Okay, so it wasn’t just one hit, but you get the point. Nirvana released three studio albums before Kurt Cobain was killed (yeah, they say he committed suicide, but I like to leave the conspiracy possibilities open). The first, Bleach, was a solid, raw and immature punk-leaning grunge album. Tracks like “Blew” and “Negative Creep” are good examples of grunge,… Read more »
Rhapsody has a new non-album Green Day track called “Shoplifter.” I checked it out the other day, because I’ve been fairly pleased with what I’ve heard of American Idiot. I was listening casually and I noticed something familiar about it. It sounds a lot like the Clash’s “Bankrobber.” I listened more closely to see if they had really ripped the… Read more »
Maybe there are limits to even the guilty pleasure. I think American Idol probably steps over the line. Is that really music? Probably no more so than Milli Vanilli.
Chuck likes Styx. Originally, I was going to post that line as a joke, taking a cheap, but friendly, shot at him for something his son outed him on. But I changed my mind. Instead, I’m going to use it as an example of something we all have to some extent in our musical tastes, the guilty pleasure. We all… Read more »
For anyone who hasn’t checked it out, Rhapsody is well worth the $9.95 a month. They have over 50,000 albums from over 30,000 artists (with new stuff added almost daily) all at the beck and call of your internet connection. Their collection is eclectic, ranging from classical to salsa to jazz to rock to pop to punk to metal to… Read more »
Over the past few years, I’ve developed an increasing interest in country music. Not the stuff coming out of Nashville these days. Not Faith Hill or Shania Twain or any of the the other big Nashville names that amount to little more than pop with a twang. I went back to when country music was really country. The Carter Family… Read more »
First of all, I gotta say, “Amen, Chuck!” I’m totally with you. The advent of West Coast rap in the late 80s/early 90s brought about a much more laid back style and while it seemed cool for awhile, the long term effects are abundantly evident now that the same tired R&B and funk samples have been rehashed over and over… Read more »
I love Kimya Dawson. I know, in a technical sense, she has almost no talent. She’s a simple songwriter and a terrible singer. But she’s charming. And she’s honest. She doesn’t try to be too deep or too serious, but she achieves a level of seriousness even through silliness. She taps something with her amateurish little songs that often escapes… Read more »
The day before yesterday, I listened to the new Judas Priest album, Angel of Retribution. As far as reunion albums go, it’s okay. It’s clearly a Priest album, but it doesn’t break new ground and it pales in comparison to their output between Hell Bent for Leather and Defenders of the Faith (to be sure, I stopped in the middle… Read more »
The recent Academy Awards made me think about the Grammys and that made me think about how ridiculous awards shows for artstic endeavors are. I haven’t paid attention to the Grammys in years (I think they happened fairly recently, didn’t they?), because the judging always seems flawed. They snub a band one year in favor of some token artist and… Read more »