I’ll be honest. I didn’t want to like this album. When Toxicity came out in 2001, I was quickly sold on it. It was intense, dynamic and creative and a breath of fresh air for heavy music that was being crushed under the weight of scores of half-baked alt metal acts. But when Steal This Album came out, it raised… Read more »
Here’s another shot at the best album exercise. Same deal as always. Highlight the text to see my choices. Iron Maiden – Piece of Mind (Maybe it’s because this was the first Maiden album I had, but I’ve always felt like this one was the standard to which all their other albums should be compared.) Def Leppard – Pyromania (Yeah,… Read more »
May 14, 2005, Recher Theatre, Towson, Maryland If I had to review each band with one word: Cult of Luna: potential. Death by Stereo: fake. Mastodon: heavy. But I’m not contrained to one word, so here are the details. Cult of Luna opened. They started their set with an echo-laden spacerock piece that went several minutes before singer Klas Rydberg… Read more »
I once thought that any band worth hearing had probably played “Louie Louie” or “Wild Thing” at some point, if not on a recording or live, at least during practice. I’m sure that’s not entirely true, but I bet it’s close. A serach of allmusic.com returned 450 versions of “Louie Louie.” It was apparently inspired by (ripped off from) “El… Read more »
There have been a few bands that I hated so adamantly, that it took me years to wake up and appreciate them. Each of these bands was a pretty big plate of crow, but here’s why I hated them and why I changed my mind. Grateful Dead – Linda used to threaten me with having to listen to the Dead… Read more »
Chuck wanted more of this so here it. I hope he can pick a favorite for #10 considering how much I know he likes them… The Who – Who’s Next (It’s not just the definitve Who album, it’s the definitive rock album) Bob Marley – Catch a Fire (It’s everything that’s good about reggae and it never sounds like something… Read more »
I lost a lot of interest in Billy Bragg through the 90s, not because I felt like he lost his convictions, but simply because his music lost a lot of its edge. Still, I look back at those early albums (especially up through Talking With the Taxman About Poetry) and I’m amazed. People who write love songs are often sappy… Read more »
Okay, this is a follow-up for Amanda. It’s all either female artists or female dominated bands. Go-Go’s – Beauty and the Beat Madonna – Like a Prayer The Supremes – Anthology (it’s a cop out, but they’re a singles group, not an album group.) Aretha Franklin – I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You Janis Joplin –… Read more »
Mark and I were sending each other lists of bands and listing our favorites from each. I thought it might be fun to try it here from time to time. Maybe it’ll be fun or maybe I’m just stalling rather than actually writing something. Anyway, I’ll list the bands below. My choices will be there too, but I made the… Read more »
From time to time, I’m gonna take a great song and do some quick reviews of different versions that have been recorded. The first song I’m going to try is “Amazing Grace.” I really can’t imagine a bad version of this one. Maybe a version that disregarded its intense emotion and spirituality would be bad. Otherwise, I’d think it’s pretty… Read more »