Emarosa Kentucky's Alternative to Country Music

Listening to Octane on Sirius/XM a few months ago and my ears perked up at where this band started. Right in my current town Lexington KY.  I have to admit I am not in the local music scene at all.  I just don't stay out to 2 AM to listen to the bands at the local clubs and I don't care for music festivals; festival seating is annoying to me.  So my first listen of a local band made good is on National radio.

Emarosa started in 2006 and have had several albums before they came on my radar.  The band has also very much changed music styles as the albums progressed.  They started Post Punk/Hardcore with sounds of Alternative Rock and now sound mainly Alternative Rock.

If I had to describe their new release's sound it would be a rougher edge to Fall Out Boy.  The new release is called 131.  After several hearings of the album it is very listenable.  I enjoy their sound and the tracks they have released Cloud 9 and Helpless are solid.  Do I think this is music that will change the face of Rock, no.  Do I know this is a great listen that 5 years from now you can put on and still enjoy yes.  I think what critics focus in on is off point.  That being said some times bands put out music that they know people will enjoy and it means something to the band.  This is the kind of music that becomes the soundtrack to our lives.  The songs that are on in the background when our moments happen that can take us back to those moments when we hear the songs again.

Its great to hear that a local band is making moves on the music scene especially in the Rock area that Kentucky has not been known for.

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

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,

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.

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!

I Don't Care Anymore, a track so awesome it got two covers

As I have mentioned many times on this blog I love the fact that the new Metal and Hard Rock bands give love and respect to the artist who came through earlier by doing some great covers.  For this post I am going to look at two bands who within months covered a great song. Neither are as good as the original but one comes close.

For the original and best version of this song I give you Phil Collins, again.  I know I just reviewed one of Phil's albums just a few weeks ago  but give me a break.  The song covered is from Phil's next release in 82.  The track is I Don't Care Anymore.  There are very few artists who can do a better pissed off, I am Over it, F you song.  The track starts off with pounding drums light synch and Phil's lyrics.  Like his similar dark  work on In The Air Tonight,  the tone is ominous and awesome.  I Don't Care Anymore is either 1 or 1A of my favorite Phil Collin's songs.

The tribute that is almost as good, in my opinion, is from the Metal Band Hell Yeah.  Hell Yeah is a newer Metal supergroup with the drummer Vinnie Paul from Pantera.  The cool thing about this cover is some of the guitar tracks are from the late Dimebag Darrell.  For those who don't know Dimebag was wastefully  killed by a crazed fanatic in 2004 on stage during a concert.  It is a awful thing to happen and we are lucky that at least some of Dimebag's music can live on.  Even without the cool feature with Dimebag I prefer this cover.  I feel it is edger.  The way the lyrics are delivered to start the track which are half sung and half growled leads to a feeling of hinted violence and deep rage.  The guitars are played up more on this version and it is rawer.  I like the fact that Hell Yeah decided to add their flavor to the song, sometimes that can go back but fortunately it works on this track.

Oddly enough the next version was released only a month earlier from the Hell Yeah version.  Saint Ansonia is a Hard Rock band out of Canada.  I heard this release earlier on Sirius XM's Octane channel and thought it was great.  Upon the more I listen to the track and the release of Hell Yeah's version I don't think it is so great anymore.  Don't get me wrong I still like Saint Ansonia's take but it doesn't add anything.  Saint Ansonia's version is very faithful to Phil Collin's, almost too faithful.  You don't have to reinvent the wheel but give me something new, cause if you don't why should I listen to anything you have to say if it isn't at least a little different.

Clearly the best version of I Don't Care Anymore is the Phil Collin's version, but it is great to know that new bands are giving respect to the great artists who came before.

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

How the Wilson sisters stole my Heart

I still remember the moment like it was yesterday. 16 years old and on a trip for the youth group hanging at the hotel watching MTV. The video for What About Love is on and out comes Nancy Wilson poured from liquid steel holding her Les Paul guitar, ahh young lust.  Even odder this wasn't the first time I had seen the band Heart. For some god knows why reason the band was in a commercial for coffee in the early 80's. It was coffee helps drive Heart to their next album or some crap like that.

I learned of Heart from their release Heart in 85. The album was a slick well produced hit maker. The catchy riffs with major exposure on MTV thrust the Wilson sisters to popularity that the band only dreamed of in the 70's.

Now the Heart of the 70's was a great rock band. The Wilson sisters compared their sound to a female Led Zeppelin, a fair accessment.   Heart of the 80's was driven and written into a band that was taylored for videos and pop rock crossover. To be fair the Heart of the 70's would not be known near as well with the cards exposure so it was a risk well worth taking with their sound.

All the criticism aside, I loved Heart 85 release. The album had 4 top Ten hits and the group's first #1 hit with These Dreams. The filler tracks are great too. All Eyes, What He Don't Know and Nobody Home are solid rock songs.

Are the songs on Heart 85 as good as Majic Man or Baraduda, no they are not. Would as many people know of those great songs without the exposure on MTV probably not. Even more so without Ann and Nancy showing that Women can Rock hard would we have as many great Women who are Rocking now?

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

Face it Phil Collins has great musical Value

It was nice to be a teenager when Miami Vice was on network TV.  Miami Vice was a great prep on Friday nights before going out.  The best thing was the music.  The soundtrack was dark and modern noir.  A song that goes hand in hand with the mystique of Miami Vice was Phil Collins' smash In the Air Tonight.  The song is a brooding sparse masterpiece whose wildly interpreted lyrics only add .to the legendary status of the song.  Also there isn't a person alive who hasn't played Air Drums during the drum solo.

The album that In the Air Tonight was on was released in 1981 so still a little early for me to have gotten into when it was released.  If any of Phil Collins' CDs I listened to it was No Jacket Required, the monster that was released later in the 80's

So let's give the Face Value CD a listen.  My first reaction to the CD was to come to Phil Collins' defense.  When Peter Gabriel left Genesis there was a huge knock on Phil Collins.  There was feeling that he took the band too pop and less progressive rock.  This CD is very stripped down and other than the track I Missed Again not a pop album at all.  On many tracks you can tell Phil Collins is a drummer first and on others you hear the horns that will be all over the smash CD No Jacket Required.  Any one who thinks Phil Collins doesn't write serious music needs to give this CD a listen.

Unfortunately upon repeated listening to the CD I came away not fully happy with it.  It's very dark and disjointed. The breaks between the happy and the very painful slow tracks are uneven and sudden.  You can tell Phil Collins was not in a good place, going through a divorce with his first wife, when writing this album.  Even the upbeat pop song I Missed Again upon deeper listening is not a happy subject mater.

If you are a fan of Phil Collins this is a great release, but for the casual listener be forewarned the first track on the Album is In The Air Tonight.  That track alone tells you what mood you should get into for rest of the release.

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