in the Hall or Fame, the performer should have the distinction of having made a dent - or a scar - on the music world and that their music is a part of the American fabric. It's called the Hall of Fame, after all.

How Rush isn't in the Hall of Fame yet is beyond me. How Alice Cooper and Bon Jovi aren't in yet, either, is equally puzzling. Kinda makes me dubious of the Hall altogether.

Great Song, Amazing Video

I haven't seen a video that captures the mood and message of a song like this one does in a long, long time.



Thanks to Kristi for turning me on to this song, and for the life that we share, simply. :)