Tuesday, March 30, 2004
March 30: Placebo - Sleeping with Ghosts
Home countries: Luxembourg, Sweden, England
As we wind down international month, I thought I'd listen to the most international band I could find. Placebo is made up of an American who was raised in Luxembourg, a Swede and a Brit. They're big in continental Europe, not so much in the UK or the US, but you might remember their hit "Pure Morning" from five years ago. This is their new album, and I like it... very foreboding and nervous, if that makes any sense. The singer's constant rhyming couplets do get a little old after awhile, though.
(0) comments
As we wind down international month, I thought I'd listen to the most international band I could find. Placebo is made up of an American who was raised in Luxembourg, a Swede and a Brit. They're big in continental Europe, not so much in the UK or the US, but you might remember their hit "Pure Morning" from five years ago. This is their new album, and I like it... very foreboding and nervous, if that makes any sense. The singer's constant rhyming couplets do get a little old after awhile, though.
March 29: The Corrs - Talk on Corners (Special Edition)
Home Country: Ireland
So I own a Corrs album... you wanna make something of it? I like this album, too, although I'm not sure why I have this one and not one of the later ones. I particularly like their duet with Bono on Ryan Adams' "When the Stars Go Blue" from their live album.
Have any of you all seen Hurricane Jane? They play around Oklahoma and Texas a lot. I didn't realize until listening to this album again how much of a Corrs ripoff they are. It's kind of funny. Then again, more than one reviewer has called the Corrs "the Irish Wilson Phillips." Not that I like Wilson Phillips; those are just dirty rumors.
It's got to suck to be the guy in the Corrs. You're in a band with three of the hottest women in rock, and they're your sisters.
(0) comments
So I own a Corrs album... you wanna make something of it? I like this album, too, although I'm not sure why I have this one and not one of the later ones. I particularly like their duet with Bono on Ryan Adams' "When the Stars Go Blue" from their live album.
Have any of you all seen Hurricane Jane? They play around Oklahoma and Texas a lot. I didn't realize until listening to this album again how much of a Corrs ripoff they are. It's kind of funny. Then again, more than one reviewer has called the Corrs "the Irish Wilson Phillips." Not that I like Wilson Phillips; those are just dirty rumors.
It's got to suck to be the guy in the Corrs. You're in a band with three of the hottest women in rock, and they're your sisters.
Sunday, March 28, 2004
March 28: U2 - Achtung Baby
Home country: Ireland
You can't do Ireland without listening to a U2 cd. But this one's not that Irish; they recorded most of it in Berlin right after the Wall fell. Still my favorite U2 CD, narrowly beating out Joshua Tree. "One" is on the Top 10 songs of all time list.
(0) comments
You can't do Ireland without listening to a U2 cd. But this one's not that Irish; they recorded most of it in Berlin right after the Wall fell. Still my favorite U2 CD, narrowly beating out Joshua Tree. "One" is on the Top 10 songs of all time list.
March 27: Ash - Free All Angels
Home country: Northern Ireland
That's right, there's time for some people in Northern Ireland to make music in between all that fighting each other. I've seen Ash twice: once opening for Weezer in the spring of '97, and once in Dallas last summer. They're a good pop-punk band, with the emphasis on the pop, but they have trouble with albums. They write great singles: "Girl from Mars," "Jack Names the Planets," "Burn Baby Burn." But the album tracks are pretty well awful. This album comes with a cool DVD, though.
(0) comments
That's right, there's time for some people in Northern Ireland to make music in between all that fighting each other. I've seen Ash twice: once opening for Weezer in the spring of '97, and once in Dallas last summer. They're a good pop-punk band, with the emphasis on the pop, but they have trouble with albums. They write great singles: "Girl from Mars," "Jack Names the Planets," "Burn Baby Burn." But the album tracks are pretty well awful. This album comes with a cool DVD, though.
March 26: Idlewild - The Remote Part
Home country: Scotland
You know, I'm Scottish originally. My family has their own plaid and everything. But there aren't a huge number of great bands from Scotland: Travis, Idlewild, the Bay City Rollers, and... uh... the Proclaimers. That's about it.
Idlewild are Scottish. And their albums got a lot better after Scotland got its own government in 1999 after 300 years of English rule. Coincidence?
(0) comments
You know, I'm Scottish originally. My family has their own plaid and everything. But there aren't a huge number of great bands from Scotland: Travis, Idlewild, the Bay City Rollers, and... uh... the Proclaimers. That's about it.
Idlewild are Scottish. And their albums got a lot better after Scotland got its own government in 1999 after 300 years of English rule. Coincidence?
Friday, March 26, 2004
March 25: Manic Street Preachers - Forever Delayed: The Greatest Hits
Home country: Wales
I think an honest case could be made that Manic Street Preachers are the biggest band never to have even registered a blip in the U.S. Even such UK bigwigs as Robbie Williams or the Beautiful South have had a top 40 single on a radio format, or hit the bottom part of the Billboard 200. The Manics have had nothing.
Part of that could be that they're the unluckiest band of the '90s. The other part could be that the band are more left-wing than the Clash, and their guitarist Richey Edwards once carved "4 REAL" into his arm with a pocket knife when an interviewer suggested their songs were too hair metal in the early '90s. But consider this:
1) In '95, the Manics are set for their first big tour of the U.S. for their third album, The Holy Bible. They've got the lead single on the Judge Dredd soundtrack, called "Judge Y'rself." Then Edwards, who was pretty unstable, disappears. (Nine years later, there are occasional sightings of him in India, but most people consider him to be dead). The tour is cancelled, the single pulled from the soundtrack.
2) The band regroups as a three-piece, makes an album called Everything Must Go that turns them into superstars in the UK, Australia, and Europe. They get a slot opening for Oasis on their U.S. tour in '96. The Gallagher brothers have a fight, Liam goes back to Manchester, the tour is cancelled.
3) They come back in '98 with This is My Truth, Tell Me Yours (this is the album that got me into the Manics). The first single is called "If You Tolerate This, Your Children Will Be Next" and is about the Spanish Civil War. It goes No. 1 in Britain. Radio programmers in the U.S. say the song title is too long and won't play it. (OK, that one is partially their fault).
Anyway, this is their greatest hits. It's really good, and captures the transition from Guns 'N Roses wanna-bes to mature, orchestral-rock superstars. Everywhere but America.
(0) comments
I think an honest case could be made that Manic Street Preachers are the biggest band never to have even registered a blip in the U.S. Even such UK bigwigs as Robbie Williams or the Beautiful South have had a top 40 single on a radio format, or hit the bottom part of the Billboard 200. The Manics have had nothing.
Part of that could be that they're the unluckiest band of the '90s. The other part could be that the band are more left-wing than the Clash, and their guitarist Richey Edwards once carved "4 REAL" into his arm with a pocket knife when an interviewer suggested their songs were too hair metal in the early '90s. But consider this:
1) In '95, the Manics are set for their first big tour of the U.S. for their third album, The Holy Bible. They've got the lead single on the Judge Dredd soundtrack, called "Judge Y'rself." Then Edwards, who was pretty unstable, disappears. (Nine years later, there are occasional sightings of him in India, but most people consider him to be dead). The tour is cancelled, the single pulled from the soundtrack.
2) The band regroups as a three-piece, makes an album called Everything Must Go that turns them into superstars in the UK, Australia, and Europe. They get a slot opening for Oasis on their U.S. tour in '96. The Gallagher brothers have a fight, Liam goes back to Manchester, the tour is cancelled.
3) They come back in '98 with This is My Truth, Tell Me Yours (this is the album that got me into the Manics). The first single is called "If You Tolerate This, Your Children Will Be Next" and is about the Spanish Civil War. It goes No. 1 in Britain. Radio programmers in the U.S. say the song title is too long and won't play it. (OK, that one is partially their fault).
Anyway, this is their greatest hits. It's really good, and captures the transition from Guns 'N Roses wanna-bes to mature, orchestral-rock superstars. Everywhere but America.
Thursday, March 25, 2004
March 24: 60 ft. dolls - The Big 3
Home country - Wales
60 ft. Dolls big problem? Well, for one, they abbreviate the word "foot" in their band name. That's a little weird. Secondly, they play loose, raw garage rock, and this album came out in 1997. If it came out today, they'd be huge. Actually, if it came out today, people would say they were ripping off the Vines, the Hives, etc. etc. If it came out 18 months ago, they'd be huge.
(0) comments
60 ft. Dolls big problem? Well, for one, they abbreviate the word "foot" in their band name. That's a little weird. Secondly, they play loose, raw garage rock, and this album came out in 1997. If it came out today, they'd be huge. Actually, if it came out today, people would say they were ripping off the Vines, the Hives, etc. etc. If it came out 18 months ago, they'd be huge.
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
March 23: Stereophonics - Performance and Cocktails
Home country: Wales
It may have had next to no impact in the U.S., but the Welsh rock scene is really big in Europe and the UK. I don't actually own any albums by Welsh bands that actually sing in Welsh, like Super Furry Animals and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, but I do have this second album by the Stereophonics (whose name was a direct influence on the Animatronics, my band with Chris Friend in the summer of '99). If you've heard their more recent stuff, you may have a bad impression of the Stereophonics as a bad soft-rock band with a Rod Stewart fetish, but this album, the one that broke them in the UK, rocks. Very raw, hard power trio stuff. I recommend "Roll Up and Shine" or "Pick a Part That's New."
(0) comments
It may have had next to no impact in the U.S., but the Welsh rock scene is really big in Europe and the UK. I don't actually own any albums by Welsh bands that actually sing in Welsh, like Super Furry Animals and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, but I do have this second album by the Stereophonics (whose name was a direct influence on the Animatronics, my band with Chris Friend in the summer of '99). If you've heard their more recent stuff, you may have a bad impression of the Stereophonics as a bad soft-rock band with a Rod Stewart fetish, but this album, the one that broke them in the UK, rocks. Very raw, hard power trio stuff. I recommend "Roll Up and Shine" or "Pick a Part That's New."
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
March 22: Bad Company - Holy Water
Home country - England
OK, here's the complete story of how me and Matt (and the rest of 12 Pearls) met (sort of) Bad Company:
It's a little-remembered footnote in rock history now, but tons of rock bands that were popular in the '70s changed their sound, hired outside songwriters, and desperately tried to keep up with hair metal in the '80s. The most successful band to do this was obviously Aerosmith, but who remembers Alice Cooper's "Poison"? Yes' "Owner of a Lonely Heart"? "Crazy, Crazy Nights" or "Let's Put the X in Sex" by KISS? "The Flame" by Cheap Trick? Any Damn Yankees songs? Or, yes, "If You Needed Somebody" by Bad Company.
According to allmusic.com, Bad Company broke up in 1982 when Paul Rodgers left the band to join a supergroup called The Firm with Jimmy Page. Then the guitarist and drummer reformed the band with a new lead singer, Brian Howe, in '86. Howe used to sing for Ted Nugent's band, but not on the good stuff, on the bad early '80s stuff. The "new" Bad Company put out four hair-metal albums in the late '80s and early '90s. This one, Holy Water, was the most successful, and it's not hard to see why: every song is like a hair-metal cliché - the overly-sincere singer, the "dirty," over-produced guitar tones, the power ballad. But is it really Bad Company? Most of the songs were written by Howe and an outside producer named Terry Thomas.
Long story short, Howe got the boot in 1995 and Bad Co. hired some dude named Robert Hart to sing for them and write all their songs. Then they learned a law of rock (later to be learned by Van Halen): the fans will accept one new lead singer, but when you get a THIRD lead singer, nobody cares anymore. So Hart got the axe after two albums and Rodgers came back in. Now they tour places like Ardmore with Kansas.
So how does 12p fit into all this? In the summer of '02, we were owed a couple of favors by this club owner in Lawton who liked to book the band and then conveniently find an excuse to only pay them $20. So he calls me up and offers to let the band open for Bad Company. We said yes, we got down there, there's a big crowd, and then this band walks out there and opens the show with — not "Feel Like Makin' Love." Not "Shooting Star." "Holy Water," the title track from this album. It wasn't Bad Company at all, but Brian Howe with three backing musicians. Apparently because he wrote all those hair-metal songs for the band in the late '80s, he won the right in court to tour as Bad Company.
It was awful and awesome at the same time. And when I found this album a year later in a CD Warehouse, I had to have it.
(0) comments
OK, here's the complete story of how me and Matt (and the rest of 12 Pearls) met (sort of) Bad Company:
It's a little-remembered footnote in rock history now, but tons of rock bands that were popular in the '70s changed their sound, hired outside songwriters, and desperately tried to keep up with hair metal in the '80s. The most successful band to do this was obviously Aerosmith, but who remembers Alice Cooper's "Poison"? Yes' "Owner of a Lonely Heart"? "Crazy, Crazy Nights" or "Let's Put the X in Sex" by KISS? "The Flame" by Cheap Trick? Any Damn Yankees songs? Or, yes, "If You Needed Somebody" by Bad Company.
According to allmusic.com, Bad Company broke up in 1982 when Paul Rodgers left the band to join a supergroup called The Firm with Jimmy Page. Then the guitarist and drummer reformed the band with a new lead singer, Brian Howe, in '86. Howe used to sing for Ted Nugent's band, but not on the good stuff, on the bad early '80s stuff. The "new" Bad Company put out four hair-metal albums in the late '80s and early '90s. This one, Holy Water, was the most successful, and it's not hard to see why: every song is like a hair-metal cliché - the overly-sincere singer, the "dirty," over-produced guitar tones, the power ballad. But is it really Bad Company? Most of the songs were written by Howe and an outside producer named Terry Thomas.
Long story short, Howe got the boot in 1995 and Bad Co. hired some dude named Robert Hart to sing for them and write all their songs. Then they learned a law of rock (later to be learned by Van Halen): the fans will accept one new lead singer, but when you get a THIRD lead singer, nobody cares anymore. So Hart got the axe after two albums and Rodgers came back in. Now they tour places like Ardmore with Kansas.
So how does 12p fit into all this? In the summer of '02, we were owed a couple of favors by this club owner in Lawton who liked to book the band and then conveniently find an excuse to only pay them $20. So he calls me up and offers to let the band open for Bad Company. We said yes, we got down there, there's a big crowd, and then this band walks out there and opens the show with — not "Feel Like Makin' Love." Not "Shooting Star." "Holy Water," the title track from this album. It wasn't Bad Company at all, but Brian Howe with three backing musicians. Apparently because he wrote all those hair-metal songs for the band in the late '80s, he won the right in court to tour as Bad Company.
It was awful and awesome at the same time. And when I found this album a year later in a CD Warehouse, I had to have it.
Sunday, March 21, 2004
March 21: Catherine Wheel - Like Cats and Dogs
Home country: England
Oh man, I forgot all about Catherine Wheel until I dug this out of the nether reaches of my collection earlier this week. I love Catherine Wheel; why do I only own this one CD, which is a collection of B-sides from their European singles? I need to buy some more Catherine Wheel CDs. By the way, this has the best cover of "Wish You Were Here" ever. An argument could be made that it's better than the Pink Floyd version.
In case anybody cares, Catherine Wheel formed in the very early '90s and are the most successful band (in the U.S., anyway) to ever come out of the British "shoegazer" movement, which also included My Bloody Valentine, Swervedriver, Ride, etc. In the '90s, they toured with the Smashing Pumpkins, INXS, Everclear, Belly, Live, and more. You might remember their '95 hits "Waydown" and "Judy Staring at the Sun," which was a duet with Tanya Donelly of Belly. If you listened to KSPI in 1995, you've heard those two songs. Trust me. Find 'em on Kazaa if you don't believe me.
(0) comments
Oh man, I forgot all about Catherine Wheel until I dug this out of the nether reaches of my collection earlier this week. I love Catherine Wheel; why do I only own this one CD, which is a collection of B-sides from their European singles? I need to buy some more Catherine Wheel CDs. By the way, this has the best cover of "Wish You Were Here" ever. An argument could be made that it's better than the Pink Floyd version.
In case anybody cares, Catherine Wheel formed in the very early '90s and are the most successful band (in the U.S., anyway) to ever come out of the British "shoegazer" movement, which also included My Bloody Valentine, Swervedriver, Ride, etc. In the '90s, they toured with the Smashing Pumpkins, INXS, Everclear, Belly, Live, and more. You might remember their '95 hits "Waydown" and "Judy Staring at the Sun," which was a duet with Tanya Donelly of Belly. If you listened to KSPI in 1995, you've heard those two songs. Trust me. Find 'em on Kazaa if you don't believe me.
Saturday, March 20, 2004
March 20: Robbie Williams - The Ego Has Landed
Home country: England
Robbie Williams doesn't translate well. Maybe that's because his songs feature lines such as "My breath smells like a thousand fags." Totally different meaning in the UK from the US, you know? This is his first US release, which is a compilation of the best songs from his first two UK CDs. And it's good. Any CD with the line "Every morning, when I wake up/ I look like KISS, but without the makeup" is a good CD. Also features "Angels," which has been permanently bored into my memory because crowds of drunken Englishmen (and women) used to sing it every night as they wandered past my dorm room window on their way home from the bars.
(0) comments
Robbie Williams doesn't translate well. Maybe that's because his songs feature lines such as "My breath smells like a thousand fags." Totally different meaning in the UK from the US, you know? This is his first US release, which is a compilation of the best songs from his first two UK CDs. And it's good. Any CD with the line "Every morning, when I wake up/ I look like KISS, but without the makeup" is a good CD. Also features "Angels," which has been permanently bored into my memory because crowds of drunken Englishmen (and women) used to sing it every night as they wandered past my dorm room window on their way home from the bars.
March 19: Cast - All Change
Home: Liverpool, England
Can't let international week go by without a Liverpudlian band, huh? Actually, other than the Beatles, Liverpool hasn't contributed a great deal to music. Cast were sort of the Candlebox in the mid-'90s Britpop fad, coming in behind Oasis, Blur, Verve, Suede, Supergrass, Ash, etc. etc. etc. Their big problem is that they rip off the Beatles shamelessly, and not the good Beatles songs: this entire album sounds like early songs like "Love Me Do" played on modern instruments, except for "Finetime," and "Walkaway," the two reasons I haven't tried to sell this CD at Waterloo down in Austin.
(0) comments
Can't let international week go by without a Liverpudlian band, huh? Actually, other than the Beatles, Liverpool hasn't contributed a great deal to music. Cast were sort of the Candlebox in the mid-'90s Britpop fad, coming in behind Oasis, Blur, Verve, Suede, Supergrass, Ash, etc. etc. etc. Their big problem is that they rip off the Beatles shamelessly, and not the good Beatles songs: this entire album sounds like early songs like "Love Me Do" played on modern instruments, except for "Finetime," and "Walkaway," the two reasons I haven't tried to sell this CD at Waterloo down in Austin.
March 18: James - Laid
Home: Manchester, England
The first concert I ever saw was James, on the Laid tour, at Six Flags over Texas in spring '94, when I was 15 years old (wow... that was 10 years ago). So this album has always had a soft spot in my heart. Also, they got together at the U. of Manchester, which is pretty cool (I can count the number of successful bands that got together at Tulane with no hands).
Laid was James' big success story, produced by Brian Eno, who did U2's Joshua Tree and a bunch of other important rock stuff. And this album is really good, although there are a few too many dirges. The only three up-tempo songs are the three singles: "Laid," "Sometimes," and "Say Something."
I'd make a joke about never forgetting the first time you get Laid, but that would be sophomoric, wouldn't it? Of course, I was a sophomore when I bought this album...
(0) comments
The first concert I ever saw was James, on the Laid tour, at Six Flags over Texas in spring '94, when I was 15 years old (wow... that was 10 years ago). So this album has always had a soft spot in my heart. Also, they got together at the U. of Manchester, which is pretty cool (I can count the number of successful bands that got together at Tulane with no hands).
Laid was James' big success story, produced by Brian Eno, who did U2's Joshua Tree and a bunch of other important rock stuff. And this album is really good, although there are a few too many dirges. The only three up-tempo songs are the three singles: "Laid," "Sometimes," and "Say Something."
I'd make a joke about never forgetting the first time you get Laid, but that would be sophomoric, wouldn't it? Of course, I was a sophomore when I bought this album...
Thursday, March 18, 2004
March 17: The Verve - Urban Hymns
OK, so I should have done an Irish band for St. Patrick's Day, but I'm still working on:
Home country - Manchester, England
The Verve are actually from the Manchester suburbs, and this is (of course) their huge breakthrough album, the one with "Bittersweet Symphony" on it. Oasis and the Verve were pals — "Cast No Shadow" from Oasis' second album is about Verve lead singer Richard Ashcroft — and they persuaded the band to get back together and make this album. It was a huge international success, and the Verve promptly broke up again. Que cera cera; at least we got this. "The Drugs Don't Work" is on my Top 10 songs of all time list.
(0) comments
Home country - Manchester, England
The Verve are actually from the Manchester suburbs, and this is (of course) their huge breakthrough album, the one with "Bittersweet Symphony" on it. Oasis and the Verve were pals — "Cast No Shadow" from Oasis' second album is about Verve lead singer Richard Ashcroft — and they persuaded the band to get back together and make this album. It was a huge international success, and the Verve promptly broke up again. Que cera cera; at least we got this. "The Drugs Don't Work" is on my Top 10 songs of all time list.
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
March 16: Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour of Bewilderbeast
Home Country: Manchester, England
Badly Drawn Boy is now respected as a great singer/songwriter, but when I first heard this CD, his debut, I thought it sounded like what would happen if Paul Simon and Elliott Smith's love child got kidnapped and sent to Manchester to live in an orphanage. This thing is all over the map. Now of course, with Smith gone (RIP), Badly Drawn Boy is the leading soft-hearted folkie in modern rock. Plus, he always wears that stupid stocking hat. Gotta like that.
(0) comments
Badly Drawn Boy is now respected as a great singer/songwriter, but when I first heard this CD, his debut, I thought it sounded like what would happen if Paul Simon and Elliott Smith's love child got kidnapped and sent to Manchester to live in an orphanage. This thing is all over the map. Now of course, with Smith gone (RIP), Badly Drawn Boy is the leading soft-hearted folkie in modern rock. Plus, he always wears that stupid stocking hat. Gotta like that.
Monday, March 15, 2004
March 15: Oasis - Be Here Now
Home country - Manchester, England
OK, here's where my true colors really show up. Because, no lie, I think Oasis is one of the greatest bands out there right now. For the last half of the '90s, you can't do any better than Oasis. They put England back on the map as far as rock, they took the stereotype of brothers who hate each other farther than it had ever gone before, and they believed they were the best band in the world. They probably weren't, but simply by believing it, they became the biggest band in the world.
Top 5 reasons why Oasis rule:
1) their B-sides album, The Masterplan, is better than most bands' A-sides albums.
2) Liam had a huge fight with Noel the night the band was supposed to do MTV Unplugged, and the band had to go ahead with Noel singing all the songs. And it STILL rocked balls.
3) Their song "Live Forever" is both the most-used wedding song and funeral song for 20- and 30-somethings in Britain.
4) Their Manchester accents are so thick that VH1 had to put subtitles on the screen when the Gallagher Brothers talked during their Behind the Music.
5) Liam on reuniting with his long-lost father in a hotel in Ireland: "I said yeah, I've got something for ya, old man. (punching motion) And he fookin' dropped, mate."
This is their third album, when Noel, fresh off being praised the world over as one of the greatest songwriters of his generation, decided to write an entire album while hopped up on cocaine. There's not a single song on the album that's less than 4 and a half minutes long. Four songs are over seven minutes long. And Johnny Depp plays slide guitar on one track. You can't do better than that.
I basically moved to Manchester for a year to study at the University of Manchester because Oasis was from there. But while there, I discovered why it's produced more great bands than any city in the world (including Seattle). I'll be listening to nothing but great Manc bands this week. D'you know what I mean, luv?
(0) comments
OK, here's where my true colors really show up. Because, no lie, I think Oasis is one of the greatest bands out there right now. For the last half of the '90s, you can't do any better than Oasis. They put England back on the map as far as rock, they took the stereotype of brothers who hate each other farther than it had ever gone before, and they believed they were the best band in the world. They probably weren't, but simply by believing it, they became the biggest band in the world.
Top 5 reasons why Oasis rule:
1) their B-sides album, The Masterplan, is better than most bands' A-sides albums.
2) Liam had a huge fight with Noel the night the band was supposed to do MTV Unplugged, and the band had to go ahead with Noel singing all the songs. And it STILL rocked balls.
3) Their song "Live Forever" is both the most-used wedding song and funeral song for 20- and 30-somethings in Britain.
4) Their Manchester accents are so thick that VH1 had to put subtitles on the screen when the Gallagher Brothers talked during their Behind the Music.
5) Liam on reuniting with his long-lost father in a hotel in Ireland: "I said yeah, I've got something for ya, old man. (punching motion) And he fookin' dropped, mate."
This is their third album, when Noel, fresh off being praised the world over as one of the greatest songwriters of his generation, decided to write an entire album while hopped up on cocaine. There's not a single song on the album that's less than 4 and a half minutes long. Four songs are over seven minutes long. And Johnny Depp plays slide guitar on one track. You can't do better than that.
I basically moved to Manchester for a year to study at the University of Manchester because Oasis was from there. But while there, I discovered why it's produced more great bands than any city in the world (including Seattle). I'll be listening to nothing but great Manc bands this week. D'you know what I mean, luv?
Sunday, March 14, 2004
March 14: The Odds - Nest
Home country - Canada
OK, this is my last Canadian band, and it's a good thing, too, because they're all starting to run together. If you played me an Odds song and a Treble Charger song right now, I'm not sure I could tell you which was which. They both sound like crosses between the Barenaked Ladies and Sum 41. Hey, at least I did a week of Canada and didn't have to listen to any Nickelback.
(0) comments
OK, this is my last Canadian band, and it's a good thing, too, because they're all starting to run together. If you played me an Odds song and a Treble Charger song right now, I'm not sure I could tell you which was which. They both sound like crosses between the Barenaked Ladies and Sum 41. Hey, at least I did a week of Canada and didn't have to listen to any Nickelback.
Saturday, March 13, 2004
March 13: Treble Charger - maybe it's me
Home country - Canada
This CD is great. Then Greig Nori, the lead singer, started managing and producing Sum freakin' 41, and Treble Charger's two CDs since this one have been really bad mall-punk. But this CD's good. Features "Red," which got played a lot in New Orleans when I was in college.
(0) comments
This CD is great. Then Greig Nori, the lead singer, started managing and producing Sum freakin' 41, and Treble Charger's two CDs since this one have been really bad mall-punk. But this CD's good. Features "Red," which got played a lot in New Orleans when I was in college.
March 12: Econoline Crush - the devil you know
Home country - Canada
Remember the big explosion of electronic rock bands that came out after Nine Inch Nails... Stabbing Westward, God Lives Underwater, (sorry, Jeff) Gravity Kills? Well, Econoline Crush was the Canadian electronic band. This album had three songs make the rock charts in '98 and '99... I challenge you to name one of them. Name more than one, and I'll mail you this CD. No peeking at All Music Guide.
(0) comments
Remember the big explosion of electronic rock bands that came out after Nine Inch Nails... Stabbing Westward, God Lives Underwater, (sorry, Jeff) Gravity Kills? Well, Econoline Crush was the Canadian electronic band. This album had three songs make the rock charts in '98 and '99... I challenge you to name one of them. Name more than one, and I'll mail you this CD. No peeking at All Music Guide.
Friday, March 12, 2004
March 11: Our Lady Peace - Happiness … is not a fish that you can catch
Again … Canada
Our Lady Peace also confirm my albums theory. Check it out: Clumsy (their second album) gets them big, this one is more of the same, their fourth album is experimental, and then their most recent one is a big hard rock record that doesn't sound much like Clumsy or this one.
Fewer people bought this one, but I think overall it's better than Clumsy. Check out "Thief," or "Is Anybody Home."
I realize I've been highlighting different international bands this month, but Canada should take up at least a week, and I don't own any Nickleback, Finger Eleven, Sum 41, Barenaked Ladies, Rush, Guess Who or Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Although I probably should go out and buy some BTO.
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Our Lady Peace also confirm my albums theory. Check it out: Clumsy (their second album) gets them big, this one is more of the same, their fourth album is experimental, and then their most recent one is a big hard rock record that doesn't sound much like Clumsy or this one.
Fewer people bought this one, but I think overall it's better than Clumsy. Check out "Thief," or "Is Anybody Home."
I realize I've been highlighting different international bands this month, but Canada should take up at least a week, and I don't own any Nickleback, Finger Eleven, Sum 41, Barenaked Ladies, Rush, Guess Who or Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Although I probably should go out and buy some BTO.
March 10: Our Lady Peace - Clumsy
Home country - Canada
I like some Our Lady Peace. Hardcore readers of this thing will note that Our Lady Peace and Black Lab at the House of Blues New Orleans, spring '98 is the best show I have ever seen or will likely ever see unless REM or U2 decide to do a club show and let me get third row. 12 Pearls did a cover of "Superman's Dead" from roughly 1998 to 2001, then brought it back for awhile last year.
And Raine Maida has a really cool voice.
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I like some Our Lady Peace. Hardcore readers of this thing will note that Our Lady Peace and Black Lab at the House of Blues New Orleans, spring '98 is the best show I have ever seen or will likely ever see unless REM or U2 decide to do a club show and let me get third row. 12 Pearls did a cover of "Superman's Dead" from roughly 1998 to 2001, then brought it back for awhile last year.
And Raine Maida has a really cool voice.
Thursday, March 11, 2004
March 9: The Scorpions - Crazy World
Home country - Germany
OK, so I have a closet affection for German hair metal. So sue me. I've owned this album since junior high, and it's somehow survived through high school, college, post-college, three or four moves, and about 12 years. It resides in a case that's mostly broken and has some rather odd (and sticky) stains. But it's the only album I have by a band from Germany (sorry kids, no Guano Apes or Rammstein in my collection) and it contains "Winds of Change," their classic song about the reunification of the German people.
On a sidenote, top songs about the Cold War ending? Scorpions, "Winds of Change." Jesus Jones, "Right Here Right Now." And that's it. That's all the list you need.
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OK, so I have a closet affection for German hair metal. So sue me. I've owned this album since junior high, and it's somehow survived through high school, college, post-college, three or four moves, and about 12 years. It resides in a case that's mostly broken and has some rather odd (and sticky) stains. But it's the only album I have by a band from Germany (sorry kids, no Guano Apes or Rammstein in my collection) and it contains "Winds of Change," their classic song about the reunification of the German people.
On a sidenote, top songs about the Cold War ending? Scorpions, "Winds of Change." Jesus Jones, "Right Here Right Now." And that's it. That's all the list you need.
March 8: Garageland - Last Exit to Garageland
Home country - New Zealand
This is the only other CD I have by a band from New Zealand; I got it free when I worked for the Tulane entertainment magazine. I also got free tickets to see them live in New Orleans, and I gotta say, they were pretty good. This CD's good, too, but not good enough that I've ever thought about buying the two they've put out since then. According to allmusic, they're now the biggest band in New Zealand. How exciting for them.
Songs you might like: "Fingerpops" and "Beelines to Heaven."
Number of songs (out of 14) that are less than 3 minutes long: 8
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This is the only other CD I have by a band from New Zealand; I got it free when I worked for the Tulane entertainment magazine. I also got free tickets to see them live in New Orleans, and I gotta say, they were pretty good. This CD's good, too, but not good enough that I've ever thought about buying the two they've put out since then. According to allmusic, they're now the biggest band in New Zealand. How exciting for them.
Songs you might like: "Fingerpops" and "Beelines to Heaven."
Number of songs (out of 14) that are less than 3 minutes long: 8
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
March 7: Crowded House - Recurring Dream: The Very Best Of
Home Country - New Zealand
That's right, kids; the biggest band to ever come out of New Zealand. You remember "Don't Dream It's Over," but you ought to also remember "Something So Right," "Weather With You" and "Locked Out." Those four songs are great. The other 15 on this greatest-hits album that I got from Columbia House eight years ago and listened to twice are really, really mediocre. Peter Jackson should have gotten Crowded House back together to record some music for Lord of the Rings. Like hobbit music, or Gollum fish-eating music or something.
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That's right, kids; the biggest band to ever come out of New Zealand. You remember "Don't Dream It's Over," but you ought to also remember "Something So Right," "Weather With You" and "Locked Out." Those four songs are great. The other 15 on this greatest-hits album that I got from Columbia House eight years ago and listened to twice are really, really mediocre. Peter Jackson should have gotten Crowded House back together to record some music for Lord of the Rings. Like hobbit music, or Gollum fish-eating music or something.
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
March 6: Midnight Oil - 20,000 Watt R.S.L.
Home country - Australia
I thought about doing INXS for my last Australian CD, but then I decided to go with Midnight Oil, the most Australian of Australian bands (except for possibly Men at Work).
I first encountered the Oils in '93 when they played "Truganini" on Saturday Night Live, and I think that's still my favorite song of theirs. This is their greatest-hits album from '97, and once you get past the hard-core leftist politics (which don't bother me as much as, say, Kit), there's some really good songs on here: "Beds are Burning," "Blue Sky Mine," "Forgotten Years." Plus, their lead singer is 7 feet tall and did pre-emptive baldness before Ed Kowalczyk, Billy Corgan, OR Michael Stipe.
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I thought about doing INXS for my last Australian CD, but then I decided to go with Midnight Oil, the most Australian of Australian bands (except for possibly Men at Work).
I first encountered the Oils in '93 when they played "Truganini" on Saturday Night Live, and I think that's still my favorite song of theirs. This is their greatest-hits album from '97, and once you get past the hard-core leftist politics (which don't bother me as much as, say, Kit), there's some really good songs on here: "Beds are Burning," "Blue Sky Mine," "Forgotten Years." Plus, their lead singer is 7 feet tall and did pre-emptive baldness before Ed Kowalczyk, Billy Corgan, OR Michael Stipe.
March 5: Silverchair - Neon Ballroom
Home country - Australia
There's a theory (not just mine, but others' as well) that your typical rock band's career goes like this: first album is all the songs you played before you were popular. If the first album is successful, second album is more of the same. Third album is the "difficult" one, where you spend a lot of time experimenting in the studio and come up with some intentionally "weird" tracks. Then once you're through that evolutionary period, fourth album sounds completely different from the first or second. Textbook examples are R.E.M., Better than Ezra, and Silverchair.
This is the "difficult" one for Silverchair, and it features mostly bad Nirvana ripoffs just like the first two albums. And somebody really should have talked Daniel Johns out of writing a song called "Anthem for the Year 2000" that featured the lyrics "We are the youth/we'll take your fascism away." That's just painfully bad. But then there's hints of a band trying to break out of its grunge cage: "Ana's Song" is a great tune, and the opener, "Emotion Sickness," is an orchestral grunge stormer with that dude from the movie Shine on piano.
So it's a mixed bag, but you've got to feel a little sorry for Silverchair: just because they wrote one really good song when they were 14, they got thrown into the international rock star cauldron a little too early and their lead singer ended up an anorexic (what did you think "Ana's Song" was about?). But don't feel TOO sorry for them; they're still big in Australia, and Johns just married fellow Aussie Natalie Imbruglia. As Adam Sandler might say, not too shabby.
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There's a theory (not just mine, but others' as well) that your typical rock band's career goes like this: first album is all the songs you played before you were popular. If the first album is successful, second album is more of the same. Third album is the "difficult" one, where you spend a lot of time experimenting in the studio and come up with some intentionally "weird" tracks. Then once you're through that evolutionary period, fourth album sounds completely different from the first or second. Textbook examples are R.E.M., Better than Ezra, and Silverchair.
This is the "difficult" one for Silverchair, and it features mostly bad Nirvana ripoffs just like the first two albums. And somebody really should have talked Daniel Johns out of writing a song called "Anthem for the Year 2000" that featured the lyrics "We are the youth/we'll take your fascism away." That's just painfully bad. But then there's hints of a band trying to break out of its grunge cage: "Ana's Song" is a great tune, and the opener, "Emotion Sickness," is an orchestral grunge stormer with that dude from the movie Shine on piano.
So it's a mixed bag, but you've got to feel a little sorry for Silverchair: just because they wrote one really good song when they were 14, they got thrown into the international rock star cauldron a little too early and their lead singer ended up an anorexic (what did you think "Ana's Song" was about?). But don't feel TOO sorry for them; they're still big in Australia, and Johns just married fellow Aussie Natalie Imbruglia. As Adam Sandler might say, not too shabby.
Thursday, March 04, 2004
March 4: Ammonia - Mint 400
Home country - Australia
If you remember this band at all, it's from their novelty hit "Drugs" in '96: "Drugs... and money. But there's nothing... I'm gonna do about it." No? Oh, well. The rest of the album mixes Silverchair, Bush, Nirvana, and Pixies references with bad lead vocals. Unsurprisingly, this is the only album they put out before they broke up in '99.
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If you remember this band at all, it's from their novelty hit "Drugs" in '96: "Drugs... and money. But there's nothing... I'm gonna do about it." No? Oh, well. The rest of the album mixes Silverchair, Bush, Nirvana, and Pixies references with bad lead vocals. Unsurprisingly, this is the only album they put out before they broke up in '99.
March 3: Powderfinger - Odyssey Number Five
Home Country: Australia
And international month has begun! This CD lived in my car stereo most of the spring and summer of 2001. I remember seeing a guy at the Z104.5 festival in May '01 that Weezer and Fuel played at who was wearing a Powderfinger t-shirt and thinking "wow, that guy's as cool as I am.
Three years later? Not so much. It's still a good CD, but it's slower than I remember, and there's more of an unwelcome Wallflowers influence. Maybe my tastes have changed.
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And international month has begun! This CD lived in my car stereo most of the spring and summer of 2001. I remember seeing a guy at the Z104.5 festival in May '01 that Weezer and Fuel played at who was wearing a Powderfinger t-shirt and thinking "wow, that guy's as cool as I am.
Three years later? Not so much. It's still a good CD, but it's slower than I remember, and there's more of an unwelcome Wallflowers influence. Maybe my tastes have changed.
March 2: The Get Up Kids - Guilt Show
Got this this morning at Best Buy (only $5.99 this week, kids!) and it appears the Kids are ready to rock again. Early impression? It's like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with '80s keyboards added in. But I like it. At their core, the Get Up Kids are just good songwriters, and that's what counts. I don't know if it's a result of growing up in Kansas City (the heart of America's heartland) or what, but there's something very American about their music. Not to say it sounds country, or even Ryan Adams-style alt-country, but I couldn't see a British or Australian band turning out an album like this. If you can pinpoint it, post it on our messageboard (this means you, Ed).
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March 1: The Get Up Kids - On a Wire
Now, the emo kids don't agree with me on this one, but I think this is TGUK's best album by far. Written after long tours with Green Day and Weezer, it's the sound of a band that's tired and ready for something new. So emo gets crossed with acoustic guitars and touches of the Beatles, and the results are awesome. "Hannah Hold On," the album-closer, is my favorite TGUK song.
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Tuesday, March 02, 2004
February recap
So, in order, CDs for the shortest month:
2.1 - Guster, Keep It Together
2.2 - 7th Standard, Fire from the Sky
2.3 - Tanya Donelly - Lovesongs for Underdogs
2.4 - The Divine Comedy, fin de siècle
2.5 - Dishwalla, And You think You Know What Life's About
2.6 - Pulp, Different Class
2.7 - Fretblanket, Home Truths from Abroad
2.8 - Black Lab - Your Body Above Me
2.9 - Gay Dad, Leisure Noise
2.10 - Super Deluxe, Famous
2.11 - Frogpond, Safe Ride Home
2.12 - Molly's Yes, Wonderworld
2.13 - The Nixons, Latest Thing
2.14 - The Burden Brothers, Buried in your Black Heart
2.15 - Foo Fighters, There is Nothing left to lose
2.16 - Hello, Dolly, Original Cast Recording
2.17 - Mame, Original Cast Recording
2.18 - Various Artists, Decent Xposure: Volume 1
2.19 - The JFJ Band, the Apartment
2.20 - Chainsaw Kittens, Pop Heiress
2.21 - Vendetta Red, Between the Never and the Now
2.22 - Superdrag, Head Trip in Every Key
2.23 - Various Artists, Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks
2.24 - Feeder, Comfort in Sound
2.25 - Future Boy (self-titled)
2.26 - Gay Dad, Transmission
2.27 - Rooney (self-titled)
2.28 - Lit, A Place in the Sun
2.29 - The Get Up Kids, something to write home about
Best CD this month: (tie) Guster, Keep It Together; Superdrag, Head Trip in Every Key
Worst CD: 7th Standard, Fire from the Sky
So I'm going to finish up this little Get Up Kids theme, and then starting Wednesday, we're going international for March: only bands from outside the U.S. Feel free to start sending suggestions now.
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2.1 - Guster, Keep It Together
2.2 - 7th Standard, Fire from the Sky
2.3 - Tanya Donelly - Lovesongs for Underdogs
2.4 - The Divine Comedy, fin de siècle
2.5 - Dishwalla, And You think You Know What Life's About
2.6 - Pulp, Different Class
2.7 - Fretblanket, Home Truths from Abroad
2.8 - Black Lab - Your Body Above Me
2.9 - Gay Dad, Leisure Noise
2.10 - Super Deluxe, Famous
2.11 - Frogpond, Safe Ride Home
2.12 - Molly's Yes, Wonderworld
2.13 - The Nixons, Latest Thing
2.14 - The Burden Brothers, Buried in your Black Heart
2.15 - Foo Fighters, There is Nothing left to lose
2.16 - Hello, Dolly, Original Cast Recording
2.17 - Mame, Original Cast Recording
2.18 - Various Artists, Decent Xposure: Volume 1
2.19 - The JFJ Band, the Apartment
2.20 - Chainsaw Kittens, Pop Heiress
2.21 - Vendetta Red, Between the Never and the Now
2.22 - Superdrag, Head Trip in Every Key
2.23 - Various Artists, Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks
2.24 - Feeder, Comfort in Sound
2.25 - Future Boy (self-titled)
2.26 - Gay Dad, Transmission
2.27 - Rooney (self-titled)
2.28 - Lit, A Place in the Sun
2.29 - The Get Up Kids, something to write home about
Best CD this month: (tie) Guster, Keep It Together; Superdrag, Head Trip in Every Key
Worst CD: 7th Standard, Fire from the Sky
So I'm going to finish up this little Get Up Kids theme, and then starting Wednesday, we're going international for March: only bands from outside the U.S. Feel free to start sending suggestions now.
February 29: The Get Up Kids - something to write home about
Since the Get Up Kids' new album is coming out Tuesday, I thought I'd take a nice stroll through their two previous albums. I'm a fan of the band; not a huge fan — I don't own the first super-indie album, which I think is horribly underproduced and obviously written before the band discovered melodies, and I don't have the recent B-sides collection, though my brother has both these, plus a couple of semi-rare EPs — but I have seen them live three times now: once opening for Green Day in Tulsa on the night of the OSU plane crash, once in Fort Worth and once at the Diamond Ballroom in OKC, where I was easily the oldest person in the crowd other than the members of the band by five years.
So anyway, this is their "breakthrough" second album from '99, and it sort of set the template for "emo" - that's right, kids, but please don't blame the GUK for Dashboard Confessional, huh? Listening to it again, I'm reminded of how fresh and energetic I thought it was when I first heard it, but I also notice that the duelling lead singers haven't quite learned how to sing yet; the voices are more ragged than I remember. A good album for Leap Day? Maybe not. But a good album nonetheless.
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So anyway, this is their "breakthrough" second album from '99, and it sort of set the template for "emo" - that's right, kids, but please don't blame the GUK for Dashboard Confessional, huh? Listening to it again, I'm reminded of how fresh and energetic I thought it was when I first heard it, but I also notice that the duelling lead singers haven't quite learned how to sing yet; the voices are more ragged than I remember. A good album for Leap Day? Maybe not. But a good album nonetheless.
Monday, March 01, 2004
February 28: Lit - A place in the sun
Ah, Lit. Like most people, this is the only Lit album I own. But it's a good 'un. Personally, I like the songs that weren't huge hits, like "Four," "Down," "Zip-Lock," and "Lovely Day." Plus, while you listen to the album you can look at the pictures and wonder how long it takes the guitarist to grow an 18-inch braided goatee. How does he keep it clean? Does he have really bad chin dandruff?
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February 27: Rooney - (self-titled)
I'm sorry, I just don't like this CD, no matter how hard I try. I first heard of Rooney last summer, when Jordan (12p's late, lamented singer) played us the CD and talked about how into the band he was. I liked the snippets I heard, so I got the CD, and... nothing. I didn't hate it, but I certainly didn't like it. So I dropped it on the pile, and got on with my life.
Picked it back up today after hearing that Rooney quadrupled their album sales simply by appearing on one episode of the Fox soap opera The O.C. Thought I'd hear what all the fuss was about. And... still nothing. This is the most aggressively mediocre album in years. They're blatantly imitating Phantom Planet and the Strokes (and indirectly imitating Weezer), but they're not as good as any of those bands, and their songs certainly aren't as catchy. Honestly, the band probably wouldn't have gotten anywhere if the lead singer wasn't the little brother of Jason Schwartzman (you know, the drummer from Phantom Planet and that kid from Rushmore). Maybe you need to be a 15-year-old girl to get this. Matt, you're a 15-year-old girl... what do you think?
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Picked it back up today after hearing that Rooney quadrupled their album sales simply by appearing on one episode of the Fox soap opera The O.C. Thought I'd hear what all the fuss was about. And... still nothing. This is the most aggressively mediocre album in years. They're blatantly imitating Phantom Planet and the Strokes (and indirectly imitating Weezer), but they're not as good as any of those bands, and their songs certainly aren't as catchy. Honestly, the band probably wouldn't have gotten anywhere if the lead singer wasn't the little brother of Jason Schwartzman (you know, the drummer from Phantom Planet and that kid from Rushmore). Maybe you need to be a 15-year-old girl to get this. Matt, you're a 15-year-old girl... what do you think?
