The Friday Five: May 18, 2012 -
Get your filthy hands off my Friday Five.
P.O.D. - “Bullet the Blue Sky” (The Fundamental Elements of Souththown, 1999)
Very respectable cover of this U2 number that has more of the energy of the Rattle and Hum version than the one from The Joshua Tree.Beastie Boys - “So What’cha Want” (Check Your Head, 1992)
A couple of weeks late, but still a very fitting tribute to Adam “MCA” Yauch. As I mentioned recently on my blog, I had not previously delved very deeply into the Beasties’ catalog, so I have spent a bit of time getting acquainted with their newer material and reacquainted with some of their older stuff. Along the way I have gained a deeper appreciation for the guys’ musical abilities, on this album especially.Jimmy Page & the Black Crowes - “You Shook Me” (Live at the Greek, 2000)
The Crowes do their best Led Zed impression with the man himself. Nice.Pink Floyd - “Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert” (The Final Cut, 1983)
Political filler from what was essentially a Roger Waters solo album.King’s X - “Danger Zone” (Black Like Sunday, 2003)
Black Like Sunday is a reworking and reimagining of old (some of it pre-King’s X) material, much of which previously had never seen the light of day outside live performances. Overall the album is very spotty, and while this is not one of my favorites, I can find very little to dislike or complain about when it comes to King’s X.
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“I don’t believe in the sorcerers or the preachers
I just believe in you
I don’t believe in the scholars or the wise men
I just believe in you”
— Collective Soul - “Untitled” (Collective Soul, 1995)
“He said I was one of the best singers around, he meant so much to me. When we toured with them, he had a chair on the side of the stage. He called it ‘My Throne’ and I would sit on the side of the stage every night behind the big PA and watch his show. Every single night. I’d say to him, ‘Man, you really sang great tonight.’ He’d say ‘I better, I gotta sing after you.’ [laughs] I love him.” — King’s X’s Doug Pinnick on Ronnie James Dio, Planet Mosh interview
Ed Roland and the Sweet Tea Project
Apparently Ed Roland has been brewing up something called the Sweet Tea Project for awhile now (Ha! Get it? Get it?!), but I just recently became privy to it via the Gretsch Guitars YouTube channel. The Collective Soul founder and frontman has joined up with a group of long-time friends to create music in the relaxed family atmosphere of his Atlanta home. The new album Devils ‘n Darlins has been complete for some time, but according to the Sweet Tea Project Facebook page, its release is “still on hold until the planets most surely line up,” and the band plans to announce 2012 tour dates soon. The clips I have heard have a more organic feel than Collective Soul, bordering on what all the cool kids call “roots rock,” but retains Ed’s unmistakeable voice.
Enjoy this “meet the band” playlist from project member Christopher Alan Yate’s YouTube channel.
Ronnie James Dio (July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010)
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Tuk from the Biters with Ace Frehley’s memoir No Regrets, October 25, 2011 at B. B. King’s NYC.
Photo ©2011 Jackie Roman Photography
The Friday Five: May 11, 2012 -
I didn’t think you cared about my Friday Five at Popdose.
Galactic Cowboys - “Bucket of Chicken” (Let It Go, 2000)
A funky organ-based instrumental filler of sorts from the Cowboys’ swan song. Not a bad track, but not what you’d expect from this group.Foo Fighters - “Best of You” (In Your Honor, 2005)
One of the best (and commercially successful) tracks from this double-album from the Foos. Say what you will, but Dave Grohl knows how to write a good rock song.Metallica - “That Was Just Your Life” (Death Magnetic, 2008)
Much ado was made about the mastering of this album, so much so that the songs themselves were often overlooked. Death Magnetic was a return-to-form of sorts—not the revisiting of the Master of Puppets glory days that fans have long craved—and in my opinion it was an excellent album and exactly the shot in the arm the band needed after the beating they took for St. Anger. This song kicks off a relentless James Hetfield riff-fest that slows down only a couple of times during the album’s 72 minutes, and that’s just fine by me.Queensrÿche - “Sign of the Times” (Hear in the Now Frontier, 1997)
Would someone please let me know
How we have spun out of control
Has the captain let go of the wheel?Little did guitarist, primary songwriter, and founding member Chris DeGarmo know how prophetic these words would be as longtime fans currently find themselves scratching their heads wondering what has happened to this band. Or maybe he did. HITNF was the last album with DeGarmo on-board as a full-time member, choosing instead to follow a career as a professional pilot and a short stint as a hired gun for Jerry Cantrell’s backing band. This album doesn’t get much respect in the Queensrÿche ouvre—and that’s understandable in light of some of the classics that preceded it—but for the most part, it’s not a bad album. It’s just that as a Queensrÿche album it’s fairly forgettable, and it was definitely a sign that the band’s better days were behind it.
Glen Phillips - “Didn’t Think You Cared” (The Unreleased Songs Compilation, 1st Edition, Disc 1)
Just like it says on the tin, this is a compilation of live and demo versions of (at the time) unreleased Toad the Wet Sprocket and Glen Phillips solo material. This is a typical ballad-y Glen song from a poor quality bootleg played to an audience that was obviously way more interested in talking (and eating? I think I hear clinking silverware in the background). I’ve heard a couple of other bootleg shows like this one, and it never ceases to amaze me how much chatter there is when Glen isn’t playing a Toad song.
Listen to this entire Friday Five playlist on Spotify.
Foo Fighters - “Come Back” (Million Dollar Demos)
Demos of “Have It All” and “Come Back” from early recording sessions for One by One have recently surfaced on the interwebs, showing how different these abandoned versions are from what eventually ended up on the Foo Fighters’ fourth studio release.
Writing for the album began in early 2001 but was soon halted by European festival shows, drummer Taylor Hawkins’ near-fatal drug overdose, and Dave Grohl’s drumming gig for Queens of the Stone Age’s Songs for the Deaf. The band reconvened later that year, but after working for four months on demos, first in Grohl’s Studio 606 in Alexandria, VA then at Conway Studios in LA, Grohl decided the songs “just didn’t sound right,” and he scrapped the recordings, which Hawkins later began calling “the million-dollar demos.”
Disappointment with the songs and lack of progress on the album, along with animosity and bickering between the members, very nearly signaled the end of the Foo Fighters. After a long break, which saw each member pursue side projects, and a very nearly disastrous regathering for a Coachella show, Grohl decided to have another go at the One by One material. Working with different members at different locations, Grohl started over from scratch, and the album was mostly completed over a two-week period before Grohl went back on tour with QOTSA.
One by One became a huge commercial and critical success, but much like with King’s X’s self-titled fourth release which was also surrounded by drama, the band members have grown to dislike the album as a whole. Personally, I really like the album and consider it one of their stronger releases, and the conflict associated with it may have helped make Foo Fighters a much stronger unit in the long run.
Enjoy!
Charlie Rose: A Conversation with the Beastie Boys
After Adam “MCA” Yauch’s passing last week—and when a friend of mine started posting Beastie Boys videos on his blog—I started a process of digging a little deeper into the Beastie Boys’ background and music catalog.
My introduction to the Beasties was (naturally) Licensed to Ill, funnily enough through one of my younger brother’s friends who wanted to listen to the album every day on the way to school. Of course I gravitated to the heavier (and less hip-hoppy) tracks “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” and “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party),” but I was also exposed to tracks like “She’s Crafty,” “Brass Monkey” (I still haven’t recovered from that one), and “Paul Revere” that I could appreciate from a creative standpoint. It’s not that I necessarily disliked the burgeoning rap scene, it’s just not where my head was at the time, and truthfully, it was a little uncool for metalheads to actually enjoy rap, right?! Remember, this was around the time Anthrax released their rap goof “I’m the Man” and well before their “Bring the Noise” collaboration with Public Enemy that was the final signal that it was now OK to like hip hop that we metal devotees had been waiting for.
With each successive Beastie Boys release, I was exposed to less and less of their material, hearing only the tracks mainstream media or friends latched onto. So with Paul’s Boutique it was “Shake Your Rump” and “Hey Ladies,” and until recent years I had only heard “So What’cha Want” from Check Your Head and Ill Communication’s “Sabatoge.” Little did I know that the Beastie Boys could actually play instruments and had started life as a hardcore punk band—which makes sense the further into their catalog you listen—nor did I realize that their music had become more removed from traditional hip hop.
In all my research, I ran into this long-ish—and often uncomfortable—interview the Beastie Boys did with Charlie Rose. It’s apparent that in the beginning the guys—especially Ad-Rock—fully expected to conduct the entire interview in character and pull their normal stunts, but Rose was having none of it, alternately giving it back to them or giving up and changing the subject. Once things settled down a bit, it turned into quite a good conversation about their career.
All in all, it’s a great interview, and despite the occasional weirdness, it appears that a good time was had by all.
Enjoy!
I find it interesting that because I hold certain moral, religious, and/or spiritual beliefs—never mind that I don’t push or force said moral, religious, and/or spiritual beliefs on anyone—it has become quite fashionable lately to call me (and people like me) a bigot.
Me. A bigot?!
Because I don’t believe the same way you do?!
Think about it.