Thursday, July 28, 2016

Loose lips are click bait. The Case for Linkin Park

I heard on Octane about some great click bate quote from Chester Bemnington from Linkin Park. Chester Benninton said that Linkin Park kept hard rock and metal alive.  Okay if I had a sight that needed traffic I would lead with that comment too.

But hey hard core fans, take a breath and think about what he really said.  In 2003 Hard Rock and Metal weren't the focus of popular culture.  True fans loved Metal and Hard Rock but the general population didn't.  There has always been waves of when different genres of music are popular, right now Metal and Hard Rock are close to the front. In five years I am sure it will be another type of music.

There are always the bands from each genre that stand out even when that genre isn't the most popular.  In 2003 Linkin Park crossed into the popular culture even when Metal and Hard Rock weren't on top. If you take that to the next logical step, the band's influence lead to fans who weren't hard core to be more open when it was Hard Rock and Metals time to be in the forefront.

Hard core fans/haters who don't want to reason continue to post your nonsense, I am sure it makes you feel better.  Those who can think and be open to all the best that All music has to offer keep an open mind and think before you click on the click bait.

Till next time, keep your ears and mind open to the best - they deserve it,

Monday, July 11, 2016

Al Yankovic still Weird after all these years

Genius is a very over used term, but how else can you describe an artist who has constantly for the past 36 years put out quality work.  We also need to mention that this artist has successfully used every popular music style out there. I know it will come as a surprise that I am talking about Weird Al.

But by the numbers and cultural impact how else, other than Genius, can you describe Weird Al's career?

Numbers alone put Weird Al in very limited company.  There are few acts who have put out as many chart topping works for 3 decades. In fact there are only three artists who have had a top 40 single every decade since 1980, Madonna, Michael Jackson and Weird Al.

As for cultural impact, I am not sure other than Prince there has been a more versatile artist than Weird Al. Weird Al has parodied pop, boy band, punk, soul, rock and all styles in between. On top of the parodies, Weird Al has written many of his own songs in the style of the above mentioned styles. For many years you knew that you had arrived as an artist when Weird Al parodied your song. As for his own creations, after hearing Weird Al's song written in the style of Devo; Mark Mothersbaugh founder of Devo hated him for writing a better Devo song than he did.

I have to admit it took me way too long to finally see Weird Al in concert. He puts on a one of a kind performance that reflects his amazing career. Weird Al is a genius and deserves the respect that any artist with his history of chart topping success would.

Til next time, listen to the best, even if it's silly, you ears deserve it.

Saturday, July 2, 2016

Don Felder's Fingers still fly without the Eagles

I recently watched the Eagles documentary The History of the Eagles.  What an interesting story and great characters.  What hit me the most was the dynamic between Glenn Frey and Don Felder.  It's not good to speak ill of the dead, but I felt more for Don Felder after watching the documentary.  So I looked up Don Felder  on ITunes and found a newer release from 2012.  Don Felder has been on tour with Styx and Foreigner (sort of foreigner not any real original members) and after seeing some of the tour on AXIS TV I do regret not seeing it in person.

I have always liked Don Felder's guitar playing with the Eagles. Some neat back story on Don Felder; He is from Gainesville Florida and taught Tom Petty how to play guitar and learned slide guitar from Duane Allman. Don Felder did great work with Crosby & Nash and support with Neil Young before adding a needed Rock edge to the Eagles.  His post Eagles work had some great stand outs, like two tracks on the Heavy Metal sound track.  My love for the Heavy Metal soundtrack is well known and I thought his two tracks were great. So I really looked forward to listening to the new release and I was not disappointed.

Road to Forever was released in 2012 and has 16 tracks of wonderful classic rock.  The first released track You Don't Have Me is a solid classic rock track that is timeless.  Don Felder's guitar work on the album is wonderful as always he shows us on how he earned his nickname Fingers and his vocals are strong.  I guess that is my take away from this album is that the tracks are a rock sound that could have been released any era and sound right at home.

If you want to listen to some timeless rock I would give Don Felder's Road to Forever album a listen.

Til next time, listen to the best - your ears deserve it!