Entries from November 2009 ↓

“Foggy Mountain Breakdown” is one of my absolute favorite instrumentals and this is just an incredible performance of it.  There are so many great performances here, not the least of which is Earl Scruggs who keeps getting better with age.  He’s not just an inspiration to me as a banjo player and a musician but as a human being.

“The Stones hold the record for releasing the most ‘worst’ live albums:  five, excluding 1970′s worth entry, Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out.  What makes Still Life so abysmally still-born is that it will forever mark the moment when the Stones transmuted from rock band to Las Vegas music review.  U2, beware.” – “Not So Essential Live Albums”, Guitar, September 1997

While the author of the above piece certainly makes a point about the number of bad Rolling Stones live albums (and more bad ones yet to come), I’ve never felt that Still Life was never a bad live album although I wouldn’t put it on my best-of list.  The album starts off with an incredible version of “Under My Thumb” that rocks harder than the original ever did and continues on with some Stones classics (“Shattered”, “Let’s Spend the Night Together”) and some surprising covers for a live album (“Twenty Flight Rock”, “Going to a Go-Go”).  Things start to peter out toward the end which keeps this from being – in my eyes at least – a classic live album.

Reading the above article made me think about the number of bad and just boring Rolling Stones live albums that have come out over the years.  By comparison, a fair amount of live movies/videos have come from the same tours (Let’s Spend the Night Together showcased the same tour as Still Life) and they blow the recordings out of the water.  Despite the huge stadiums the Stones are shown playing in, their live show comes across incredibly well on Let’s Spend the Night Together.  While they’re obviously known for their live shows it never occurred to me before that the visual portion of the performance was so important to it.

On a similar note, I saw that a box set of Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out came out last week that includes five Rolling Stones songs not found on the original as well as the opening sets by B.B. King and Ike & Tina Turner.  I’m torn about whether or not to get this.  Five extra songs isn’t a lot and part of me wonders if the money would be better spent on B.B. King’s Live at the Apollo.

While taking my son to school I turned on one of the local Christmas stations and lo and behold they were playing Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmas Day”. I can’t put my finger on why but I despise that song so much but they just play it a ton on both stations. That was followed by some nondescript seasonal song by 98 Degrees.

I feel like I’m already turning into a Scrooge on the first week of November, but these bad and boring songs take all the joy out of Christmas. They’ve taken everything good from this time of the year and replaced it with the monotony found on the station the other ten months.

Anyway, I’m sure there’s more of me getting worked up as December 25 comes closer.

As I previously wrote, I had high hopes for this album based on hearing “Modern Day Delilah”, and I have to admit that Sonic Boom doesn’t disappoint.  After the abysmal Psycho Circus and the subsequent departure of Ace Frehley and Peter Criss I had written the band off as another nostalgia act and didn’t expect them to release anything from this new lineup.

The first thing that struck me as I listened to it is how much of a band they sound like compared to Psycho Circus.  The addition of Tommy Thayer on guitar has improved the band immensely.  He manages to bring a new sound to Kiss while still staying true to the band’s roots.  In the world of Kiss you never know who is playing what instrument, but the bass sound throughout the album is great – if it is Gene Simmons then my hat’s off to him for bringing some great playing.

Standout songs on the album include “Modern Day Delilah”, “Russian Roulette”, and “Say Yeah”.  Tommy Thayer even sings lead on “When Lightning Strikes”, a song that fits in perfectly with the rest of the material.  Of course, this is still Kiss we’re talking about, so the lyrics aren’t exactly Bob Dylan quality, but that’s okay.  The music more than compensates for it. I sincerely hope this is a sign of things to come for the band, releasing music that lives up to the standards they’ve previously set.

This year November 1 started the Christmas season here in Kansas City, at least on the radio.  Both of our light (or is it lite?) rock stations switched to Christmas music until…well I don’t even know when.  December 26?  December 31?

It’s easy enough to ignore at home or in my car (and I do) but the problem is that those two white bread, limp dick stations are being played everywhere so it’s tough to avoid when you’re out and about.  Even my wife’s office pipes in Star 102, including that horrible John Tesh show, which is a whole ‘nother post.

Last year I went on about my problems with these two stations and from what little I’ve heard they still stand.   They manage to play the safest, most boring stuff you can find.  Oh and what the hell, let’s add a little King Diamond Christmas action: