Over at Russell Beattie’s site. A review at OSNews.
Category Archives: Music
The New York Times Asks – The Philadelphia Inquirer Answers
NYTimes: What Price Music?
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Solved: The Downloading Mess.
The Unsexy List
Nerve’s list of the 50 most unsexy things put a smile on my face. Gotta pass on some humor in the face of reality. After all “Underemployed” is the new norm for all too many. Then again it’s great to have some mis-notions shattered in this Foreign Police piece Think Again: International Trade.
On a different matter entirely – you want to buy Alice Cooper’s latest. You want to buy it. You want to buy it. You want to buy it.
P.S. – I love this pic. Ya gotta love it.
Hey – is there anyone else you know that can hop from Nerve to Foreign Police Magazine to Alice Cooper? Hehe. I must be messed up on some level….
How To Be A Jug or String Band MVP
A great, great, great post at Metafilter.
The Stupidist List Of All Time
Head on over to Shannon’s to discuss the stupidity of RollingStone’s piss-poor list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
No Ace? Van Halen way down at 70? Kirk Hammet (who wouldn’t EXIST without Eddie) at 11? Kurt Cobain at 12?!?!? How can he even be on the list?!?! Friggin’ stupid.
Go to Shannon’s to vent.
The VMAs sucked!
Why? Why? WHY?!?!? Why did I let myself think it would be any different then the last few years?
There needs to be a MTV2 Awards show. No – better yet – a real competitor to MTV needs to stand up. There is great music out there – and I’m sure great videos – they deserve to be seen and heard.
Johnny Cash don’t need MTV and it’s a shame that MTV missed a chance to be something more then just advertisement.
Man did it suck. It was like a car wreck. Never – never – never again!
Johnny Cash and the MTV Music Awards
Yahoo!: Johnny Cash May Steal Show at MTV Awards. via saint some days. No video since Metallica’s “One” has been so powerful.
Lyrics matter again
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – bad times brings good music. Honest music. Read Kelefa Sanneh’s piece in the NYTimes on Dashboard Confessional, and the long existing, just getting noticed (mainstreamed) emo scene. People who say today’s music sucks only look where the marketers tell them to – or where their nostalgia drags them.
Blogathon 2003 was yesterday
Shannon Campbell and Scott Andrew did something unique and special for it.
Motorhead, Dio, Iron Maiden, Sheryl Crow, The Goo Goo Dolls, and Bon Jovi
Chris Puzak risks his “indie street cred” but gives a great review for last Thursday’s Motorhead, Dio, Iron Maiden show for Blogathon.
I was there too. We missed an opportunity to hang out it seems! Let me share my thoughts on a great night.
I’ve never seen Motorhead before, but knew a few songs from friends. Like Chris, songs I’ve heard from them always sounded kinda the same. Bad sound during the set emphasized this impression. But man – they had power. Tons and tons and tons of driving power. Lemmy is as much a grandfather to metal as Ozzy. You can hear Motorhead’s influence in so many bands – the genre simply wouldn’t have been the same without them. I guess it’s around 20 years late – but it’s time to buy some CDs 🙂 I bow my head in shame.
Dio put on a terrific show. He always does. Like Ozzy, he picks a talented band to take on tour and this night was no different, featuring “Dream Evil” guitarist Craig Goldy. The band had chemistry. They were tight, their sound was balanced, Dio’s vocals were soaring and the crowd enjoyed every minute.
Iron Maiden has always been one of my favorites to see, but something was wrong. The bass overwhelmed everything. I realize to some Steve Harris practically defines Maiden’s sound, but I’ve never heard him mixed so loud as to drown out Bruce Dickenson, or their triple guitar team of Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, and Janick Gers. Maybe it was the conservative set list. No surprises in it except for the missing “Wasted Years”. That was a disappointment. In any case, it was particularly fun listening to Bruce rip into Metallica, oh so subtly, when he urged the crowd to tape the show and trade it on the net.
When I was a kid these three bands were very much considered “underground”. No way would you hear them on the radio. You kept up with news via fanzines or word of mouth. Fans of them took sport in deriding more mainstream acts (like Bon Jovi). Funny how perceptions can override reality after the fact. Funny how closed minded marketers encourage us to be.
Speaking of Bon Jovi… I should share my review of last night’s concert – but words don’t come easy just yet. It was a night to remember. They, Sheryl Crow, and The Goo Goo Dolls gave the Vet its last rock concert and it couldn’t have been better.
“The challenge is to get everyone on your side, singing along, driving you to work harder. Not just the people down front, but the people in the upper deck, too. They’re paying you to jump around, but they don’t get anything extra for doing it themselves. They can sit on their hands if they want. But their actions and reactions are what fuels me to reach to a higher plane. When I get there I know I’m doing my job well. I’d be brokenhearted if it was ever some other way.”
Mission accomplished. Last night the Vet was a cathedral of rock n’ roll.