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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.

Stuck In The Middle

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!

The Friday Five: March 9, 2012

Stop the running and check out the Friday Five with IckMusic.

The Clash - “Police on My Back” (Sandinista!, 1980)
“I been running Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday”

Queen - “Flick of the Wrist” (Sheer Heart Attack, 1974)
Quite possibly my favorite Queen album of all time. Seriously.

“Reduce you to a muzak fake machine, then the last goodbye.”

Spock’s Beard - “Made Alive/Overture” (Snow, 2002)
Opening track of the last album—a double-disc concept album at that!—to feature founder Neal Morse.

“Like a flaw that seeks perfection…”

Foo Fighters - “Bridge Burning” (Wasting Light, 2011)
From one album opener to another, this time the latest from Dave Grohl and company. I’m still impressed with how good this album is and how much I’m still listening to it (the true test).

“These are my famous last words!”

Atomic Opera - “New Dreams” (For Madmen Only, 1994)
Epic album-closing slow, crunchy groove from the third band in former ZZ Top manager Sam Taylor’s holy Houston triumvirate that also included King’s X and Galactic Cowboys.

“I use to think that Hell could last forever.”

Quite an eclectic and enjoyable set this week. Later.

The Friday Five: March 2, 2012

Foo Fighters - “But Honestly” (Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, 2007)
Dave Grohl has to be one of the hardest-working people in rock music today, and say what you will, I like most everything he’s ever done on one level or another. “But Honestly” is no different. I love the simplicity of first half of the song with just Dave’s voice and acoustic guitar and how it builds into this whole other stadium rock anthem thing.

Glen Phillips - “Cleareyed” (Winter Pays for Summer, 2005)
Fingers crossed that iTunes continues to serve up a good Friday Five. Glen Phillips is one of my favorite songwriters, and again, there’s not much he does that I don’t like. Winter Pays for Summer should have been a breakthrough album for the former Toad the Wet Sprocket singer, but I’m beginning to realize that I just don’t understand the music industry. At all.

Victor - “Victor” (Victor, 1996)
Uh-oh, here’s where iTunes goes wonky on me. This comes from a solo album Rush’s Alex Lifeson released under the project name Victor. The title track bears absolutely no resemblance to anything Rush has ever released, and if you didn’t already know this was Lifeson, you wouldn’t believe it. While most of the album features former I Mother Earth singer Edwin on vocals, “Victor” is a spoken-word track of sorts with Lifeson handling the “vocals.” Victor is mostly made up of heavier, post-modern alterna-rock-styled tunes, but this one is just plain strange.

The Scooters - “Throw Your Arms Around Me (Live)” (Peepshow, 2000)
I’m not sure how I came across the Scooters, but given the catchy pop tunes and sweet vocal harmonies, I’m guessing it was probably from my favorite rock ‘n’ roll snob Jay. This particular song is a live cover of a tune from the Australian band Hunters & Collectors, and while it strips away the decidedly 80s feel of the original, it is so unlike the rest of the Peepshow EP that you can’t use it as the measuring stick to judge whether you would like the rest of the album.

Thin Lizzy - “Romeo and the Lonely Girl” (Jailbreak, 1976)
This is not my favorite Thin Lizzy tune, but the more I listen to Phil Lynott’s work, the more I find to like. This is a good way to close out today’s Friday Five.

iTunes, you did alright by me this week.

All Apologies

So I cringed just a little bit when I read online today that Dave Grohl had issued a public apology for statements made during his acceptance speech for Best Rock Performance at the 2012 Grammys on Sunday night. I was thinking, “No, no, no, Dave, no. Don’t backpedal. What you said was brilliant and spot-on. Don’t sully it by apologizing.”

Then I sucked it up, pulled up my big boy undies, and headed out to read the statement and take it like a man. But I was surprised at what I found. I wasn’t reading an apology. This was a clarification.

Apparently some people took Dave to task for his comments, misunderstanding both what he said and his intent. Dave wasn’t bashing the use of computers or electronics or effects. He was criticizing the all-too-common practice within the music industry to take some talentless (albeit pretty) hack off the streets, have him or her imperfectly sing words he or she didn’t write to music he or she didn’t compose, take it into ProTools, and then apply a thick, glossy sheen of autotune and effects to create the next overnight sensation and make said hack (and everyone else involved) obscenely rich. Oh, and did I mention that said hack can also dance?!

So Dave issued a clarification that I’m pretty sure the complainers still aren’t going to be happy with, because what he didn’t say was that it was OK to be a talentless (albeit pretty and now obscenely rich) hack. What he said is that what makes music good is being good at your craft, regardless of genre or instrument. Hey, it’s no Gettysburg Address, but it’s good enough for me. Go read it for yourself and see if you agree.

Oh, and get off my lawn.

Happy 40th Birthday, Taylor Hawkins! Click for high-res photo

Happy 40th Birthday, Taylor Hawkins!

It’s not about being perfect, it’s not about sounding absolutely correct, it’s not about what goes on in a computer. It’s about what goes on in (your heart) and what goes on in (your head).
Dave Grohl, acceptance speech for Best Rock Performance at the 2012 Grammys

Sound City, That’s It Man

Sound City movie trailer

So unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last few years, you know that Dave Grohl is all over the place. The multi-dimensional, multi-instrumental Foo Fighters founder and frontman is no stranger to the spotlight. His band’s most recent Butch Vig-produced album Wasting Light debuted at number one in twelve countries (including the Billboard 200 here in the states), has sold in excess of 660,000 copies in the U.S. alone, and won him and his cohorts five of the six Grammys for which they were nominated this year. The Foos have toured massively behind Wasting Light, and they released the documentary Back and Forth chronicling the band’s career and which focused largely on the making of the new album. And then there’s that whole Them Crooked Vultures thing.

Now Dave’s making a movie. But not just any movie. A movie about a studio. And not just any studio, but Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California, which has seen its fair share of rock’s elite record there. As a matter of fact, seven of Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (a designation I’m not going to debate here) and 5 of Spin Magazine’s Top 40 Metal Albums of All Time (another argument I won’t get into) were recorded at Sound City.

And in true Dave Grohl fashion, the documentary will not just focus on the studio, but on a specific sound board that was used at the studio—the 1970s model Neve console that was used to track Nirvana’s Nevermind and that he acquired when Sound City announced its closing to the public in May 2011. Similar to his Probot side-project that saw him team up with some of the heavy/death/extreme metal heros from his youth, Grohl has invited artists that recorded at the legendary studio to collaborate with him to make music on the board one last time. And he’s filming the entire thing.

Here’s how Dave himself described the project in an interview with Rolling Stone:

When Sound City closed last year, it was a very sad day. That place was like a church. The list of people that recorded there reads like a virtual Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame… We recorded ‘Nevermind’ there back in 1991.

That funky old place had the best drum room in world. The drum sound at the beginning of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ — that’s Sound City.

I decided to make a film about that feeling you get when you put five guys in a room, hit ‘record’ and the hair on the back of your neck stands up. Expect some epic jam sessions.

The impressive list of artists on tap for the project includes Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick), Lars Ulrich (Metallica), Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures), Tom Petty and Mike Campbell (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers), Stephen Pearcy and Warren DeMartini (Ratt), Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), and Lindsey Buckinham, Stevie Nicks, and Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac). Watch the Sound City website for more information.

Enjoy!

This award means a lot because it shows that the human element of music is what’s important. Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft, that’s the most important thing for people to do.
Dave Grohl, acceptance speech for Best Rock Performance at the 2012 Grammys

Foo Fighters - “These Days”

I’m still impressed with just how good an album Wasting Light is. Definitely one of my better purchases of 2011.

Happy 42nd Birthday, Dave Grohl! Edit: Doh! 43rd. My bad. Click for high-res photo

Happy 42nd Birthday, Dave Grohl!

Edit:
Doh! 43rd. My bad.


Hook me up a new revolution, cause this one is a lie.
Foo Fighters - “Learn to Fly,” There Is Nothing Left to Lose, 1999

Tell Me Is Something Eluding You, Sunshine?

Roger Waters and Foo Fighters perform “In the Flesh?” on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is currently in the middle of a week-long tribute to Pink Floyd, celebrating the band’s history with performances of Floyd tunes by artists like Pearl Jam and Dierks Bentley and appearances by Nick Mason and Roger Waters. Tuesday’s show featured a spot-on performance of “In the Flesh?,” the opening track of the landmark album The Wall, by the Foo Fighters and Waters himself.

Enjoy!

That’s The Best Introduction We’ve Ever Had

Foo Fighters Garage Tour

Foo Fighters:
Made in a garage.
Played in your garage.

That was the tagline of a recent Foo Fighters contest that awarded eight lucky fans the opportunity to host an intimate Foo Fighters concert in their garages, celebrating the fact that Wasting Light was recorded in Dave Grohl’s garage. The Foos have posted a 40-minute retrospective of the performances, including fan interviews and song highlights.

The best part? It’s a tie between the fan who actually got to play on two songs during the concert and the kid that Pat Smear just handed his guitar to. Un. Freakin’. Believable.

WARNING: This is Dave Grohl, so all manner of NSFW and non-kid-friendly language and content is contained herein. Don’t even bother watching if your ears are sensitive to such things, particularly F-bombs.

Sit back, grab a beverage, and enjoy the insanity!

Truth Ain’t Gonna Change The Way You Lie

Foo Fighters performs Wasting Light at Studio 606

So this is about six weeks old at this point, but seeing as I just ran across it (and seeing as I am still impressed at how solid the Foo’s Wasting Light release is), I thought I would post it anyway.

Shortly after its release, Dave and the boys played through the new record in its entirety from Grohl’s Studio 606 West. This isn’t the first time they’ve done something like this. Back on October 30, 2009, to commemorate the release of their first greatest hits package and 15 years together, the band streamed a live Studio 606 performance over Facebook and Livestream, allowing fans to comment, make requests, and interact with the band in real time.

I once thought Dave’s voice was indestructible, but this exhibition leads me to believe that his screaming over all these years is finally catching up with him. Despite this, the band appears to be in fine form, and it’s hard to believe that a modern drummer pounds the skins with more aggression than Grohl, but Taylor Hawkins sure comes close. All in all, Foo Fighters put on a good show given they were in a recording studio.

Here’s the full tracklisting just in case you don’t want to sit through the entire 49 minutes (although you should probably stick around for a cool little surprise from Pat Smear):

  1. “Bridge Burning” (00:08)
  2. “Rope” (04:54)
  3. “Dear Rosemary” (09:29)
  4. “White Limo” (13:48)
  5. “Arlandria” (17:31)
  6. “These Days” (21:56)
  7. “Back & Forth” (26:47)
  8. “A Matter of Time” (30:41)
  9. “Miss the Misery” (35:35)
  10. “I Should Have Known” (40:00)
  11. “Walk” (44:20)

Enjoy!