Music Listening Habits(and favorites) of 2012

It’s the end of yet another year and the beginning of a new one too. Music lovers, writers and critics always put together a list of their yearly favorites.  As I was mentally preparing my list this past week, a friend of mine sent me a message to ask what my top 3 albums were of the year. They had to be new material. So, no live albums or re-issues.  I used to dislike lists like this. Most lists in magazines, newspapers and websites don’t usually match up with what I consider my favorite(or best). I really don’t like using absolutes like “best” or “greatest”  For me, there are no “bests” just “favorites”. When I wrapped up my favorite albums of 2011, I was looking forward to the new releases by Van Halen, Aerosmith and Rush.  Those three along with a host of others were on my radar and heavy rotation on my MP3 player in the past year.

The new Van Halen album A Different Kind of Truth was dissected and examined by myself and fans all over. As I said in my initial review and listen, I did NOT want to like it. But, the overall playing by the 3 guys with the last name Van Halen(Edward, Alex and Wolfgang) won me over.  The core band stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park with a freight train of power with that musical talent they collectively possess and express.

While watching a lot of the live videos and reading interviews, It’s become clear that Ed’s son Wolfgang pushes this band with a youthful exuberance that propels them from a “can they do it?” scenario to “Doesn’t the new stuff kick some serious tail?”  I found myself lit on fire by the instrumental interplay between Alex, Eddie and Wolfie on tracks like She’s the Woman, China Town, HoneyBabySweetieDoll, The Trouble with Never and Outta Space.  As for DLR, I felt his vocal performance on the CD was well done. I just wish he would step up his live game to match his studio performance (and his bandmates) onstage.  That’s another rant. I won’t go into it. In short, the band that inspired me to play drums and make music in my teens has continued to stimulate that urge that still lies within me.
The other band that continues to inspire me is that 3 man band from the Great White North.  Rush had another great year with their 20th studio album in their (almost) 40 year career – Clockwork Angels.


The album had some preemptive buzz around it because the band had recorded and released the first two tracks – Caravan and BU2B back in 2010 and was featured on their 2010-2011 Time Machine tour.  As a fan, I had downloaded those two songs and had listened to them. But, of course, (like most Rush fans) I just wanted more than a couple new songs. I wanted an entire new album. Like their 2007 release Snakes & Arrows, I wasn’t initially blown away by the album. I believe that Rush albums are so complex that they take multiple listens to fully appreciate them. There are so many nuances and intricacies in a Rush album that I can’t just say after one listen “Wow I love this album!”  That being said, there were moments of elation for me with some hard cracking drums, distorted guitars and loping serpentine basslines that won me over. Among those songs that just lit me up from this album is Headlong Flight. 

As I listen to this album more and more(and I have been) I am blown away by the creativity of this band. There is no way to categorize this band.  There is Neil’s creative drumming and timekeeping along with his intelligent and intellectual lyrics. There is also a novelization of this album written by Neil Peart’s friend Science Fiction novelist Kevin J Andersen. According to Andersen, the album’s concept is:

In a young man's quest to follow his dreams, he is caught between the grandiose forces of order and chaos. He travels across a lavish and colorful world of steampunk and alchemy, with lost cities, pirates, anarchists, exotic carnivals, and a rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life

The band continues to be a creative force. There are songs that are pleasing to the pre-80’s heavy guitar loving fans. There are songs that stoke the fans of complex arrangements and time changes. Along with the Sci-Fi concept, this is a well rounded Rush album.
Finally, in late 2012, it was announced to the joy of Rush fans everywhere that the band would (finally) be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.  After several years of disgust that they hadn’t been inducted yet, I was elated to hear the great news.
Also being inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 is the Seattle band Heart featuring sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson.  I recently wrote a blog on their debut album Dreamboat Annie that was released in America in 1976.  Here it is now in 2012 and the band is still making new music. They’re always making new music and (for me) they still make compelling music. This year, they released the album Fanatic along with a Biography and a career spanning compilation box set.

The new album is really well done. It’s Heart for the 21st century with many current production sounds and techniques. They have a lot of current sounds. But, it has moments of passionate rockers and heartfelt acoustic ballads too. After listening to Dreamboat Annie lately, I’m secretly wishing that Ann would bring out her flute again and play some woodwinds on a current album like she did on Sing Child Sing.  This is more of a hard-rocking album in 2012. The band has its folk roots along with rock.  I went back and forth whether or not I wanted to include this of my 10 albums of 2012. I chose to keep it on my list because I have been consistently listening to this since it was released earlier this Fall. As I said at the beginning of this blog, these are albums I’ve been listening to this year and I keep coming back to it. 

On December 26th, 2012, CBS aired the Kennedy Center Honors and among those being honored was Led Zeppelin.  At the end of the broadcast, Ann and Nancy came out and performed Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven with an orchestra, a large choir and drummer Jason Bonham(son of Zeppelin’s late drummer-John Bonham)  This performance not only excited me more about Zeppelin. It also stimulated my ever existing love for Heart and the Wilson sisters.

I don’t usually watch live network TV. But, I was glued to my TV for this tribute. I was excited to hear Ann Wilson singing Stairway to Heaven and I have followed Jason Bonham and his career so I knew he’d been sitting on drums for this performance too.
I’ve been a longtime Zeppelin fan. But, even when I barely knew about Led Zeppelin, I started to follow the career of Jason Bonham way back when he was only 17 and in a band called Airrace. I had read about this band through an article in Hit Parader magazine. I was interested in this up and coming drummer who was close to my age(he’s almost a year older than me) and was the son of the fabled Zeppelin drummer John “Bonzo” Bonham.  I followed him from Airrace and Virginia Wolf to Jimmy Page’s Outrider album and the 1988 Zeppelin reunion to his band- Bonham and Paul Rodgers to UFO and Foreigner. In 2010, he formed a supergroup with Glenn Hughes, Joe Bonamassa and Derek Sherinian that called themselves Black Country Communion.  In 2012, that “Supergroup” released their 3rd album in 3 years titled Afterglow.

 I don’t like to compare an artist's work to their past work. But, since Black Country Communion only has 3 albums, it’s been refreshing to hear how this band has grown and matured as a band. Much like the Hard Rock bands of the 70’s (that many feel like they sound like),  They are a band that has grown over the arc of 3 full-length albums.  When I heard the first two albums, I would pay attention to mix of the various instruments and vocals. I was very critical of every little bit on each album. When I listened to the new Afterglow album, I was keyed into the songs and band’s full input into everything. They are a strong band now and this album is a strong example of well oiled unit working as one cohesive machine.  I felt that the first two albums were some kind of outlet for Glenn Hughes to attain some kind of greatness he once experienced in his days with Deep Purple. He was exercising his vocal chops so much that it was bordering on excessive. This album has all the instruments equal in the mix. But, at the same time, you can pick out the individual instruments and character of each musician. Glenn Hughes sings and performs and emotes through the songs of this album. Joe Bonamassa comes up with great riffs and melodies and contributes his own bluesy vocals (both lead and backing). Derek Sherinian takes the keyboards and conjures the same magic that the late Jon Lord mastered with Deep Purple in the 70’s.  Finally, Jason Bonham takes everything he had learned from his father and every drummer he’s heard after that and applied to some of the most solid timekeeping out there. The songs have light and shade.  The songs range from all-out riff rockers to bluesy British shuffles to introspective ballads.  I was impressed with this album from the first listen.

Unfortunately, there has been some question concerning the future of the band. When the band had finished the album and Glenn Hughes was doing some press for the album, He made some comments that this may be the last album for the band.  Jason Bonham, Hughes and Sherinian are ready to tour behind this album. But, guitarist Joe Bonamassa has his calendar booked with dates for his solo band. So, there were words and rumors circulating online about the future of the band. The last I heard was that Bonamassa and Hughes got together to talk and ironed out any problems.
Bands like Black Country Communion are called a “Supergroup” because the individual members come from a rich history of musical success and notoriety. Another Supergroup that made a debut in 2012 was a group (and album) known as Flying Colors. 

I found out about this band from following the activities of former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy.  Portnoy is a musician’s musician. From the multitude of interviews I’ve read with him in Modern Drummer magazine, he loves music…both listening to it and making it. For several years, He has played in various side projects (OSI, Transatlantic, Neal Morse) and tribute bands (Beatles, Zeppelin, the Who and Rush).  In 2010, he filled in for the late Jimmy “the Rev” Sullivan of the band Avenged Sevenfold. Shortly after his gig with Avenged Sevenfold, he announced that he was leaving his longtime gig with Dream Theater.  In both 2011 and 2012, He definitely kept busy. He recorded with 2 different groups. One was a band called Adrenaline Mob which was more of a Heavy Rock/Metal band. The other band was a progressive pop group called Flying Colors featuring the talents of guitarist Steve Morse(Dixie Dregs, Deep Purple), bassist Dave LaRue(Dixie Dregs, Steve Morse Band), keyboards Neal Morse(Spock’s Beard) and vocalist Casey McPherson(Alpha Rev).
I had been familiar with Steve Morse and Dave LaRue and I had actually met them back in 1993 at the Ranch Bowl in Omaha when the Dixie Dregs played there.  I found out about Neal Morse through his association with the band Spock’s Beard and he sings a lot of the John Lennon parts in the Beatles Tribute band-Yellow Matter Custard.  The only one I hadn’t heard of was singer Casey McPherson.  Portnoy had described this album as a Prog band with pop style songs.

I gave it a listen and I was hooked.  I would listen to it after a day of working in a retail atmosphere where my fellow employees were content to listen to the current format of Top 40 radio where artists like Lady Gaga and Niki Minaj are considered “good”.  All I could think of was that this music and musicianship was so good and if they ever let loose with what they could do on their respective instruments, the average Top 40 fan’s head would literally explode by sheer talent they possess. I hate to sound like a music snob. But, this album makes me feel like I’m on to something really really good and I’m just a little superior than the people who aren’t listening to it. Of course, I feel like that when I’m tuned into a great jazz album or something that’s really good but not mainstream anyway.
One band that’s filled with great musicianship and yet connects with the Country music mainstream is Zac Brown Band. 2012 was a year for this band to explode once again with their album Uncaged.

The Zac Brown band continues their down home Southern feel of Jam band hootenanny and bluegrass rocking.  If Willie Nelson, Dave Matthews and Jimmy Buffett went to a party with the Charlie Daniels band and the Allman Brothers Band, I would think it sounds something like the Zac Brown Band.  If there were two country bands I’d love to play drums with, that would be Brad Paisley’s band and the Zac Brown Band.  Whenever I listen to the Zac Brown band, I’m inspired to set up my drums and just play along.  This album features the addition of percussionist Daniel de los Reyes and the addition of this added “flavor” to their musical “recipe” makes this album very….delicious.

There is such a great groove to a lot of the songs like Jump Right In and the title track Uncaged. There are ballads of love lost(Goodbye In Her Eyes) that I feel a deep resonation to. The Wind is a heated up hoot and holler bluegrass burner that leads into a reggae inspired Island Song.  There’s even a song for that intimate time together they talk about in those Cialis commercials called Overnight.  The song only lasts less than 5 minutes. So, no need to worry about things that may last longer than 4 hours.
The songs of Uncaged fulfill so much in my love of music. It has rhythms that get me moving. It has vocal harmonies that get me singing and it has songs that resonate with me emotionally.  Another album that calms my mind is the 2012 release of John Mayer and his album Born and Raised. 

I wrote a quick write-up on this blog for this album back in May.  I have continually come back to this album for some solace. A day after I wrote that blog in May, I was “terminated” from the job I had been working at. So, I struggled with what direction to go from there.  My son moved to Texas in late November with his mother(my ex-wife) and I’m planning to move there as soon as I find a job in the same area as them and be a continuing presence in the life of my son. I miss my son very much and I have continually applied for many jobs already.  I’ve had communication from some of those jobs that they’ve chosen someone else for those jobs. So, it’s been tough and discouraging and my own self-doubt tends to sink in. So, I go to the song Shadow Days for my own self affirmation.

Hard times let me be
I’m a good man with a good heart
Had a tough time, got a rough start
And I finally learned to let it go
Now I’m right here, and I’m right now
And I’m hoping, knowing somehow
That my shadows days are over
My shadow days are over now

This album has a very earthy acoustic feel that soothes my troubled mind and lets me sit back and breathe. It’s a laid back Sunday afternoon album that grows on me with every listen.
There’s time to sit back and relax, decompress after a day at work. There’s also music that’s aggressive and drives a person to move a little faster with an added confidence and swagger.  When I first heard the new album from the reunited Soundgarden, King Animal was the new driving album for me.

Almost 3 years ago, Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell alluded to a Soundgarden reunion via his writing: "The 12-year break is over and school is back in session. Sign up now. Knights of the Soundtable ride again!"  This was actually posted online on New Years Day 2010. For me, I found it really cool to wake up that New Years to find that one of my favorite bands of the 90’s was reforming and making new music.  They released a compilation that year and then toured for a couple years. I began to wonder if an album of new material would happen soon.  They released a new single called Live to Rise this past summer that was on the soundtrack for the Super Hero movie – The Avengers. This definitely whet my appetite for more Soundgarden. 

The new album was released in mid November.  The album was available for streaming on iTunes for a week prior to it’s release. So, I took advantage of that opportunity to give it a listen.  I eventually downloaded the album and have been hypnotized by all aspects of this album. It’s aggressive and complex. As a drummer, I’m automatically tuned in to what the drums sound like and what kind of rhythms are incorporated. This is what hooked me on this album.  I believe Amazon had the album at really good download price when it was released. I felt the need to share this information on my Facebook page. When I did, a couple of my friends made comments asking “how is it?” and another feared that it was more Chris Cornell(vocals) and not enough Kim Thayil(guitar).  As I listened to it, I was pleased with all band contributions to the album. The guitars are strong in the mix and bassist Ben Shepherd keeps the low end heavy and churning. Drummer Matt Cameron is solid and loose.  His playing slinks and slithers in this magical mayhem and (along with his gig as Pearl Jam drummer) continues as THE powerhouse drummer of the Pacific Northwest.  In short, I find this album very satisfying to my musical tastes.
If there was one album that I didn’t think I would pay any attention to this past year. That would be a “country duets” album with 80’s icon Lionel Richie called Tuskegee.
 
I had read and heard little bits of news regarding this effort from Lionel. My longtime friend Bob mentioned something on his Facebook page about this album and expressed some curiosity.  Bob had opened my eyes to his tastes years ago and I have always respected them. So, I dialed up this album one night on Spotify and gave it a listen.  I was surprised with a refreshed and intimate interpretation of music from one of the great songwriters of the 80’s.  I have tried over this past year to write for two different blog websites. So, I posted my review for Tuskegee on HubPages.  This album was just an absolute joy to listen to and sing along to….even if I'd never owned a Lionel Richie ever in my life.

In my review I said if you have an appreciation for this music and the songs that came from this time, give this album a listen. I had no intentions of giving this album a listen, a sample of even a chance. But, I'm glad I did. Lionel Richie really is a great songwriter. These songs still sound great 25-30 years later. That's the sign of really great songs. When I listen to these albums that resonate with me and touch something deep within me, I am happy to share that with my friends and with the fans of the music that we enjoy as part of our daily lives. This one's worth it!
The 10th album on my list is was one of the albums that I was looking forward to this year.  I’m talking about Aerosmith’s supposed comeback album– Music from Another Dimension.  I listened to it and then I made the mistake of reading some cynical reviews and listening to some podcasts where they dissected this album. I went back and forth about whether I wanted to add this to my list for the year.

Before it was released, it was reported that producer Jack Douglas had returned to produce this album.  Because Douglas had produced the band in the 70’s, there was now a buzz that this album would be a return to the classic Aerosmith sound of Toys in the Attic and Rocks.  One thing that can be said about Aerosmith is that the band is one of the tightest and most solid bands in Rock.  The rhythm section of Joey Kramer on drums and Tom Hamilton on bass is a locomotive force drives this band.  It’s no surprise that one of the band’s classic songs in concert is Train Kept a Rollin’.  The band continues to blast through these new songs. It’s so infectious. It gets my toe tapping and my heart pumping.  I love the opening track LUV XXX (that’s actually ‘love 3 times a day’) and then there are some just down n’ dirty rockers that harkens back to the days of those dangerous “Bad boys from Boston” like Oh Yeah and Beautiful.  There are funky rockers like Out Go the Lights that have that low cowbell make me wanna dance around as I my head starts bobbing up and down.  Legendary Child, Street Jesus and Lover Alot are all great songs that have an aural onslaught that pleases my ear.

The one complaint that I’ve read in a lot of reviews have been the power ballads on this album. There is also a duet with country star Carrie Underwood.  Automatically, people slam this pairing as “Aerosmith doing a country song”.  I think that if Carrie Underwood had not even been mentioned on this track, it would be a more of a mid-tempo rocker with a great female harmony vocal. Because(to me) that’s exactly what it is. Back to the ballads… Aerosmith’s big 80’s comeback happened with the album Permanent Vacation in 1987. That was 25 years ago. To some people that are younger than 30 years old, this may be their version of a “classic Aerosmith” sound.  Truth is that this album celebrates both the classic 70’s, comeback 80’s and mainstream 90’s sound of Aerosmith.  I was a big fan of what was to be their 1985 comeback album Done With Mirrors.  Sadly, that album didn’t light the mainstream audience on fire and it would be another 2 years before Aerosmith would start seeing the resurgence that has continued to carry them through the past 3 decades.  I read a review that said if Done With Mirrors had done better in sales, we probably wouldn’t have seen these guys recording the pop ballads they’ve been chastised for by longtime die-hard fans.
There you go. That’s 10 albums I was listening to in 2012. As the year came to a close, I started listening to a few more albums that really perked up my ears. I had heard about a couple of these and some of these I knew came out and I curse myself for never giving them more of a serious listen this past year.
Among those would be:
Gary Clark Jr. – Blak and Blu    Rival Sons – Head Down
 

ZZ Top – La Futura                      S.U.N. – Something Unto Nothing
 

The Sword – Apocryphon         Dave Matthews Band – Away from the World
 
These 6 are ones that I heard something that caught my ear within the first 3 or 4 songs as I listened.  I probably would have given them a more thorough listen. But, chances are I was listening intently to one of these other albums. 
When I started formulating this blog in my head, I had a couple of other CD’s in mind for this list too. But, since I had made it specific that these would be studio releases only, I left off a couple of live recordings. Those two would be the Tedeschi Trucks Band – Everybody’s  Talkin’ and the long awaited CD/DVD of the 2007 live reunion of Led Zeppelin at London’s 02 Arena titled Celebration Day. 

This was a big event for Zeppelin fans when it originally happened in 2007.  This was one of the most anticipated reunions ever.  At the time, Jimmy Page made the comment that the concert had been recorded for a POSSIBLE DVD release.  Fans waited and waited. There were bootleg videos compiled and posted on YouTube.  There was lots of talk of how great it was. Jason Bonham filled in for his late father – the late John Bonham.  As a fan of both Zeppelin and Jason Bonham, I was in deep anticipation for it too.  Jason Bonham has often been criticized online for not being as good as his father.  That’s very unfair for Jason because over the past 32 years his father has become one of the biggest drumming icons of all time.  So, I was happy to see that Jason stepped up and removed all doubt. He can do it and he did it.  As for the rest of the guys in Zeppelin, they were also at the top of their game. There’s been a lot of talk yet again that they should reunite and tour. As a longtime fan, I’d love to see them tour. Alas, I don’t see it happening.  The band has had the integrity to say “It’s not the same without our late drummer, bandmate and FRIEND. So, we’re not going to do it.”  So, here’s a live CD and DVD that shows that they can do it and we should be happy with that.

2012 was a good year for my self confidence in creativity.  I have continually been inspired to write for this blog. This not only fuels my love of music. It also fuels my own vocabulary and need to express myself.  Musically, I played with as much as 4 different groups of musicians with varying styles from Country, Classic Rock and Oldies Rock to Contemporary Christian, Funk and Jazz. This not only fulfilled my love of playing. It also built up my confidence to say that I am versatile enough to play drums with various styles and I can certainly hold my own in those different arenas.
I am looking to move to the El Paso Texas area in 2013 so that I may be closer to my son and be a continuing presence in his life.  I look forward to using my creative talents down there as I continue on this crazy journey through life. I like playing music. I like listening to music. I like writing. I like writing about music...and I will continue to do so into 2013. That being said……….
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Heart – Dreamboat Annie

2012 has been a big year for sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson and their band Heart. They released a new album titled Fanatic.  They released a career spanning box set Strange Euphoria and published their own biography called Kicking & Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul and Rock & Roll.  It was also announced earlier this month that they would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.  So, I thought I would write about the album that started it all for the band….Dreamboat Annie.

The band consisting of sisters Ann & Nancy Wilson, guitarist Roger Fisher, bassist Steve Fossen had started as a touring bar band in Canada in the early 70’s. They originated from the Seattle area. But, because Roger Fisher’s brother(and de facto manager) Michael was dodging the draft in Canada, they opted for pursuing music in the Great White North(around Vancouver BC). Later, members Howard Leese(guitars and keyboards) and drummer Michael DeRosier would join during the recording of this album.  The album was originally released by Canadian record label Mushroom Records. Eventually, the album would be released by Capital records after the small Mushroom record company folded.  The album was then released in America on Valentine’s day (February 14th, 1976).

I was almost 9 years old when this album was released. I’ve stated before that many of the hard rock tastes I would have later develop in my teenage and college years were from discovering bands through friends, record stores, and various rock magazines. But, I heard this album either that summer of 76 or in 77 by way of an 8-track in my brother-in-law and sister’s Jeep on a family excursion.

For a few years from 76-78, My family of 3 sisters, myself and (then) baby brother along with our parents would drive from North Platte, NE to the small town of Ord, NE and meet up with my uncle Galen(my mom’s brother) his wife and their four kids on Labor day weekend for nice little picnic and get together. My uncle’s family lived outside of my mom’s hometown of Creighton, NE.  We used travel to Creighton many times during the summers of my childhood along with various holidays too. But, the trip could be a lengthy one..especially for an antsy kid like me that just wanted to get there. According to Google Maps (in 2012), it takes about 4 1/2 hours to get there. Back then, it seemed much longer(like 5 or 6).  So to split up the trip, the two families had decided to meet in Ord as a mid-point. In 1976, my sister Pam and my brother-in-law Steve had been married almost 2 years. They had my niece in the Spring of 1975.  I always looked forward to spending time with both of them. I could play with my niece and I could hang with my big sis too. On this occasion, I was either asked if I wanted to drive back with them or I begged to drive back with them. As we drove from Ord, I remember seeing the 8-track for Heart’s Dreamboat Annie in their 8-Track deck and I’m sure we listened to it the entire trip back to North Platte.  

Of course, songs like Magic Man and Crazy on You became big hits for the band from this album.  I think even my sister Kathy had this on an 8-track too. So, this album was playing a big part as a soundtrack in my life at the time. In Ann & Nancy’s book, one of the issues that they address is that here were two women fronting a ROCK band. This wasn’t a Phil Spector girl group like the Ronettes or a Motown girl group like the Supremes. They weren’t folk singers like Joni Mitchell or a disco diva like Donna Summer that had become prevalent in the mid to late 70’s.  For that time in Rock history, two women fronting a Rock band was looked at as a strange combination. Since I grew up with this album, it didn’t seem all that odd. It just seemed to be the norm.

As the 70’s became the 80’s, Heart were still contributing to the world of popular music and would continue to come up with great music on albums like Little Queen and Dog and Butterfly.  But, when the 80’s became a decade dominated by image and MTV music videos, the band seemed to be categorized as a band from another decade. They ended up signing with a management company that groomed them for the image conscious 80’s. In 1985, I found myself getting into this band I had once heard on an 8-track player.  I bought the 1985 self-titled album that would become their big comeback album and would propel their careers for another 5-6 years.

I remember one beautiful day in the Fall of 1985 where myself and some of my college friends decided to go down to the local park a few blocks from campus. We ended up playing a game of touch football with some other guys. But, as we were playing, someone had a portable stereo/boom box playing a cassette of Heart’s Greatest Hits album. I started hearing all these old memorable songs that I had known. But, at the end of the tape was a cover of Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll.  My ears perked up as this Zeppelin sound came out of the speakers.  At first listen, I couldn’t tell much difference to the Zeppelin version.  I soon discovered that Heart had a love for Zeppelin.  Since my freshman year was the beginning of my Zeppelin obsession, I suddenly had developed a new love for Heart and their diverse styles.

I don’t want to go through the entire catalog of Heart’s extensive career.  I just want to concentrate on the monumental debut album. When I went back and listened to the original album you can hear the freshness and the mysteriousness of Magic Man.  It has a 70’s Moog synthesizer sound layered with a great electric guitar. Although, the song is a staple of the band’s live act all these years later, there’s an absolute mystical feeling of the original recording.  The common theme of the Dreamboat Annie keeps the album going through a bit of dreamy ethereal transition into the rest of the songs.

As I entered my college years, the sounds of this album lay dormant in the back of my mind. When a chance would come to hear the album again, I would take it. I had actually been enjoying the band’s catalog of music in the 80’s. I was a fan of 1987’s Bad Animals.  After the release of the single There’s The Girl, I actually had a dream where suddenly guitarist Nancy Wilson was my girlfriend. It wasn’t one of “those” kind of dreams. It was very sweet and I think it surprised me so much that I practically woke up from the dream instantly.  I had bought the single for the song Alone which the B-side was a current live version of the song Barracuda.  I loved this version of the song. So, I bought the Little Queen album and anything else by the band. I think I eventually bought a used LP copy of Dreamboat Annie.  From there, I obviously played the album at Dustys Records. 

I’ve stated before that music has a way of transporting us (through memories) to a place and people we associate with those albums. When I thought of this album, one person I thought of was my college buddy and fellow Dustys employee Bob. I asked Bob what his memories of this album were. Bob’s response was,

“I heard the entire album of Dreamboat Annie at Dusty's and I remember the minute it came on it calmed everyone down. There is something about that voice. The burliest manliest man loves Ann Wilson's voice. Ever met a biker that did not love Steppenwolf and Heart? My other memory is this. When I heard that album I felt like I understood where an entire generation of women in rock came from. It was like finding the source.”

One of the things that’s continually talked about with Heart is the vocal prowess of Ann Wilson. She can have a gentle calmness to her delivery. But, She can also conjure up some deep emotions and unleash a wrath of inner demons that will leave the listener rendered helpless.  Whenever I see a story on Ann and something is said about her voice, I find myself nodding my head, agreeing and inevitably putting on some Heart music to confirm what I already know.  She is an absolute incredible singer and vocalist.

The Wilson sisters are obvious fans of Led Zeppelin and Ann certainly delivers when challenged with a Zep song. According to their stories in the biography, they would include Zeppelin songs within their sets of the early bar days. They even tell a story when they were playing a club in Canada and Robert Plant and Jimmy Page entered the club while they were performing some of their Zeppelin songs. Their 1995 live acoustic album The Road Home was produced by former Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. This Zeppelin connection continues even in 2012 as Led Zeppelin was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in early December and Ann and Nancy performed Stairway to Heaven to honor the band.

In 2007, Heart would follow the trend that many acts of the Classic Rock genre had been doing and performed one of their classic albums in its entirety. Of course, the logical choice for Ann and Nancy is Dreamboat Annie.  My college friend and former roommate Matt recorded the live show off of VH1 and made a DVD copy for me. When I played it back, all the great nuances of the original album came back to me. For me, the great surprises were performances of lesser known songs like Soul of the Sea, Sing Child, White Lightning and Wine and (Love me like Music) I’ll Be Your Song.  They have added the Stockholm Strings for the performance and Ann breaks out her flute and plays again like she did on the original album.  It gives it so much added bravado and emotion to the performance.

I asked Matt what his memories of the album were and he responded:

“I remember my brother Tom had Dreamboat Annie on 8-track...and honestly, all I really remember specifically about it at that time was the album cover...the name always struck me as sort of quirky...and I wondered which one of them was Annie. Of course, Heart was hitting it big in the 80's with their self-titled record, and as many teenage boys were at the time, I was taking notice of the Wilson sisters in their glitzy videos. It wasn't until my college years, when I thought that I needed to expand my horizons beyond Pink Floyd and Bruce Springsteen, that I actually bought it to add to my ever-expanding CD collection...I figured "hey, my brother had this on 8-track, so it HAS to be a good album!" As an aspiring guitar player, I wished so much that I could play that acoustic opening riff to "Crazy On You," but my skills were not even close to being able to pull that off. I knew the hit songs on the record..."Magic Man" - with it's rumored ties to being about Charles Manson, the aforementioned "Crazy On You"...and very vague memories of hearing the title track in my brother's car.
Then, it just kind of sat amongst my CD's for years. It wasn't until I watched the concert on VH1 of them performing the whole album that I re-discovered this gem. I listened to it on my iPod at work, and was completely immersed again into what an amazing collection of songs it truly is.”

There had been a rumor going around that Ann Wilson had written Magic Man about mass murderer Charles Manson. I can’t remember where this rumor started or how rumors like that gain the traction they do. According to the stories told by Ann in their biography (and many others), Magic Man is/was about Michael Fisher who is the brother of original guitarist Roger Fisher and also the band’s early manager.  Ann and Michael became romantically involved and the lyrics were actually autobiographical in where Ann had those conversations with her “Mama” back in Seattle.

“Come on home, girl" Mama cried on the phone
"Too soon to lose my baby yet, my girl should be at home"
But try to understand....try to understand
Try, try, try to understand..he's a magic man, Mama...ah...he's a magic man”

Some may say since this album was released back in the 70’s that it sounds dated or it’s a classic rock album. But, for me, the music of Heart is something that I actually listen to on a weekly or monthly basis. They are truly one of my all-time favorite bands. I can listen to them at any time and usually do. So, that being said, their music is timeless for me.  When I read their biography I noticed that both Ann and Nancy and love for music is different than the females they grew up with.  When they first saw The Beatles on Ed Sullivan show in 1964, they wanted to BE the Beatles. Where other girls of the 60’s wanted to be wives or girlfriends of Paul, John, George or Ringo.  Ann and Nancy wanted to be those four guys and not be the female companions of the band.  For many years, I’ve felt that a lot of females like different bands because the singer or guitar player is cute or dreamy or whatever.  Not all but many have expressed those feelings.  But, Ann and Nancy’s dreams of BEING the Beatles speaks volumes to me. Now, if a woman ever told me to “Love me like music and I’ll be your song”, we could be talking about someone who understands me and that could be the start of a beautiful relationship.  Oh well, a guy can always dream!

In the meantime, SING CHILD SING!!

Vince Guaraldi Trio – A Charlie Brown Christmas

It’s that time of the year. For myself and lots of other people, they have a Christmas song or album that kicks off or sparks the childhood Christmas spirit we all hope for this time of year.  Okay, maybe not everyone looks for a selection of Christmas music to put them in the spirit of the season. But, for me, it’s Vince Guaraldi’s  A Charlie Brown Christmas.

To be honest, for television Christmas specials, it’s a toss-up between Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and A Charlie Brown Christmas that gets me going. But, when it comes to music, the first album I cue up on the CD player, MP3 Player or whatever on Thanksgiving weekend is the music from the 1965 TV Animated Christmas Classic.

I don’t remember the first time I watched the much-heralded Christmas special. The show was first broadcast on CBS in 1965. I was born in 1967.  That being said, it’s been on every year of my life. For much of my childhood, I would watch ALL of the kids’ Christmas specials…Rudolph, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Frosty and of course Charlie Brown.  My sister Kathy would always make some comment every year about these specials being on AGAIN.  But, I would watch it every year. I’m sure in my teenage years I would miss the airings because of the High School activities along with a part-time job to take up my time. 

When I got to college, I was living on 3rd floor Mantor Hall at KSC(now UNK). One night(maybe after a holiday break), one of the guys on the same floor was blaring a cassette tape of him playing piano at a high school talent show.  What was the song he was playing?… Linus and Lucy – the iconic theme song for everything Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang. As the familiar music came from his stereo speakers, I was filled with a wonderful feeling of the innocence of youth and I felt that playfulness of the music fall over me.  In those college years, I was struggling with my studies as a music education major. I wanted to succeed. But, as I learned…it was hard. The sound of the Vince Guaraldi music took me back to a place in my life where things were easier and less stressful.

In 1989, the jazz label GRP released a various artists album called Happy Anniversary Charlie Brown.  This album featured many of the contemporary jazz artists that were on the label performing music Vince Guaraldi and Peanuts TV specials.  In the late 80’s, MTV sister station VH-1 had programming that was geared for a more Adult Contemporary audience. I even remember watching their Sunday morning Jazz programming. One of those Sundays, there was a video for pianist David Benoit’s version of Guaraldi’s Linus and Lucy. 

I think I may have even opened up the CD for in-store play at Dustys just so I could hear Linus and Lucy again and again. Later, I had some friends of mine that went to the Ranch Bowl in Omaha to see Joe Satriani and his band play. They came back to tell that Joe’s bassist Stu Hamm did this bass solo where he played Linus and Lucy as part of the solo.  I thought “that is sooooo cool.”  A couple years later on Stu’s album The Urge, he had a track on the album titled Quahogs Anyone? Which was basically a live recording of his bass solo featuring the famed Charlie Brown song. I bought the Stu Hamm CD because that kind of instrumental stuff was some of my favorite stuff in those days.

As the 90’s progressed, this piece of music became fairly popular with musicians and music lovers alike. In 95 and 96, I spent a lot of time hanging out with my college buddy Mark P and his (now ex) wife Betsy. There were many conversations about music and movies that were banded about at the time. It was a common thread that we shared. At one point, a CD of Vince Guaraldi was put on. I don’t know if it was a “Best of” or the Christmas album. All I knew was that after hearing the different versions of the iconic songs, there was something intangible and unique about the original.

In 1996, Windham Hills artist and pianist George Winston released an album of Vince Guaraldi songs called Linus and Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi.  I think I received the CD as a Christmas gift that year. I absolutely loved it. It was nothing but solo piano. I’m sure some of my friends who knew me as a hard rocking drum loving guy were surprised by my fondness for this CD.  It was the relaxing piano music that I cherished. As time went by, it still seemed just a little stale in comparison.

Fast forward to Christmas 2006. It had been a year since my wife and I had separated. But, I was still having quality time with our son who would have been 2 years old by this time.  I was having a hard time trying to get myself into “The Christmas Spirit”.  So, what other way is there to spur it on? Buy some Christmas music. I had a couple of special Christmas CD’s I had compiled while my wife and I were together. Then, I saw a copy of A Charlie Brown Christmas original soundtrack by Vince Guaraldi.  It was priced reasonably. So, I bought it and I’m glad I did. Then, I realized that it wasn’t just the piano jazz that I loved. It was the jazz trio of Guaraldi on piano, Fred Marshall on bass and Jerry Granelli on drums that drew me in. Of course, I knew Linus and Lucy.  But, it was arrangements of  traditional Christmas tunes like O Tannenbaum and What Child is This along with Guaraldi’s original songs Skating, Christmas is Coming and Christmas Time is Here all together that resonated in me as and adult yearning for the childlike wonderment of Christmas.  The other thing that I loved(as a drummer) was the sound quality of a small drumkit in the recordings as you can hear the ride cymbal swinging away and the rack toms along with the use of brushes on the snare. It makes me want to sit down on a small kit and play along. It’s such a great feeling. It’s like the way the kids are drawn to feel in this video.

This weekend I picked up a book from the library called A Charlie Brown Christmas – The Making of a Tradition. 

It’s interesting to read about this traditional holiday special. It was made in only 6 months and was delivered to the CBS network only a week before it aired.  The two network executives that watched that first copy of it were not impressed and didn’t like it. But, the show was scheduled to air in less than a week. So, they couldn’t pull it off the schedule.  The TV Critic who was to watch it after the execs eventually liked it but didn’t say anything after his initial viewing.  But, it’s been a beloved Christmas special ever since. Another thing that’s always highlighted about this special is that Charles Schulz wanted to have the characters actually quote a passage from the Bible to highlight the true meaning of Christmas.  That message still resonates as our society continues to grow in the commercialism of the holidays that even Charles Schulz could see way back in 1965.

I’m glad I eventually bought this on CD. I’ve ripped the CD onto my MP3 every year since I bought it. I dial up these songs on a daily basis during the month of December. I even keep some of the non-Christmas tunes on my player for a little while longer and then put them on my player at the end of November to rev me up for the holiday season.

In the book A Charlie Brown Christmas:The Making of a Tradition,  Guaraldi’s son David said about his father’s music

The Music he wrote for the shows relates to each scene and the Peanuts kids’ feelings. He captured that perfectly because he loved kids; he did a lot of things for kids in his life.

As Linus quotes from the TV Special says:

Of all the Charlie Browns in the World
You’re the Charlie Browniest!

If that’s a way to describe this holiday classic TV special and music, then it’s not such a bad way to be described.

MERRY CHRISTMAS CHARLIE BROWN!!

Peter Gabriel – So

In the Spring and Summer of 1986(and a long time after that), if you turned on MTV, you saw the ubiquitous video of Peter Gabriel’s hit Sledgehammer.  There was no way to escape this video. Of course, MTV was a whole other different media outlet than it is today. Now, in late 2012, Peter Gabriel is releasing a 25th (and a half) Anniversary Edition of his 1986 album So.

Looking back, there was something about that video. Of course, it went on to win a handful of Video Music Awards. This video was a visual onslaught. We see Peter Gabriel voicing the lyrics of the song and the things he mentions in the lyrics are recreated visually around his head and face. Lyrics talking about a “Steam Train” and “blue skies” and “bumper cars bumping” are all there in the video. His face then contorts into a claymation version and his hands morph into sledgehammers as he hits himself in the head. I personally remember watching the video once (for about the upteenth time) and thinking “I’ll walk away and get to my housework after the dancing chicken scene(about 3:25 into the video)”

With all the videos that were overplayed at the time, I never felt like I hated or disliked Peter Gabriel or the music. I obviously grew tired of the video. But, when that video was new and hot, you could not walk away from watching. There was so much in it to see.

By then, I had started to make a conscious effort to be a little more open-minded past my standard hard rock/generic heavy metal tastes.  I hadn’t known a lot about Peter Gabriel before this. Looking back, I probably knew a little bit more than most. I had a guitarist friend in High School who had a cassette of Gabriel’s album Security with the single Shock the Monkey.  Being a drummer, I had been a fan of Phil Collins. So, I was educated about the whole Phil Collins – Genesis – Peter Gabriel connection.  But, for a young man that loved heavy drums and distorted guitars, Peter Gabriel was just a little “weird” and “odd” to me.  During the summer after So came out, I vaguely remember sitting and talking with my friend John G about this album.  As I stated in my blog on Queen’s A Night at the Opera,  John and I had many conversations about music. John definitely opened my ears and eyes to different artists at the time. We were at his house with tons of LPs and he dropped the needle on this album. I remember a little bit of Red Rain then into the giant hit Sledgehammer.  Then there’s this intimate duet with Kate Bush called Don’t Give Up.  I knew very little about who Kate Bush was at that point. That may have been how we got into the meat of this album. I think we listened to some of Kate Bush’s solo stuff after that too. But, I remember thinking that Kate Bush’s vocals sounded very unique and pure. Even now, I can’t think of anyone who sounds like her. Soon, after that, MTV debuted the video for Don’t Give Up and it was very simple in contrast to the visually busy Sledgehammer  video.

Gabriel and MTV soon followed with the video for Big Time.  This was another video that was visually stimulating. There was so much to see. This was a commentary on the big lives that encapsulated the decade of the 80’s. I even remember my younger brother pointing out at one point in the video that there was a character from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe that was dancing.  I still love the ultra-happy Gabriel at the beginning of the video with “HI THERE!”

By now, MTV was following and reporting everything Peter Gabriel was doing. This album was a big musical event. The entire music community seemed to paying attention to Gabriel’s avant-garde style that had somehow produced hit singles and was selling well.  In the December 1987 issue of Modern Drummer magazine, there was a cover story on Peter Gabriel’s new drummer Manu Katche.  Manu was a Frenchman and had played on the majority of the So album. This piqued my interest.  I remember reading the article and there is discussion in the article of the “Theatrical live show”. For some reason, I was put off by this. My mindset had been that musicians play their instruments and that theatricality was for Broadway musicals.  As the years have gone by, I’ve realized that both are performers performing for an audience.  So, both have their own “show” to put on.

A few years would pass. I wasn’t a huge Peter Gabriel fan. I just never felt compelled to buy the So album. Then, this album began to appear on some celebrity favorite lists.  The one that threw me for a loop was Eddie Van Halen. What?…
Edward –the King of all Hard Rock/Heavy Metal guitar histrionics and playing prowess-Van Halen was a fan of Peter Gabriel’s So? Then I saw it listed in a year end/decade end issue of Guitar World as an 80’s favorite by guitarists like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.

Then, my record store buddies Bob and Forrest and I got together one night over Christmas break. We had rented some movies to watch. One of the movies we watched was Cameron Crowe’s 1989 movie Say Anything.  If you’ve seen the movie, you know of the iconic scene where John Cusack’s character Lloyd Dobler stands outside his girlfriend’s house with his boombox stereo held high over his head while it plays Peter Gabriel’s In Your Eyes.  So many people have felt a connection to this scene(myself included).  Perhaps that is why it still remains an iconic scene.

Another friend of mine had mentioned that the “Boombox” scene was a cool and modern way to “serenade” a fair maiden. Looking back, I still think of that too. Recently, actor John Cusack joined Peter Gabriel live onstage with a boombox as Gabriel performed the song.

By this time, I was having serious thoughts of buying this album. When I moved to Omaha in 1991, I bought a used cassette copy so that way I had a way to listen to it. I then moved back to Kearney in 1994 and worked at Dustys Records again until the store closed in the summer of 95. We had a copy of Peter Gabriel’s new double live CD – Secret World Live for in-store play.  Dusty’s daughter Wendy was now an employee. She and I would often listen to the live album. We may have been bigger fans of that CD than any of the other employees at the time. After repeated listens to the live album, I decided it was time to buy a copy of So on CD. I had read interviews with Gabriel’s bass player Tony Levin about how he would play some songs on his bass with two drumsticks(cut down) on his fingers.

 

The sounds the bass made drew me in.  Eddie Van Halen had introduced his signature Music Man guitar in the early 90’s and Gabriel’s guitarist David Rhodes had been playing that model of guitar. Manu Katche played some of the most flowing expressive drumming on the live album. So, all the endorsements for this band and the music were there and I finally bought a copy on CD. I would often listen to it as a “wind-down” album. It felt like a soothing salve to a long day or week of stressful work.  I loved the sentimental romantic message of In Your Eyes and I had hoped that someday I could play that song for my future wife. Then, the woman who ended becoming my wife told me she HATED Peter Gabriel. She had a tough life in the 80’s and hated much of the music of the 80’s. Maybe now I can look back and see why she’s now my EX wife. I’m kidding. We all have our different tastes.

When I heard that there was to be the anniversary edition of the So album, I thought I would write up a memory blog for the album. I saw Peter Gabriel on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show promoting the package. Jimmy Fallon was exuberant about this anniversary package as he talked about it. It only excited me too. I also see that the Eagle Rock entertainment group is releasing a Classic Albums DVD featuring the So album.

Now, I’m facing a change in my life. I have a job that I’m not at all happy to go to. So, I’ve been listening to Don’t Give Up and the song continues to play through my head as I head through the monotony of an 8 hour workshift.  It becomes like a mantra to make it through to the next step in my life.

don't give up
'cause you have friends
don't give up
you're not the only one
don't give up
no reason to be ashamed
don't give up
you still have us
don't give up now
we're proud of who you are
don't give up
you know it's never been easy
don't give up
'cause I believe there's a place
there's a place where we belong

As I wrap this blog up, I’m thinking how odd it is that an album that I mildly enjoyed when it was first released is now in my consciousness everyday of my current life and one song(in particular) continues to resonate in my mind and my heart and soul.

Jane’s Addiction – Nothing’s Shocking

In the summer of 1988, I had been working at Dustys Records for about 8-9 months. We were always encouraged to open different albums for in-store play. We would also receive promotional albums(and cassettes) from the record companies too. As I’ve stated in some of my other album memories, I was kind of the Hard Rock/Metal expert at the store. But, by this time, I was getting tired of a lot of the same rock clones. There was plenty of criticism in the rock press about bands that were Zeppelin “clones” (Whitesnake, Kingdom Come) and I was tired of every band out of LA trying to imitate the Motley Crue “bad boy/glam” image and sound which seemed like (to me) a 3rd generation Aerosmith imitation.  Then Guns N’ Roses came along and everybody was dressing like Axl Rose with a bandana around his head and guitarists were playing Gibson Les Paul guitars like Slash slung low with yet another “Bad boy” image. The drum sounds seem like dull thuds and I was just so tired of a lot of it.

1001 Albums contributor Manish Agarwal writes:

“-By the late 1980’s, mainstream American rock was dominated by spandex and hairspray clones who were neither heavy nor metal.”

There had been a buzz in the music press about the band Jane’s Addiction. In 1987, the band had released a self titled album on the independent label Triple X records. I remember a few customers starting to ask about that first album. Since Kearney is a small Nebraska college town, there was always an audience for people who were wanting something different from the norm. But, the band’s major label release debut from Warner Brothers records Nothing’s Shocking was the album that took the music world by storm.

 

I can’t remember if the in-store copy of the album was sent by the record company or if one of us employees opened the album from store stock. All I remember was this was an album of stuff that I had never heard before.  Here was an album cover with a molded sculpture of 2 NAKED women conjoined at the hip sitting on a rocking bench and their heads are ON FIRE.  In the late 70’s and early 80’s, there had already been album covers that were plagued with controversy. The Scorpions had a couple with their albums Animal Magnetism and Lovedrive and Guns N’ Roses had controversy with the original cover of Appetite for Destruction.  There was even an album spoof highlighted in the Rock “Mockumentary” This is Spinal Tap!  But, this album didn’t feel so controversial because the title said it all: Nothing’s Shocking.

This album was so different than everything else I had been listening to. I loved the trippy ethereal opening of Up the Beach and then into Ocean Size.  Stephen Perkins throws in a shotgun drum opening to track 3 Had a Dad and we are off and running.  As I think back, I’m reminded of how this band barreled through as a complete unit. Stephen Perkins had a funky syncopated feel with a tribal stomp to his drumming. Eric Avery made these incredible bass sounds. Dave Navarro just had some awesome leads and licks that put in him in the mix too. Then, there was the voice of Perry Farrell.  His vocals didn’t sound like anyone…ever. In a rock world full of Robert Plant and Steven Tyler wannabes, this was so intensely different.  The band made one complete aural assault as one band entity. Most musicians (when they are writing music and coming up with their own sound) don’t want to sound like anything else. But, the music listener and consumer want to listen to and buy things they are familiar with. So, when a customer would come in and ask for something “different”, I would say Jane’s Addiction Nothing’s Shocking.  Then the inevitable question would come up “What does it sound like?” My answer would usually be “LIKE NOTHING YOU’VE EVER HEARD!”  This would leave customers perplexed because people really do want something to compare it with.

Even as I began to write this blog, I wanted to get another spin on memories of this album. So, I called my old friend and Dustys cohort Bob.  I’ve stated before that while I was working at Dustys, I became friends with many people. But, my connection with Bob and Forrest are irreplaceable. Forrest was the alternative/college rock fan (R.E.M., The Cure, The Smiths, The Replacements) and I was the Hard Rock guy and Bob was “Heartland Mellencamp rocker” with a bit of country(which grew into a LOT of country). I asked Bob what his memory was of Nothing’s Shocking.  This question sparked a lot of smiles and memories about that summer.  Bob and I agreed that although the three of us had diverse tastes in music, we all agreed on the fact that this album was really good.  It was a little heavier than Forrest’s usual musical tastes. It was just different and yet heavy enough for my tastes and Bob just knew that he really liked it.  He even reminded me that we had a customer come in once and ask the three of us “What’s new and good?”  We all said “Jane’s Addiction”. The customer at that point told us that if 3 guys with such varied opinions on music could like this one album, it must be good. 

Every track on this album was different yet really cool. It was funky and tribal and trippy and heavy and folky with a hint of cynicism. It was happy, brooding, depressing, and pissed off.  Bob described to me that every song on this album was a study in “Controlled Chaos” to him. You could “drop the needle” on any track on the album and know what part of the album you were on.  Bob also said that it definitely put a stamp on his musical tastes and actually confused him about what he thought he liked in music.  Like many music listeners from small town Nebraska towns in the 80’s, teenage and young adult males like Rock n’ Roll plain and simple.  Then, we arrive at college and discover new friends with new kinds of tastes in music and from different backgrounds. Speaking for myself, I was a heavy rock listener and yet I kept coming across stuff that I liked that wasn’t in that category. We’re not supposed to like stuff that doesn’t “rock”. Someone might take away our “I Wanna Rock” pledge pin. But, this album definitely challenged that notion.

Categories were yet another boundary that was predominant in the 80’s.  So, here came Jane’s Addiction and this incredible hybrid of sounds.  MTV was the main source of any kind of music entertainment and information. They had their specialty shows like 120 Minutes for Alternative stuff and Headbanger’s Ball for Hard Rock/Heavy Metal and Yo MTV Raps for the Hip-Hop/Rap audience.  I remember when Headbanger’s Ball teased (broadcast term) for a video from Jane’s Addiction.  The video for The Mountain Song was actually banned from MTV because of a scene of full frontal nudity. But, I do remember some video footage of the band on both Headbanger’s Ball and 120 Minutes. I think it may have been the video for Ocean Size

Bob and I were also studying Broadcasting at the college and had our own radio shows.  Of course, we were overly enthusiastic about Jane’s Addiction and would want to play some tracks off the album on the college radio station. I’ve always been one to play the upbeat song that is “got a good beat and fun to dance to” and be filled with some energy.  We were always supposed to prep our music for our on-air show. But, we would usually end up picking songs as the show would go on. So, I would inevitably track through the album to find an upbeat song. Sure there are great funky numbers like Idiots Rule, Had a Dad and Standing in the Shower Thinking.  But, even as I have been writing this blog, I am reminded of the songs that just built from a small speck of intimacy and build into an intense musical adventure.  The track I keep coming back to this past week is Ted, Just Admit it.  This has such an incredible build up to it! What a rush it must have been to play this one live.

Even as we would listen to the album, I would grab the album cover and the inner sleeve and read through the lyrics. The song titles and lyrics were written in a kind of handwritten type font that made it a little difficult to read. As I would try read through the lyrics, something in the dynamic of the recording would hit me and I would be distracted by something musically….or as Bob put it “What the Hell was that?”  My buzz word for anything like that in the day was “INTENSE”.  As the final sentence of the write-up in 1001 Albums for this album says

“Finally, rock ‘n’ roll was dangerous again”

In 1990, the band released their second album for Warner Bros. called Ritual De lo Habitual.  The band’s rise to more mainstream attention would definitely come with this album.  They would see wide rotation on MTV with the video for the second single Been Caught Stealing.  In 1991, singer Perry Farrell created and conceived of the now legendary annual concert event tour known as the Lollapalooza festival.  It was a tour of diverse bands and styles all playing together under one tour. As the 90’s grew on, it became known as more of a tour for the “Alternative Nation” (coincidentally another phrase created by Farrell) 

The band has broken up and reunited many times over the years. Apparently, bassist Avery and Farrell (who originally formed the band together) experienced tensions early on when Farrell wanted more songwriting royalties for himself than the rest of the band.  Guitarist Dave Navarro also has suffered from a heroin addiction in the early years too.  Farrell and drummer Stephen Perkins formed the band Porno for Pyros and recorded a couple of albums. Dave Navarro joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1993 and recorded the album One Hot Minute.  The band reunited in 1997 with Chili Pepper bassist Flea filling in for Avery who declined the reunion.  They have toured on and off again and recorded as a band.  The one member of the band who is out and in of the band over and over again has been bassist Eric Avery. He reunited with the band yet again from 2008 to 2010 and then left again and was replaced by Gn’R and Velvet Revolver bassist Duff McKagan briefly.

The last album the band released was called The Great Escape Artist in 2011. It’s unsure whether or not they will record a follow up to that yet or no. I’m guessing they probably will.  For me, nothing ever lived up to that first listening of Nothing’s Shocking.  When the Ritual was released, I had just graduated from college. I had only heard the album once or twice. Maybe my mind was too wrapped up with what I was going to do next in my life after college. I had started working at the Dustys store in Grand Island and I just didn’t feel the kind of attraction I had to the first album. Maybe it was the camaraderie between Bob, Forrest and myself that was missing at the time. I really can’t say. I had purchased Nothing’s Shocking on a CD some years later.  But, when I would be looking for something to listen to, it didn’t seem to light me on fire like it had once before.  It could have been because the band wasn’t this underground sensation that we kind of discovered at Dustys. My non-conformist nature didn’t want to like them now that they were so popular. When they reunited in 1997, I kept pulling out my CD to listen to. But, I would become disinterested in it. Eventually, I would sell my CD copy out of need for some funds of some nature.  But, I would see clips on TV or online of Stephen Perkins playing or Dave Navarro and think “Damn, I wish I had Nothing’s Shocking to listen to right now.”   I would try downloading the album illegally(I know..not good) and it just didn’t seem right.  Then, a couple years ago, Forrest was back in Nebraska and we got together for lunch. We caught up on everything and then we had to go to a music store and browse through the used CD racks. Well, guess what I found?…… A used copy of Nothing’s Shocking.   I vowed to myself then that I would never get rid of this copy ever again.

As I was trying to decide which album I wanted to write about, I started paging through the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.  I came across Nothing’s Shocking and decided to dial up the album on the MP3 player on my phone. All of a sudden, I felt the excitement and exhilaration I felt back in the summer of 1988 when I first heard the album. In the monotony of work, I would find myself with 3-4 songs from the album stuck in my head.  I called Bob and we reminisced about the album.  Bob and I have kept in touch over the years and yet it had been a few months since we had talked.  All of a sudden I was excited to write about this album and I was excited to write…period. 

I’ve stated it before…music has a way of transporting you (through memories) to a place and time you were in your life where things were just alright. We may not have known it at the time. But, they were good. Chances are you experienced that time with someone else and that’s why you consider them a friend.  Music resonates those good times for me. I absolutely love writing about these times too.  This blog entry definitely igniting a desire to keep writing too.  Who knew that it would come from an album that had lay dormant in my memory for many years. Oh well…Nothing’s Shocking!

Anthrax – Among the Living

I started writing this blog a couple of months ago. But, I started to stall out with what I wanted to say about the memories I had associated with this album. As I write this(Summer 2012), I am experiencing a renewed interest in my comic book collection that was a big part of my life from about 1977-1982.  This summer saw the release of director Christopher Nolan’s 3rd Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises.  Along with this movie, I have been listening to the podcasts of director Kevin Smith(Mallrats, Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) Smith is a big fan of comic books and has a weekly podcast devoted to Batman titled “Fatman on Batman”.  On his July 9th podcast, he talks to his longtime friend Walt Flanagan.  One of the events in their Batman “obsession” is this album. As they talk about this album briefly, I found myself nodding my head and thinking about my own recollections of this album.  With that being said, I want to talk about this landmark album from this east coast band of thrashers. 

The summer of 1987 was the last summer I spent living with my parents in Hastings before I moved to Kearney (permanently) to finish my college years. In those days of that summer, I would spend my time off (from mowing lawns and working at Kmart)perusing the record bins in various places. I would go to the pawn shop, the Musicland store in the Imperial Mall and a Budget Records in a newly constructed strip mall with soft-serve yogurt and an Applause Video. I remember finding a used copy(it was actually a store promo) of this next album in that Budget Records store. I would go have a look at this album over and over that summer trying to decide if I really wanted to buy the album that would become one of the most pivotal thrash metal albums of 1987.  I’m talking about Anthrax’s Among The Living.

I have a distinct memory about being very cautious about this purchase. I had seen albums by Anthrax. I knew they were a heavy thrash band and they were probably a loud band. I had become a big fan of Metallica and they were THE thrash band that I measured all others by. Metallica had singled out Anthrax in their “special Thanks” section of the album Master of Puppets.  I had heard a bunch of different thrash stuff from my college friend-Shaun. But, I was still hesitant. Would these guys be of the same caliber (in my mind) as Metallica?  By this time, I would stay up on Saturday nights and watch MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball religiously. I always figured I would catch a cool rare video that wasn’t in regular heavy rotation or one by my favorite lesser known bands. One of those summer Saturday nights, I saw the video for the Anthrax song Indians. It was heavy and intense. The drums start off the song with some kind of tribal intensity. The dual harmony guitars come in then to lead the song into some kind of “old movie Indian” theme. It was fast and slamming. Then, the vocals come in and it’s kind of a cool high vocal that (to me) separated them from the other thrash bands of the time with could be more guttural.  Joey Belladonna sounded like an actual singer with great vocal chops. I liked what I heard. But, I was like many music fans and wondered “what would the other songs sound like?”

So, on a HOT July evening, I walked into that Budget Records store, reeling from the summer heat. I remember taking in the comfort of the store’s air conditioning and bought that copy of Among The Living that had been staring back at me for the past few months. In those days, the 12 inch LP was a great source of entertainment when buying a record. Sometimes a band would fill the inside record sleeve with pictures, lyrics and a whole slew of people and bands in the “special thanks” section.  In those days, I knew that this type of album was VERY HEAVY and not everyone’s favorite. So, I would find time alone to put the album and take it all in. I dropped the needle on the Anthrax album and read through the liner notes on the album sleeve and read as they thanked a bunch of the usual record insiders and fellow thrash bands like Metallica. They even dedicated the album to the memory of Metallica’s bassist Cliff Burton that had died in a bus accident in late 1986. In the long list of “Thank Yous”, they also thanked such comic book icons like Batman “Thanks to Frank Miller and Lynn Varley for recreating the Dark Knight (He Rules) and Judge Dredd “(Sorry Bats…HE RULES…OK?)”. In 1987, Batman and Judge Dredd didn’t have any movie franchises going. There was an underground buzz going about Batman with the 1986 graphic novel called The Dark Knight Returns and Judge Dredd was the comic about a futuristic judge who was and instant judge and jury in one.  This was 2-3 years before Jack Nicholson starred as the Joker and Sylvester Stallone as a laughable Judge Dredd. So, here we had a group of guys in a Heavy Metal band that read comics. I had given up collecting comics around 1982 for more music and rock themed magazines like "Modern Drummer”,“Musician” “Hit Parader” and “Circus”. When you’re a teenage boy that reads comics, the girls don’t exactly flock to you. So, I thought that was really cool and that made the band seem really down-to-earth too.

 

The first track comes on and builds with slow chugging chords and then drummer Charlie Benante slams into the song with a double bass drum barrage that absolutely BLEW ME AWAY!!  I thought “this is faster than anything that Metallica does”  About six months later, I ran into my friend Shaun. I hadn’t seen or talked to Shaun in a long time. I went to see him and when I got there (I believe) he had an Among the Living promotional poster in his apartment. One of the first things he says to me is “Have you heard Anthrax? Don’t they just KICK ASS?” or something along those lines. Of course, I agreed wholeheartedly and I think I said “Man, Charlie Benante kicks Lars Ulrich’s ass on drums!”

The album starts off with the title track about the character of Randall Flagg from the Stephen King novel The Stand.  I think I remember reading about that in the liner notes. But, I had forgotten about it until I started writing this blog. It was slamming and heavy and they were using literary characters. These guys were aggressive and yet well read and intelligent too. Of course, the band had also listed Stephen King in the “thank yous” of the liner notes.

The second track is called Caught in the Mosh.  In 1987, “moshing” was a common event when you went to see a hardcore punk or thrash metal band. But, for any mainstream audience of the day, the term was unknown. I had been educated through various friends (mostly Shaun again).  It basically was an aggressive way of slamming and pushing into each other during an extremely heavy and hardcore concert. So, I felt like I was part of an elite educated club when the lyric would say…

Which one of these words don’t you understand?
WHAT IS IT …..CAUGHT IN THE MOSH!!

Next up, is the track about the comic book character Judge Dredd called I am the Law!  I really had not heard anything about this character. He wasn’t a hero from DC or Marvel comics that I had grown up with. He was actually a character from a British Sci-fi magazine called 2000 A.D. But, the fact that a Metal band had written a song based on a comic book character was very very cool. The album never had any songs about Batman on the album. But, it was obvious they were fans. It would be a couple years later that Warner Brothers would release the Tim Burton Batman movie in 1989 and it wouldn’t be until 1995 when Hollywood Pictures would release a Judge Dredd movie starring “Rocky/Rambo” himself…Sylvester Stallone.   I remember talking with my Metal loving friends how cool it would have been to have had Anthrax do the music for either the Batman movie or the Judge Dredd movie. Alas, they didn’t.

 

Next up, is a song called Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.). After listening to the song, you understand the title completely. N.F.L stands for “Nice F**king Life” Also, take “Efilnikufesin” and spell it backwards..pretty obvious.  After looking back at this album, I can’t remember if I knew or not. But, this song was about John Belushi and his life, addiction and tragic death.

“Wake up dead in a plywood bed six feet from the rest of your life
When you couldn’t see your own dependency….N..F..L…”

Next is Skeletons in the Closet. Looking back, it didn’t seem like anything special. But, it definitely tied the album of songs together for a well flowing album. I believe this track was the last track of the vinyl LP’s side one. So, when I flipped the album over to side two, It started off with the track Indians which is the song that hooked me first. At this point, the listener is now on the 6th track of this album. So far, quite the intense ride for a first time listener. From there, the album slams home with 3 more songs One World, A.D.I/Horror of it All, and Imitation of Life.

A couple years would pass and I would gain a few more friends through my connections at the college radio station and at Dustys Records.  My friend Steve C. bought a video copy of the Anthrax live video Anthrax – Oidivnikufesin N.F.V.  Once again, if you figured out what N.F.L. stood for, you could figure out what the title of the video stood for.  This had to be around 1988-89 or so. At this time, most people had VCR’s. But, how many people had them hooked up to their stereo system?  My Dustys co-hort Bob had just bought a new stereo system and had his VCR hooked up to it. So, we took the Anthrax live concert video over to Bob’s and turned it up.  Most of the Among the Living album is played on this video. This only fueled my excitement for this album. 

In 1988, The band would release their next album State of Euphoria. I remember liking the album. But, it didn’t seem to have the “edge” that Among the Living had. Once again, this was the topic of deep conversation with my music and metal loving friends.  My friend (and future roommate) Matt came to loving Anthrax through the State of Euphoria album and I remember Steve and I telling Matt that he really needed to check out Among the Living.  He eventually did.

In 1990, the band came out with the album Persistence of Time album with a really heavy cover of Joe Jackson’s Got the Time. This would be the last Anthrax I would buy for awhile. My tastes in the early 90’s changed. I was less interested in the Heavy thrash stuff that I had been listening to in the 80’s and was more into “groove” oriented bands and jam bands.  Anthrax had also started to spearhead a new “metal/rap” crossover movement. That had an EP in between Among and Euphoria called I’m the Man which was seemed kind of a rap parody song. While it was fun. It wasn’t my thing. They eventually would record with rap artists Public Enemy with a cover of their song Bring Da Noise. It was definitely not my thing and I passed on that one.

In 1992, lead singer Joey Belladonna was fired from the band and replaced by Armored Saint singer John Bush.  I had been a moderate fan of Armored Saint in the 80’s. There was also many stories told of how Metallica had actually considered John Bush as their vocalist before James Hetfield took on the role of frontman. But, this was not enough for me to welcome Bush into the fold.  I liked Bush’s music with Anthrax. It just wasn’t on my radar of favorite things to listen to.  Bush stayed with the band for another 10 years or so. Then, in 2005-2006, the Among the Living band lineup reunited for a short tour. Belladonna left the band again and then rejoined finally for the band’s 2011 long awaited album Worship Music.  I was actually very excited about this return to the band and the new album of material.  It reminded me of how I felt listening the Among the Living all those years ago. I actually wrote about it in my Listening Habits of 2011 blog.  I was excited to hear the new music. But, it also got me thinking about how I felt in 1987 when I was 20 years old and exploring all kinds of new music.

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die contributor Joel McIver wrote:

New Yorkers Anthrax hit their artistic, critical, and commercial peak early, with their third full-length album, Among the Living.  A perfect blend of the speed that thrash fans hungered for, crafted tunes of breathtaking unpredictability, and a unique sound.
There is no forgetting the sheer joy of thrash’s peak era – and this album is among the best

On a side note…. I had read Batman: The Dark Knight Returns back in the summer of 1988. It didn’t really resonate with me back then. Perhaps I felt I was too busy in those days going to college classes, working in a record store, working a college radio shift or frequenting the bars on weekends. It just wasn’t something I was excited about.  This summer, I found a renewed interest in everything Batman. So, I checked out a copy of this game-changing graphic novel, quieted my mind and took the whole thing in.  I loved it and was completely engrossed in it too. For its time, it really was a reinvention of the Batman mythos and was very influential in all the Batman related media that would be re-imagined over the past 25+ years. Warner Pictures is getting ready to release a direct-to-DVD animated feature of this graphic novel in the Fall of 2012. I am looking forward to it. I don’t think there’s an Anthrax tie in with this one either.  I don’t mind. I have my memories that connect this album with the Dark Knight….and this is my blog too.