7/10 Hate spandex, big hair, make-up and the boys in costume? Well, when you have songwriting as strong Bon Jovi’s “Slipper When Wet”, does it really matter? This album represents the relentless pursuit of a good time. An old fashioned rock n roll record that gets you hoppin, and just enough of a surprise “Wanted Dead or Alive”, to make it a classic. Def Leppard were Jon and Ritchie’s only competition for this type of slick hair metal. Lap it up, puppies.
May 20, 2008
May 19, 2008
Rock Music is a Virus
Rock music, by its very nature, is in a state of constant flux. It constantly evolves by the combination of various content and musical influences, the constant being the traditional drum, bass, guitar, vocal configuration. Early on, it was the combination of blues, gospel and rockabilly. Lyrical content was sexually based, representing subject matter that was taboo to conservative society of the 50’s, creating the rebellious nature of rock n roll. In the early 90’s it was Death Metal, suicide, self-mutilation, etc., followed by Nu-Metal which incorporated some of the rap culture. Obviously, there’s a commercial appeal to this and record companies quickly figured out how to market the good acts, creating a bunch of imitators, flooding the market with product, desensitizing society to what made the bands sound so dangerous in the first place, making rock music, as you noted, “generic”. So like a lethal virus, the next generation of musicians rebel, label the mega-rich rock stars “sellouts” and take the genre to more extreme territory, evolving into a new “strain”. All these sub-genres are new strains, and the best ones look to rock society at its core. That being said, rock music seems to be in a slump. Rap music today has become what rock music used to be.
Jimmy Hendrex – Blue Wild Angel
This review is for the complete double disc version. Captured several weeks before Jimi’s death, The Isle of Wight festival was his last performance and offers a priceless document showcasing Hendrix transition from psychodelic period toward a harder rocking styles displayed on his last full-length, ‘Freedom”. After a rough first half, marred by some technical glitches and lack- luster audience reaction, he comes through big time on the second disk, combining classics like “Foxy Lady” and newer material. High lights include “Message of Love”, “EZY Rider” “Voodoo Chile” and “In from he Storm”. If you get the double deluxe version with DVD of the concert, you can see what Hendrix was up against. For instance, after finally getting on stage after 3 am, Jimi and band tear through “Spanish Castle Magic’ only to hear a virtual silent audience reaction at the end. Also, it’s very strange watching Jimi sling on a black and white Flying-V, instead his trademark Strat. Luckily it only lasts for a couple of tunes. But all-in-all, it’s Jimi’s love of music that propels the performance. Just listen to the walkie-talkie interference during “Machine Gun” and “Foxy Lady”, and how he works it in the groove, creating the first “post-rock” performance. So far ahead of his time.
Blue Oyster Cult – Secret Treaties
This is the pinnacle of BOC’s career as well as being one of rock music’s greatest achievements. The remastering is spectacular, lending this recording great depth and texture. What’s really killer is when Dharma, Bloom and Lanier line up the guitars and play triple leads left, center and right, creating a layered effect, pushing the framework of modern rock music to boundries its never been to, since. If that’s not enough, you’ve got the tightest rhythm section ever recorded…and keyboards! Secret Treaties is one of the most creative and entertaining progressive rock recording, easily comparable to Ziggy Stardust, Who’s Next, Machine Head, etc. Treaties starts strong, and never lets up, songs flowing seamlessly into each other, creating a unified suite of songs, the last time BOC produced such an “Album Oriented Rock” record, abandonning this approach for uneven albums, and steller singles the rest of their career. Sensing the inevitable ending during the resonating piano of “Flamming Telepaths” and “Astronomy”, I hoped this experience would last another 40 minutes. Instead, when done, I immediately played the cd again…with headphone. Needless to say, this is on my heavy rotation…as well as their debut and Tyranny and Mutation.