Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Class of 2013

The 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees have been announced today. Six of the 15 acts nominated got in and I've got to be honest: this years list isn't all that great. In fact, it's disappointing. I'll go through each act and give my thoughts.


Rush- The Canadian prog rockers easily topped the fan ballot and are now inducted in the Hall. Formed around 1968, Rush have had their share of critics slamming them. However, their rabid fan base has kept the band going. Bassist/singer Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer Neil Peart have been together since 1974, one of the longest lasting line-ups in any rock band.

Heart- Heart are the other big name that were inducted. Fronted by sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson, Heart were one of the most successful rock bands of the 1970's. The band's popularity got a sudden boost towards the end of the 1980's and have been going ever since.

Randy Newman- Singer/songwriter Randy Newman is finally in. Newman said he didn't think he'd be alive when he got in but luckily he is.

Albert King- Who?

Donna Summer- Whatever. She was going to be inducted once she died.

Public Enemy- SERIOUSLY? What the hell? Didn't you get the memo, Rock Hall? NO MORE HIP HOP!


So that's all the inductees for 2013. I know that the Hall is trying to be diverse in their choices but the fact that Deep Purple and Joan Jett were nominated and didn't get inducted is just stupidity. From what I remember the fan ballot was...

Rush
Deep Purple
Joan Jett
Heart
Albert King
Donna Summer

See if it were the fans and only the fans, you'd have four legit ROCK acts and two other people.

I'm going to go ahead and list everybody who isn't in...

Deep Purple
Thin Lizzy
New York Dolls
Captain Beefheart
T. Rex
MC5
Lou Reed
Judas Priest
Iron Maiden
Jethro Tull
Yes
Warren Zevon
Motorhead
Kiss
Dio

Spirit drummer Ed Cassidy dies

Ed Cassidy

May 4, 1923- December 6, 2012

Ed Cassidy, drummer for the psychedelic rock band Spirit, has died. He was 89 years old. The cause of death has not been disclosed.

Cassidy started his musical career in 1937 as a jazz drummer. He drummed for many jazz artists prior to forming Spirit in 1967 with his stepson Randy California. Spirit also consisted of singer Jay Ferguson, bassist Mark Andes, and keyboardist John Locke. Spirit released four albums between 1968 to 1971 before everyone but Cassidy and Locke left the band. Spirit would go on until 1973 and after this, Spirit would reunite with California and Cassidy at the helm. This continued until 1997 when California died after drowning in the ocean in a successful attempt at saving his son in a riptide. Locke died in 2006. 

I'm sad to hear of Ed's passing (aka Mr. Skin). Spirit are such an underrated band. The man lived a long life and he was a terrific drummer. 

RIP Mr. Skin.

The Rolling Stones- Roundhay Park review

The Rolling Stones

Roundhay Park (Live, 1982)

Rating: ****

Google Play have released the sixth and, sadly, the last in the Rolling Stones Bootleg Series. The album Roundhay Park, is a nice show during the Rolling Stones' 1982 tour. The show took place in Leeds on July 25, 1982 at Roudhay Park. It was the last show of the 1982 tour and sadly, it would be the last time the band would play live with tour manager and long time pianist Ian Stewart, as he would die from a heart attack in 1985. 

The show is pretty good. The band run through their first 20 years quite impressively. All the performances are good and band sound great. However, I'm a bit disappointed in the choice of concert: the setlist is almost  exactly the same as Hampton Coliseum, being that the tour was still in support for Tattoo You. The only difference is that "Angie" is played and "Let It Bleed" and "Waiting on a Friend" are left out. 

Of the six albums released, I think Roundhay Park is not in my top favorites. Still of the shows released, I think this is the only one where the band is playing at an outdoor venue. That's pretty cool, in my opinion. If anyone from Google Play is reading this, I beg you to keep the series going. Don't stop now. 

Transformed: Lou Reed's Transformer at 40

 

Lou Reed

Transformer

1972

Rating: **** 1/2

By 1972, it appeared as if Lou Reed’s music career was over. His self-titled solo album failed to sell and he would soon be forgotten. Luckily, this all changed with the release of Reed’s second studio album Transformer. Produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson, Transformer catapulted Lou Reed into superstardom.

            From 1965 to 1970, Lou Reed was a member of the Velvet Underground. The band released four albums in that time frame, all of which would be commercial flops but went on to influence the many bands that followed. After a playing a gig at Max’s Kansas City, Reed disappeared. He later announced that he was leaving the Velvet Underground and would retire from music. This changed when Reed decided to pursue a solo career.

In April 1972, Reed released his self-titled debut album. It was a flop but RCA gave Reed another chance with a second album. This was when David Bowie came to the rescue. By 1972, Bowie had achieved worldwide popularity with the release of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Bowie was an avid fan of the Velvet Underground and wanted to help Reed make an album. Bowie had already saved the career of Mott the Hoople a few months earlier that year and with Bowie’s guitarist Mick Ronson, they produced Reed’s second album Transformer.

            The album opens with “Vicious”, a nice little rocker that could’ve easily been on a Velvet Underground album. The lyrics were said to be inspired by the Velvet Underground’s first manager Andy Warhol. According to Reed, Warhol asked Reed to write a song that was vicious. When Reed asked what Warhol meant, Warhol replied “Like you hit me with a flower”. Warhol’s quote worked its way into the song and Reed did write a song that was indeed vicious. “Andy’s Chest” is yet another song Reed wrote with Warhol in mind.  Of the album’s eleven tracks, “Andy’s Chest” actually started out as a Velvet Underground song. The song was written and inspired by the attempted assassination of Warhol by Valerie Solanas. Although Warhol survived the shooting, the song is still moving. “Perfect Day” is one of Reed’s best known songs, as it has been covered several times. The song might be about Reed’s own heroin addiction but still, the song has nice piano playing and nice lyrics. The song later became a #1 hit in the UK when it was re-recorded by the BBC as a charity single with an array of famous recording artists.  

            “Hangin’ Round” is a simple little tune that has Reed using his story-telling technique of his, introducing listeners to all sorts of characters. The first side ends with Reed’s most popular song, “Walk On the Wild Side”. The song was inspired by the Nelson Algren novel of the same name, published in 1956. Algren approached Reed to write song for a musical version of the novel that he was putting together. The musical never happened so Reed used the song for Transformer. The two bass lines in this song are played by session musician Herbie Flowers. He’s playing an upright bass and an electric bass, which overlap each other. Lyrically, the song is almost a tribute to the people that were at Warhol’s Factory in New York City. Reed name drops almost everybody in this song and the end result is just fantastic.

            Side two opens with the gender-bending “Make Up”. The sound of the song is a bit on the soft side but the chorus is a knock-out: “We’re coming out” sings Reed. “Out of our closets.” “Satellite of Love” is another highlight off the album and is seen as one of Reed’s best songs. The song began life as a Velvet Underground song but it ended up here on Transformer. The song seems to be about a man who watches the launch of a satellite and the jealousy of the man seeing the girl he likes going out with other men. So, there’s also sort of stalker side to this song too. Also if you listen closely to the end, you will hear Bowie singing those high notes. “Wagon Wheel” is a simple rocker while “New York Telephone Conversation” is a bizarre little ditty. “I’m So Free” is a bit of a deep cut. It’s got some great lyrics and Reed’s vocals are pretty good. The album closes out fittingly with the jazzy “Goodnight Ladies”.

            Transformer was released on November 8, 1972. The album saved Lou Reed a career. The album charted at #29 in the Billboard 200 while it charted at #13 in the UK Albums Chart. With the success of Transformer, Reed was able to continue and make more albums. The follow-up to Transformer was the conceptual 1973 album, Berlin. The albums Reed released after Berlin are really hit or miss. He’s released some good albums such as The Blue Mask, New York, and Magic and Loss. Reed has also released some weak albums such as Metal Machine Music. Reed’s most recent project was a collaboration with Metallica in 2011 with the conceptual Lulu, which received mixed to negative reviews. Still at 70 years old, Reed is still performing no matter what people think of him.

            As for Transformer, it remains a classic album. For me, I currently have Transformer at #59 on my list of favorite albums of all time. It’s just an album that you can listen to over and over again. It’s also, without a doubt, Reed’s best album.

Aerosmith- Music from Another Dimension review

 

Aerosmith

Music from Another Dimension!

Rating: *** or *** 1/2

It has been eight years since Aerosmith have released a studio album. However since that album, Honkin’ On a Bobo, was a blues covers album. So, it has also been eleven years since the band released a studio album of original material (that album being Just Push Play). The band’s sound has changed in the span of over four decades, more recently being a little too commercial compared to Aerosmith’s glory days in the hard rocking 1970’s. The band’s latest album, Music from Another Dimension, isn’t the hard rocking album fans were expecting but still manages to be a very good album.

           

Aerosmith have been together since 1970. The current line-up (as well as the classic line-up) consists of singer Steven Tyler, guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, bassist Tom Hamilton, and drummer Joey Kramer. The last three years for Aerosmith have been crazy. In November 2009, Perry announced that Tyler had left the band. Only a day later, Tyler said he wasn’t leaving the band. This led to a well publicized feud between Tyler and Perry, leaving the band’s future in question. An example of this would be in 2011 when Tyler joined the judges’ panel on the hit Fox singing competition, American Idol, which led to some harsh words from Perry. Tyler and Perry patched things up shortly before recording the new album.

The album opens with the rocker “Luv XXX” (reads “Love Three Times”). The song is pretty good and it’s just great to hear Aerosmith after all these years. My only problem with this song is that the chorus sounds a little too much like “Love in an Elevator”. Still, it’s a nice opener that’s almost a rehash of the band’s late 1980’s sound. As for the other 14 tracks, it gets pretty eclectic musically. This is both good and bad. I do enjoy the soul-infused “Oh Yeah” and the funky “Out Go the Lights”. There’s some great guitar work from Perry and Whitford on those two songs. There are also a few ballads…okay maybe one too many ballads. I’ve never been a fan of “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” so songs such as “What Could Have Been Love” and “Another Last Goodbye” are pretty mediocre pop songs. For me, the weakest of the songs is the country-flavored “Can’t Stop Lovin’ You” which features American Idol winner Carrie Underwood. Underwood is a good singer but why couldn’t this song be on her album with Tyler as the guest?

Still, the album does redeem itself with several rockers. The aforementioned “Luv XXX” is an example. “Street Jesus” is a great bluesy hard rocker that sounds like it could have been a song on any of their earlier albums. Despite the cruddy production, the fast-paced “Lover Alot” is another highlight off the album. Perry even gets to take over lead vocals for “Freedom Fighter” and “Something”, both of which are strong. My personal favorite song off the album is the lead single, “Legendary Child”. The lyrics are autobiographical in a way with  Tyler singing about trading “them toys for other joys” (“Toys in the Attic”) and taking “a chance at a high school dance” (“Walk This Way”). The chorus is very reminiscent of the chorus in “Sweet Emotion”.

Music from Another Dimension is a pretty good album from Aerosmith. Still it all depends on what kind of Aerosmith fan you are. If you’re expecting another Toys in the Attic or Rocks, you’ll probably be disappointed. If you like Aerosmith no matter what, you may like this album. Personally, I think any Aerosmith is good but I do prefer the band’s material from the 1970’s more than what came after. This album was produced by Jack Douglas, the producer for those earlier albums. With Douglas, you’d expect the band to make another Toys, Rocks, or Draw the Line. This really isn’t the case but whatever this is, Music from Another Dimension isn’t bad. 

The Rolling Stones- Light The Fuse review

The Rolling Stones

Light The Fuse (Live 2005)

Rating: ****

With the Rolling Stones preparing for their upcoming shows at the end of the year, Google Play has released the next entry in the Stones Bootleg Series with a fifth album. This one, Light The Fuse, was recorded on August 10, 2005 in Toronto, Canada at the Phoenix Concert Theatre. It was the first show of their tour in promotion for their new album A Bigger Bang. The venue, just from pictures of the show, is pretty small compared to the stadiums the Stones get to play. 

The band runs through a 71 minute set with 14 songs. You get the live favorites such as "Brown Sugar", "Jumpin Jack Flash" and "Tumblin' Dice" and some songs from A Bigger Bang (just weeks before it was released). The performances of the new songs are pretty good, the strongest of them being "Rough Justice". The band dig up deep cuts such as "Live With Me" and songs like "She's So Cold" which hadn't been played in years by that point in time. Things get pretty funky when the band takes on Bob Marley's "Get Up Stand Up" and Otis Redding's "Mr. Pitiful". 

Of the five albums released, I think Light The Fuse is at the bottom (which used to be occupied by Tokyo Dome). This isn't bad at all. I think all of the albums in the Stones Bootleg Series are awesome.  Light The Fuse is simply a great addition to the series. Once again, Google Play is selling the album for $4.99.

Thin Lizzy decide not to release new album under the Lizzy name

A statement has been posted on the site for the reunited Thin Lizzy band concerning two things: touring and the new album. While the tour will wrap up towards the end of the year, Thin Lizzy have decided that the new studio album they've been working on this year will not be released under the Thin Lizzy name.

"Out of respect to Phil Lynott and the legacy he created, we have decided that we should not release a new album under the Thin Lizzy name" guitarist Scott Gorham said in the statement posted yesterday. Gorham went on to say that it was a difficult decision to make as they had put a lot of work into revamping Thin Lizzy. Gorham also says that he thinks Lynott would be proud of the new material and that the new music should be released sometime next year.

Guitarist/singer Ricky Warwick says that the end of this tour doesn't mean the end of the reunited Thin Lizzy, as they might play "odd shows" in 2013.

I think the guys have made  the right decision. When I heard they were recording a new album, I wasn't too happy about it as this version of Thin Lizzy is supposed to be a tribute band to the Thin Lizzy of the past fronted by the late great Phil Lynott. I'm actually surprised they are not going to release it as a Thin Lizzy album but it's a very wise choice. As for the reunited Thin Lizzy, I think they should still continue to perform. I saw them a year ago and they were great. They really do love the music and you can tell it when you see them.