Sunday, April 26, 2015

Coming to the last of the Purple Ones overlooked Albums

The title is miss leading, with 30 plus albums there are many that are over looked, this is just the last I will do for a while.

I was in Michigan working at Interlochen when this cd came out in 94.  I remember buying it at the mall and I remember one of the students that I liked asked me to buy it for her.  The cd had the Parent Advisory Sticker on it.  It being my first year and being nervous I waffled over buying it for her.  She laughed at my inaction and bought it for herself and told me she was just messing with me.  I shouldn't have worried she was 17 blond and very cut,e no male clerk I know of wouldn't have let her buy it.  After listening the first track of the cd I decided this is the first cd that needed the warning sticker and I am happy I didn't buy the cd for the student.

Now Prince has been very open about sex and his enjoyment of it.  I like that about the Purple one, but the title track Come is an 11 minute opus about making sure a woman achieves orgasm and his skill about getting her there is pretty graphic.  Hey I think it is a great track but for adults only. 

The rest of the cd is great and Prince once again shows his mastery of many different styles of music.  The track Loose stands out as a great track. It is a mix of Techno, Rock and Dance solid tracks.  Papa is another standout with a blues feel that provides insight to Prince growing up with a powerful message. Dark is a classic Prince torch song, not a huge Tommy Barbarella fan I prefer Doc Z, but the keyboards on this track are great.  Solo has to be the original release Prince has ever done.  It starts of just his voice with lots of reverb, very haunting and moving track.

The only problem with this cd is it falls into his time of disagreement with Warner Bros.  There was no support and the next CD was rushed out to get him out of his contract.  This cd is added to the cloud but one I will keep physically also due to the fact it is out of print now.  It's another great rare gem that all Purple friends should listen to.

Till next time listen to the best your ears deserve it.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Prince the best and the Worst

Hey another quick hit here.  In adding all of the Prince CDs I put into the Cloud The Gold Experience.  I wont go into the whole CD cause that has been done many times by many people, I just want to say this CD has the best and worst song Prince has ever put out.

Starting with the worst song, Dolphin.  Big sigh this song is terrible.  Dumb premise, asinine  lyrics and stupid.  The thought behind the song is that no one will listen to what the singer has to say and discounts his opinion, sure who hasn't felt that way before.  The problem is the solution to the way the singer feels is dumb, hey if I came back as a Dolphin you would listen to me.  I am overwhelmed with how silly and stupid this is.  I hate this because Prince, until this song, could do no wrong.  The filler tracks on his CDs were still genius, but this song would make a 10 year old girl think it was silly.

Enough of that, cause on the same CD is the best track he ever released and no one really knows of it.  Shy is musical gold, maybe that's why it is on this CD.  One of the best Bass lines I have ever heard and the guitar is the funkiest grove he has laid down since Alphabet St.  The song has a great story behind it and is another deep layer to the track.  The imagery to the lyrics is amazing.   I remember when I first heard it I was blown away.  I played it for the guys on our trip to Canton and out of respect for the track I made sure all were silent, I think at first they weren't happy with that until they heard what I heard.

Well another quick one, til next time be good to your ears they deserve it.

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Prince lost cd in the Chaos

Still adding to the cloud and going through the box of CDs I discovered, I got a bunch of Prince CDs.  Not only is the man a musical Genius but he is prolific.  Especially during the mid 90's when Warner Bros and as he was know then The Artist Formally Known As, were in a pissing contest over contracts.  Prince was getting out a CD a year.  The problem is that some of the CDs were lost in the rush to get it out and the fact that Prince didn't want to promote anything for Warner Bros.

Chaos and Disorder is one of the CDs in this rush.  Its a great CD for a throw away to fulfill his contract.  The whole feel of the CD is more rock and guitar work, which I love from Prince.  The title track is a story of a reporter lamenting on the state of the world and the depressing subjects he has to cover.  I Like it There and Zannalee is classic double meaning Prince naughty tracks.  I Rock Therefore I Am is a great mix of his rock and dance sounds with a Caribbean sounding rap in the middle of it.  Finally Prince almost sounds country with Right The Wrong, well as close as Prince is ever going to come to country.

I remember loving this CD and almost upset that it didn't get much play.  I mean I understand now but kind of wish it got more respect.  Of coarse when you have 34 Albums you know a few are going to get lost.

Til next time listen to the best your ears deserve it.

Thursday, April 9, 2015

The greatest Fake Metal Band

I remember watching Adult Swim on Cartoon Network and the show started with pounding power cords. The animation was terrific and I was a Fanatic. The show is  Metalocalypse and it is about the greatest Fake Metal band ever Dethklok.

I know there were one and a half earlier fake metal bands, and much love and respect to the Tap and Dethtongue but they ain't Dethklok

To support my argument that Dethklok is the greatest fake Metal band I give you three solid metal CDs. I will focus on The Dethalbum 1 for this blog but all three are Metal works of art.

The best thing about this CD is the harmony between the fact that the lyrics to the songs are supposed to be funny but the music is very serious. Take away the joke titles and funny lyrics and these tracks can be played right along any other metal, in fact on the next two CDs they have been played on Liquid Metal on XM.

All the tracks on the CD are stand out tracks enuff said. Okay if I had to pick out of perfection, I know I am laying it on thick, Birthday Dethday, Hatred Copter, Murdertrain A Comin, and Face Fisted are solid Metal!

The crazy part is the band for the most part is all Brandon Small. He plays all the instruments but drums and is the voice of Nathan Explosion.  I love listening to interviews and he explains on how he channels the characters when he plays. In fact when I saw Trans Siberian Orchestra I thought the guitarist are great but  Skwisgaar would smoke them.

Til next time. listen to the best, your ears deserve it. Dethklok rulz!

Sunday, April 5, 2015

A Disturbing Reintroduction to Hard Rock and Metal

The 90's weren't great for me for Rock and Metal.  I just didn't listen to much of it; oh I knew about Foo Fighters, Pantera and Green Day.  I got really into the Jazz, Soul and as mentioned in earlier posts Country.

Well in 05 I was watching MTV2, I think I was waiting for a rerun of Bevis and Butthead and I saw this bitching video.  First off it was animated, I will watch most animation on TV just ask my wife.  Next it was animated by Todd McFarland from Spawn fame, I love his style.  Finally it was a cover of a great Genesis song, Land of Confusion.  The band was Disturbed and I was hooked.  I had gotten into the "I" products and immediately bought the video on ITunes and showed everybody.  I was back into the Hard Rock. 

The next step back into Hard Rock was XM.  Disturbed was on Octane yea!  I also learned about Theory of a Deadman, Shinedown and Avenged Sevenfold, but it was Disturbed that got me back to the Rock.  I bought the CD that had the Land of Confusion track, the CD is called Ten Thousand Fists.

The album title alone should explain the feeling of the CD, the tracks hit you like a fist.  I missed the angry growling rock and the CD is full of it.  David Draiman has been criticized in the media for his vocal delivery, in fact there is a great You Tube video that unfortunately hits a little to close.  I for one enjoy how he sounds, and I feel release singing along with his angry voice.  This album takes the band away from the NuMetal label they had on their first two CDs it is just straight Hard Rock.  The stand out tracks on the CD are Land of Confusion, Ten Thousand Fists, Deify and I'm Alive.

I am happy to be back into Hard Rock and Metal, even Sherri has liked some of the bands I have discovered.  For all the Disturbed haters, I say whatever, I love them and I will always thank them for getting me back into the world of ROCK.

Until next time; listen to the best, your ears deserve it.