Walter Becker the darker half of the Dan

I have been a huge fan of Steely Dan since I can remember.  I know they are one of the bands in the late 70's that I heard on the AM radio in the parent's car.  I really dig how they mix jazz rock and pop so well.  The Dan has been accused of being over produced and slick but I don't hear it. Lyrically they are very clever and paint great pictures of many different lifestyles and parts of the world.  Once again by the time I was old enough they broke up.  Donald Fegan has had many solo albums and I have bought them all but we never heard much from Walter Becker.

Fast forward to the 90's and Steely Dan are reunited and on a tour, I have yet to catch them unfortunately.  The band releases a live album which is great and there is a track on there I have never heard but it is amazing.  The track is Book of Liars and it is off of Walter Becker's solo album. I needless to say bought the CD to give it a listen.

I am going to start with the best track off the CD which is Book of Liars.  It is dark moving and very clever with its writing.  A song about a break up and how the girl is so bad her name has a star in the Book of Liars by her name.  You can really feel the betrayal and pain the delivery.  The last verse paints the break up like a atom not able to keep its pairing and the atom is doomed to spent the rest of its half life on its own.  Just damned good.

As for the rest of the CD, if you are a Steely Dan fan you will really enjoy.  It turns out the Becker is the darker of the Dan and the sound is much more stripped down.  The other noteworthy track in Cringemaker, another unhappy in a relationship song.  I enjoyed exploring the other half of Steely Dan.

Until next time listen to the best your ears deserve it!

 

And where is the Batman

Two things brought on this review.  I was not going to do any more Prince CDs for awhile, but I found a CD in the box that doesn't get the respect it deserves.  The first thing brought this review calling for due respect was a movie.  Now I really love this movie and I am happy I got to get into the series, but it a very wrong and disrespectful scene.  Shaun of the Dead is a fine film but when the main characters first start fighting the Zombie horde they decided to throw anything they can find.  Some of the items they were throwing were record albums.  They ranked the albums by what to throw at the zombie and what not to throw.  The Batman soundtrack from Prince was thrown.  Haters. 
The next and actually worse thing was on my good friends Jarrod's birthday.  We love to sing karaoke  and Jarrod likes to pick the worse songs ever for us to sing.  Some songs should never be played for karaoke, Batdance is the top of the list.  We and the version of the song were horrible.

The album is great I don't care whatever people say,  I really thought the CD and the Movie where a great package together.  Prince tries to get into the characters in the movie and there are great jams, panty dropping soul ballads and even a sweet duet.  Batdance well, we will get to that song.

The first two tracks The Future and Electric Chair show the purple one really trying to look inside the mask and makeup of the Batman and Joker.  Partyman and Trust and great fun jams that I would be at home on any Prince CD.  Scandalous is an awesome getting the motor running for all of the females soul ballad.   Finally Arms of Orion a sweet duet and totally out of character for him.  I love the way his voice blends with Sheena Easton's.  Yet the cd isn't perfect, there is a track that although adventurous this track doesn't deliver.  Batdance is a stretch, I enjoy the track but I think the criticism is fair.

Is the Batman soundtrack the best CD from Prince, no but especially of late there have been much, much worse.  I think even with all the time since it has been released it still delivers and doesn't deserve the criticism it gets.

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

Guru a great blend gone too early

More into the cloud from my CD Collection.  In the mid 90's I was getting into Jazz.  Changing tastes and all but I have to admit sometimes it lacked the beat for me.  I found by accident Acid Jazz, they took jazz sounds and gave it a dance house beat.  This was a form of music I really dug, a branch of this style was Hip Hop and Jazz.  Guru was a giant in this style and I was really hoping it would catch on.  Unfortunately just like Jazz its not a music that is meant for the masses.

Jazzmataz Vol 1was Guru's offering in the world of Hip Hop and Jazz.  It is a wonderful blend of smooth jazz, hip hop beats and a on point rap delivery.  The introduction is a clever way of introducing the album that leads right into the track, Loungin.  The first guest star Donald Byrd on trumpet is great on the track and sets the feeling for the cd.  Transit Ride is another standout track with Branford Marsalis it is a great view of New York City through Guru's eyes.  Finally Take A Look is fun, it has a vibraphone and a rap aimed a certain Anglo rapper from the late 80.

Guru put out 3 more Jazzmataz albums, none of them really took off.  Unfortunately Guru passed away 2010. I was happy to rediscover this cd and for anyone who wants a interesting blend of styles.

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

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.

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.

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.

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!