Chickenfoot what I expected a few years later

The 80's where a great time for hard Rock.  One of the bands that ruled the age was Van Halen.  I remember a friend gave me their first album it was a master piece of ROCK. By the time I got into high school the album 1984 came out for Van Halen. I was less than thrilled, keyboards on the album and not just filler music keyboard solos.  What happened to the Monsters of Rock?  Then Dave went solo found his own guitar genius Steve Vai and put out some fun music.  Guitar driven over the top flamboyant style that we knew from Mr. Roth.  To the outside observer thank God he is gone David was keeping the band back.

For the next album Van Halen was going to add Sammy Hagar, Holy Sh#t I was stoked.  The Red Rocker, the guy who wrote I Can't Drive 55, Heavy Metal and 3 Lock Box, old Guitar driven Van Halen is back. Then 5150 came out.  I have grown to like the album now, but then I was meh.  It's a good rock album but not what I thought it should sound like.  Van Hagar, as they were known, put a few more albums most solid rock albums.  Then the public found out who the real snake in Van Halen was.

Eddie Van Halen is an innovator and a monster on the guitar, but as a person what came out about him is pretty terrible.  He threw Sammy under the bus, and then a few years latter he threw the most underrated Bass player Michael Anthony the same place.  Now lead singers and lead guitarist have always had tenuous relationships in most bands but Michael Anthony has never gotten into the mudslinging and drama that has seemed to follow Van Halen.

Sammy and Michael still played together and jammed in Cabo at Sammy's club.Ah to be 10-20 years younger and to hang out there.  They brought on Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and a Guitarist that more than holds his own with Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani.  Chickenfoot was born.  I bought the album and what I thought I would hear 30 years ago was there.  Guitar driven songs and almost a hard rock jam band feel.  What I feel makes this band superior to Van Hagar is that all the musicians work together not in competition for the lime light.

If you want to hear a great rock band Chickenfoot is the way to go.
Til next time be good to your ears they deserve it.

Chess many moves for a musical

In 1984 watching MTV I caught a video that was very different.  One Night in Bangkok was a concept video from the concept album Chess.  The song is neat and different and for kid like me that was raised on musicals from my Mom it was genius.  After the song hit I didn't know any thing more about the album Chess for a few years.

1987 I was a senior in Miami Killian High School and I was singing in the coral ensemble.  The director Mr. Matthews was looking for works for us to preform and he brought Chess back into my world.  I learned much more about the musical from what we sang and I loved every minute of it.

1989 attending Miami Dade Community college and still singing.  I found the concept album for Chess in a second hand CD shop.  It was the original concept ie the British version and it was awesome.  I devoured the songs and for a 20 something idealist the themes running through them hit all the right buttons.

Now I can still put the CD on at anytime and lose myself in the story and music.  Different things speak to me now but it still stands the test of time.

The beauty of the album is first it is a great collaboration of song writers.  Take the music of ABBA which lends itself to story telling and then add the lyric great Tim Rice to weave the story through the words.  Second the story itself, as a child of the end of the Cold War I knew of the Chess matches between evil USSR and the noble USA.  Imagine a 20ish young man looking behind the scenes with the story told and finding the people involved might not be so black and white as the Chess board is.

The themes are mature and deep, nationalism, drive for career, abandonment of family and can love survive success.  The story is crafted equally well through the music and the lyrics. If you want to hear some very clever and words that sound right out of real life listen to Argument and Pity the Child.

As good as the Concept album was the show for many years didn't translate well to the actual stage. I saw the American tour and it just didn't quite work, the curtain had fallen by that time and the East Vs West didn't work.  There were a few more attempts until

2008  a very stripped down version sticking the the original Concept album with limited dialog other than the songs.  The performers included Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal and Josh Groban.  Finally it is the closest to what I pictured in my mind.

If you want to listen to history and very current situations preformed wonderfully give Chess a listen.

As always listen to the best your ear's deserve it.  

Keys to a great sound

It's funny this blog post was going to start the same way the last one did.  I was watching VH1 saw a great video and called Spencer McGuire.  So due to the fact I have mentioned Spencer in many different post half of this blog will be about my brother from another mother and the Awesomeness of Alicia Keys.

I met Spencer at Eastern Kentucky University through some mutual friends and right off we bounded over music.  I know of at least one car trip we took with my wife that she fussed at us to talk about anything else but music.  I dig Spencer's broad taste in music.  He likes all types but  just the best quality of the area.  Of coarse we can take up hours discussing the Purple one but don't get him talking on Genesis he will be on them all night.  So normally if I see or hear something that is really great he is one of the first people I call.  So just like when I saw Erykah on VH1 he was the first person I called and when I saw Falling.  It is great to have a friend to share quality music with.

Now on to Alicia.  The video of Fallin' is a work of art.  Starting with just her at the piano, then the bus trip driving past the jail yard with the female prisoners joining her gospel style on the chorus my jaw was on the floor amazing video.  Of coarse I called Spencer then off to Best Buy.

The rest of the CD is an amazing blend of hip hop, piano, soul and pop.  Similar to Erykah but smoother style.  I think the fact that her main instrument is piano leads to more melody than beat.  It pushes this style of music more to the mass appeal without sacrificing quality.

The CD starts out with Alicia taking to her piano is Piano & I which shows her playing chops right off.  How Come you Don't Call me is an amazing Prince cover which is hard to do but boy she pulls it off.  Her voice was made for the song.  Rock With You is strait 70's funk and a great track.  A Woman's Worth is a powerful ballad and feminist anthem.  Finally the track that got me hooked Fallin'. The best blend of Pop, R&B and Gospel since Ray Charles.  I can't say more about the song it's wonderful.

Once again another great example of Neo Soul.  A great CD from a Artist that continued to put out solid music.

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

Bauduizm the best of 90's Neo Soul

The late 90's and there is a new movement in R&B, Neo Soul.  Hip Hop beats with a lyrical melody and a soulful delivery.  One of the early leaders and a standout in the style was Erykah Badu and her first CD was Baduizm.

I remember seeing the video for the single On and On, on VH1 and it made me think wow Billie Holiday is singing with a Hip Hop beat.  I called my buddy Spencer he watched a agreed with me.   The video was very good and a great show case for Erykah.

The rest of the CD is very good and I can see the reasons why it was so critically and popularly received.  The tracks are lyrically dense but very easy to listen to.  The track Next Lifetime is a heartbreaking track about regretting on what can't be due to commitment to others.  Afro is a freestyle track that is too funny and is a nice up note in the middle of the CD.

I have to admit in R&B and Hip Hop I am very picky.  Generally I am not the biggest fan of the 90 popular era.  I think like many different types of music when it gets too popular many artist that aren't really that good show up.  Hard Rock, Rap, Disco and heaven knows the Boy and Girl groups have really sold out for the dollars and the record companies.  So if I am going to listen to the style of music it has to either be the best example of that style or the artist should be doing something to reinvent or move the style ahead.  Erykah Badu is certainly one the artist who fit into that category.

Neo Soul lasted for a while and Erykah Badu followed up this CD with a great live release and continued putting out great music.  For anyone who wants to hear what Soul sounds like with a Hip Hop beat you should start with Baduizm.

Remember listen to the best your ears deserve it.

Damn Shaw and Blades rock

For most of the 80's I had to defend Tommy Shaw of Styx.  I have mentioned in earlier posst I love Styx and I have taken grief for it most of my life.  Another band I got grief on that has also been mentioned in earlier post is Night Ranger.

Well in 1990 Shaw and Blades came together in a true Hard Rock band, Damn Yankees.  And just in chase anyone doubted their Rock status they added the Nuge, yes the Motor City Madman made sure the edge was in every song.  I was in heaven.  I still remember hearing the first track, Coming of Age. Just straight hard guitar, ah I knew these guys could Rock and I finally had the proof.  I bought the CD the first day it came out.

I loved the whole CD and not a filler track on it.  In fact, the single High Enough gave Ted Nugent his first top ten single.  I will get to that ballad in a minute.  Like I earlier said there isn't a filler track on the whole album it is all guitar driven songs.  So to my friends and doubters I said listen Shaw and Blades can rock, it is just awful record companies that push the rock ballad bullshit.

Now to my rant about the 90's and Hard Rock and even some Metal bands.  There was a formula that the record companies, and I blame MTV too, came up with to push and make Rock more to the masses.  First track from the CD was a rocker and then the ballad.  Every major Hard Rock and many Metal bands fell into this trap which ruined rock for the decade and it took until the 2010 to really come back.  I can't fully blame the artist, you got to eat and the bands that did it made money.  Then they drank and whored it away but hey that's Rock and Roll. But the few bands that didn't fall into the trap are still around and most produce new stuff and don't have fair well tours.

Now back to Damn Yankees the other thing that stands out about the band is the name.  How they talked a good southern boy like Tommy Shaw into being in a band with Yankee in the title is beyond me. The other neat thing is that the artist are from all over America, Shaw the South, Blades the West Coast, Ted Nugent the Midwest.

Any one who wants to listen to a great Rock CD, it is a good listen.

Be good to your ears - they deserve it.

Hip Hop Doo-Bop

I have mentioned in previous posts my love and respect for Jazz.  I have also talked about the ways Jazz has been blended with Hip Hop.  Miles Davis is a Jazz legend.  Miles Davis has never strayed away from looking at different ways to redefine his music.  He has experimented with Caribbean, Spanish and even funk flavor in many of his works.

In the early 90's Miles called Russel Simmons for advice about a good producer for a new project. Miles Davis stated working with Easy Mo Bee to produce a blend of Hip Hop and Jazz.  The CD was called Doo-Bop and the minute I heard it I was hooked.

All tracks are great starting with Mystery and ending with Mystery (reprise).  What I enjoyed about the CD is that the great Jazz sound from Miles was updated with some great Hip Hop sounds to really start the Acid Jazz movement.  Jazz ,although I have always enjoyed it, sometimes can get very dense. My time at Interlochen Arts Academy really enhanced my respect for the art and also showed me it is a music form mainly appreciated by the musicians themselves.  I swear I actually heard one of the students explain that he dug the notes that Charlie Parker chose not to play.  So injecting some Hip Hop beats brought it up to date without watering down the music.

We will never know what the full CD would have sounded like Miles passed during the production. Only 6 tracks were completed and Easy Mo Bee pieced together the last three. For a last recording it is a testament to a great artist that took risks to make sure his art form continued to evolve.  For anyone wanting hear the start and best of the Acid Jazz genre it is a must.

Once again listen to the best your ears deserve it.  

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!