Month: December 2022

B&V’s Best of 2022: Our Favorite New LPs & Vault/Re-Released/Live Releases

~ kcorsini ~ 4 Comments

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The beginning of every year is like a rebirth. It’s always something new and different despite U2’s old insistence that “nothing changes on New Year’s Day.” Whether it’s changes at work or the implementation of self-improving New Year’s Resolutions, the New Year always seems to bring the possibility of exciting change and rejuvenation and 2022 was no exception on that front. For me this year, I moved to a new residence, completely changed my job responsibilities at work (reducing my stress) and spent those early days in 2022 listening to David Bowie’s vault release Toy. No matter how different every New Year’s beginning seems to be, the end of each year tends to be exactly the same for me and like the beginning of the year, 2022’s end is no exception on that front either. Every year after the dreaded Christmas Holiday passes I find myself stuffed with leftovers and floating around the house like I’m Baron Harkonnen from Dune with a mug full of what remains of the eggnog, mired in reflection. Here it is the waning days of 2022 and I’m back in the same old mindset I was in last year…and the year before that one…and the one before that one, and so on… It’s like those old cartoons with Father Time holding Baby New Year to symbolize the passage of time. I hate to think of the end of the year is the opposite of the rebirth we feel on New Year’s Day… what would we even call that? But I have to admit with each passing year I hear Hannibal Lecter in my ear saying “Tick tock, Clarice.” It was Steve Miller who sang, “Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’ into the future,” and I can verify, he wasn’t kidding. Maybe that’s why I also spent early 2022 listening to my playlist of songs from 1972…always looking both forward and backwards.

I feel like I was happier in 2022 but there were so many bad things that happened over the course of this year. I’m still staggered that in the year 2022 there was a land war started in Europe. The immoral, illegal and insane Russian invasion of Ukraine has been a cloud over the entire year. There were elections in many countries that gave us uniformly terrible commercials and mixed results. The shadow of authoritarianism still lurks strong in the world. The world population reached 8 billion this year which sounds like too many people and yet we aren’t taking very good care of this planet of ours… there is no Planet B folks. In the world of rock n roll we lost the beautiful voice of Christine McVie who seemed like the only nice person in Fleetwood Mac. We lost so many other rockers, some who I wasn’t a big fan of: Meatloaf, Jerry Lee Lewis and Olivia Newton John and some who I liked: drummer Alan White of Yes, Ronnie “The Hawk” Hawkins who was backed by the Band when they were young and Pub Rock guitarist Wilko Johnson.

At least we had music. With the pandemic mostly behind us I finally got to return to going to concerts semi-regularly. I saw the Cult in both Denver and Kansas City, Starcrawler in a small venue, and I returned to my first big arena show in 3 years, Roger Waters. I can’t overstate how great it is to be standing in a darkened room – whether it’s a 20,000 seat arena or a bar – with like-minded rockers, facing the stage, arms raised and singing along. Although admittedly I feel sorry for anybody whose within earshot of my belting out any tune. There were some big acts who didn’t release albums but gifted us with a single this year. Beck covered Neil Young’s great song “Old Man.” Unfortunately it was for an NFL commercial and we know Neil hates rock n roll being used in commercials (crank up “This Notes For You” if you doubt me). It was still a great cover but then I love cover songs. And speaking of covers, Stevie Nicks dropped a cover of the Stephen Stills penned, Buffalo Springfield classic “For What It’s Worth.” With women’s rights being infringed upon from Iran to Ohio it’s a very resonant version and one that the Rock Chick surprisingly loved. Best of all, Pink Floyd reunited for the first time since 2014 (well, David Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason anyway, Roger Waters was clearly not invited) to release a protest song to raise money for the Ukrainians, “Hey, Hey, Rise Up.” Other than Beck these great songs were done in support of something important proving that rock n roll remains a force for good in the world.

As I do every year in this reflective mood, looking back on the year that was, I can’t help but compile lists of my favorite albums of the year. It was a really nice year for rock n roll and many artists put out new albums. A few acts like Springsteen and the Smashing Pumpkins managed to somehow disappoint me. Like the past few years the vaults of some of our favorite classic rockers opened up and we got to hear unreleased gems, enhanced anniversary versions, and overlooked live performances from long ago. As I did last year, I split these lists between the new albums and the vault/live/re-released stuff. This year there were two EPs that I didn’t include on these lists of LPs, but deserve honorable mention as some of my favorite music of the year: The Black Crowes released a great EP of cover songs from 1972 (“Papa Was A Rolling Stone” might be my favorite) and Billy Idol released an EP of his best music in years, The Cage. Check out both of those!

Without further delay, here is our look back at the year that was 2022. These are in no particular order and this is not to be seen as a ranking… and as usual, please, no wagering. Maybe once I get these 2022 lists out of my system I’ll be free to look forward into 2023…

B&V Best New Albums of 2022 – New Music

  • Eddie Vedder, Earthling – Eddie has always seemed a reluctant solo artist. He’s released stray singles, a soundtrack album and a full album of songs on ukulele so this feels like his first actual solo album. Produced by my current favorite producer Andrew Watt this is a great LP that shows the range of the things Eddie can do.
  • Scorpions, Rock Believer – A blast of classic 80s style hard rock/heavy metal. These guys still have plenty left in the tank and this album was great start to finish.
  • Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs, External Combustion – If you’re like me and you miss Tom Petty, his guitarist Mike Campbell can scratch that itch for you. This is good, straight up rock n roll which we can all use these days.
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers, Unlimited Love and The Return of the Dream Canteen – My Chili Pepper cup runneth over this year. The lads in the RHCPs celebrated the return of guitarist John Frusciante with not one but two double albums. As the cliche goes, there was probably a great single album lurking in each of these records but I’ll take all the Chili Peppers I can get. If pressed I’d probably say the better album was Dream Canteen, but there is plenty to like across the 34 new songs over both LPs. Only Prince would release this volume of music at one time…
  • Black Keys, Dropout Boogie – The Black Keys are so consistently good they don’t always get the attention they deserve. This was a great record and should be played at max volume.
  • Jack White, Entering Heaven Alive – Like the Chilis, Jack White was prolific in 2022 and released two LPs. The first LP, Fear of the Dawn, was a crazy sound experiment that I just couldn’t connect to. I did like the single “Taking Me Back,” but felt I shouldn’t comment on the album as a whole, such was my dislike. This second, less experimental, mostly acoustic album was the best thing White had done in years. I knew from the first single, “If I Die Tomorrow” this was going to be a classic Jack White album.
  • Ozzy Osbourne, Patient Number 9 – This is another one produced by Andrew Watt (keep an eye on that guy) and features a laundry list of great guitarists: Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Tony Iommi, Zakk Wylde, and Mike McCready. A true heavy metal feast! Rumor has it Ozzy tried to get Jimmy Page to play on a song (which would have given Ozzy the ex-Yardbird trifecta) but alas he declined.
  • The Cult, Under the Midnight Sun – A truly sublime listening experience. They’ve come a long way from “Fire Woman” but I find what the Cult do a fascinating listen. I like to play this thing as a whole vs just a track at a time.
  • Bush, The Art of Survival – I had almost forgotten about these guys and then they release this heavy riff gem. If you’ve given up on Bush, give this album a spin, it will change your mind. They aren’t surviving, they’re thriving.
  • Neil Young & Crazy Horse, World Record – Neil & Crazy Horse (Nils Lofgren/guitar, Billy Talbot/bass, Ralph Molina/drums) return with their third winning LP in a row. This one is focused on the Ecology but also has a 10-plus minute jam about a Chevy. Who’d have expected Neil would be having a creative resurgence this far down the road?

B&V Best Archive/Re-Releases/Box Sets/Live Albums

  • David Bowie, Toy (Box Set) – Early in the millennium Bowie went back and rerecorded songs he’d written back in the 60s. He got push back from the record company so went back to the studio and recorded the amazing Heathen. Toy was often bootlegged but finally saw the light of day with this great box that also has demos and different takes on the songs. Bowie was clearly enjoying revisiting these obscure tunes from his early songwriting days.
  • Keith Richards, Main Offender 30th Anniversary – Keef revisiting his oft overlooked but still sensational second LP complete with an unreleased concert. The X-Pensive Winos always brought it live.
  • Rush, Moving Pictures 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition – Revisiting Rush’s masterpiece 1981 album. This box has a complete concert from the accompany tour which puts Exit Stage Left to shame. The live disc is worth the price of admission.
  • The Rolling Stones, Live At the El Mocambo – This legendary club show recorded in 1979 finally sees the light of day! The Stones are loose in a club setting but play like the hungry young kids who took over London’s blues rock movement of the 60s. This is a must for Stones fans.
  • Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Toast – Another lost LP from the vaults for Neil with Crazy Horse. He went in and cut these songs but felt they were too personal to release so shelved the album. He ended up doing lesser versions of some of the songs for the album Are You Passionate? but to me these versions with the Horse are definitive. I love Neil’s vaults are releasing a torrent of previously unreleased music!
  • Creedence Clearwater Revival, Royal Albert Hall, April 14, 1970 – The Beatles had just broken up and CCR arrive in London for their first concert tour of Europe and proceed to tear the roof off the Royal Albert Hall like it was a Mississippi juke joint.
  • The Beatles, Revolver – Super Deluxe – The Beatles masterpiece, where they really came into their own in the studio, with outtakes and early versions of the tracks. The stereo version of the album here produced by Giles Martin (George’s son) may be the definitive version but just in case the mono version is included too.
  • Guns N Roses, Use Your Illusions Box Set – While it lacks any unreleased studio stuff (which is disappointing) the two concerts from that era/tour are worth it. I like the New York show better than Vegas… but you decide. It’s a mess but it’s a hot mess.
  • The Jimi Hendrix Experience, L.A. Forum April 26. 1969 (Live) – The Hendrix Experience were just that – an experience – especially when you saw them live. That’s why every show recorded is worth a listen. This is a very jam forward set for a very unruly crowd and some very uncomfortable cops.
  • Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Live At the Fillmore 1997 – Great compilation of live cuts from their legendary 20-night residency at the Fillmore West in San Francisco in Jan – Feb 1997. They scrap the arena set lists and play a ton of covers and deep tracks with unbridled joy. A must have for Petty fans and perhaps their greatest live document.
  • Paul McCartney, 7′ Singles Box (*Streaming Only) – I considered listing this one under “honorable mention” but it deserves at least a mention here. I would never recommend anybody paying $600 for a crate full of vinyl singles. But streaming these 159 songs gave me a real appreciation of how ingrained in my rock n roll life McCartney has been. There are some b-sides you may not get into… skip em. The overall body of work is extraordinary.

There you have it, our “best of 2022.” I hope everybody had a great Xmas and that some of these gems were wrapped under the tree for you. I hope everybody had a good and safe ’22. While I’m still looking backward in this reflective mood I’m in, I’m actually really looking forward to 2023. We already know we’ll see releases from Iggy Pop and Metallica in the near term, they’ve both released singles (“Frenzy” and “Lux AEterna” respectively). I appreciate everybody’s continued support and reading of B&V. I hope ’23 brings all of you only good things!

Happy & Safe New Year to all of you. See you next year at B&V and of course, Cheers!

Review: Paul McCartney, ‘7″ Singles Box’ – **Streaming Only** – A Monolithic Life’s Work As Told In 80 Singles

~ kcorsini ~ 6 Comments

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Legend, ex-Beatle Paul McCartney turned 80 this year in June and to celebrate he put together the mother of all box sets. This new box in it’s physical form was way over the top. It’s entitled The 7″ Singles. He went back and put together a box – actually if I’m being honest it was a wooden crate, I’m not sure I could lift the thing – with eighty (80) old school, vinyl, 7″ singles. In the days before CDs and MP3 artists released vinyl 7″ singles that were also known as 45s… Open this crate and you find the actual, physical copies of 80 of McCartney’s singles with the original artwork from back in the day on the single sleeve. The crate doesn’t have every single he ever put out but the 80 singles – to match his age – certainly cover his entire career from his first solo record McCartney to his latest McCartney III. To add to it’s rather massive packaging, it came with a massive price tag, over $600. There were only 3000 of these produced, I think? These will obviously be instant collectors items. But alas, too rich for me.

My dad had a rack of singles that my brother sort of took over when we were kids. We had a little record player, I hesitate to call it a turntable and we’d listen to my dad’s old Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, and Elvis records. Well he’d listen, I didn’t pay as close attention as he did. When an artist was going to put out an album – or an LP in industry vernacular –  it was proceeded, like today, by the release of a single to get the buying public lathered up for the album. An album was vinyl, 12″ and spun at 33 rpms (revolutions per minute). In those days a single was also vinyl, but only 7″ and spun at 45 rpms. Singles ruled the world before the Beatles made albums artistically relevant instead of just mere collections of singles. The irony is not lost on me that one of the guys who made albums more relevant than singles has come back with a crate full of… singles. It’s the circle of life folks… All these years removed from sharing a room with my brother and I have such a complicated turntable I’m not sure I could even play a vinyl single any more. I would have to get under the hood and change some belts underneath to change the speed. Uh, no thank you… I’m not that technically proficient.

When I saw the price tag of this thing I was an immediate “No.” Even I have limits. But then I realized McCartney had also released it for purchase in MP3 format. That made me check the streaming service I use and yes, it was also released to all major streaming services. These “non-physical” formats contain 159 songs released over 80 singles during McCartney’s solo career. It’s close to 10 hours of music. Naturally, I knew I had to spend the next three or four days listening to it straight through. Someone had to do it, it might as well be your intrepid blogger. Who else is musically obsessed enough to endeavor to do this? I felt compelled to separate this collection from the gimmickry of the packaging and see if it had any merit as a listening experience. I’m just glad I didn’t have to get up and walk to the turn table 159 times to turn the records over and I’m a vinyl guy. In truth I don’t care how anybody gets their music as long as they listen!

As I listened to this thing, I couldn’t help but feel that this might be the biggest monolithic greatest hits album ever. I mean it has 80 of his singles. By definition, when an artist like McCartney releases a single it’s probably going to hit the charts, ergo it’s a hit, be it minor or major. But then he also included 79 B-sides. Those B-sides could be anything from unreleased gems to deep LP cuts that are throwaways, or deep LP cuts that are actually great songs, or remixed or mono versions of a song, or maybe a live track. B-sides can indeed be a mixed bag. Regardless of whether you consider this the largest greatest hits album ever released or not, it certainly tells us the story of McCartney’s solo career, post-Beatles in a pretty comprehensive way. And, when you think about McCartney’s solo career – he’s a legend but there were definitely low periods in his career – this is perhaps the most courageous box set ever released. This box really tells his story, warts and all, triumphs and misses.

I didn’t start listening to music until the late 70s when I was in junior high. We are a product of our past and at that point McCartney was the king of the ex-Beatles, charts-wise. Lennon had retreated into being a house-husband by 1975. Harrison had lost his way creatively and well, I never paid attention to Ringo’s solo music. I love Ringo but… McCartney was my favorite Beatle when I started listening to music because he was who we heard on the radio most often. He had more hits in that mid to late 70s era. Even before I had really listened to music McCartney’s music was ever present. I’d hear “Another Day” in my mom’s car while we were going to the market or “Band On The Run” over the loudspeakers at the neighborhood swimming pool. As I listened to the singles, arranged here in chronological order, I began to realize that McCartney’s music has been that way – ever present – my entire life. Whether he was producing chart topping, iconic LPs or critically panned schmaltz I have always been at least aware of what he was doing. If his latest LP was a dud (especially in the late 80s) there was always a good song or two on the album. McCartney was always such a master when it came to melody even at his worst I’d find myself humming his songs… “Press” comes to mind from when I was in college…

The start of this thing really is like listening to a greatest hits package. All of those iconic early hits from his early LPs – which were panned by the critics at the time – just roll out of the speakers. “Another Day,” one of my favorite B-sides “Oh Woman Oh Why,” “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” and “Hi, Hi, Hi.” I even liked the B-side, live track “The Mess” that I’d never heard before. There are just so many great songs here. I loved hearing “Mull of Kintyre” a song that was the greatest selling single in the UK until 1984 (and they may play at my funeral). I didn’t realize that McCartney hadn’t released any singles from his solo debut McCartney. It wasn’t until I heard the live version of “Maybe I’m Amazed” from Wings Over America that I realized that was the version that was the hit on radio. I couldn’t help but smile to think that bands used to actually release singles from live LPs!

Hearing “With A Little Luck” brought back memories of being in the backseat of dad’s Oldsmobile listening to Casey Kasem when that track was a huge hit. My brother had the album Back To The Egg which was supposed to be McCartney’s response to punk rock, and I used to go in his room to listen to that album just to hear the rocker “Old Siam Sir,” included here as well. My brother also had McCartney II and no one will ever be able to convince me that “Temporary Secretary” is a good song. I can’t believe it was a single.

The 80s are when the wheels came off a bit for McCartney. I have always felt that McCartney was more traumatized by the assassination of John Lennon than anybody ever realized. They were such dear friends at one time. He did respond with one of my favorite albums of his, Tug Of War. That was, for me, the highlight of McCartney’s 80s. I heard it playing in the record store when I’d gone to browse for music and I walked out with it. My girlfriend at the time was like, “You like “Ebony and Ivory”?” Well, no but listen to “Here Today.” While the 80s mostly sucked you’ll never find a better song than “No More Lonely Nights,” complete with David Gilmour on lead guitar. “Spies Like Us” from the movie of the same name is here too.

McCartney finished the 80s with his strongest LP since Tug Of War with Flowers In The Dirt where he collaborated with Elvis Costello. I love tracks from that era here – “My Brave Face,” and “Put It There” in particular. We all thought that was McCartney’s comeback but he continued to stumble until he immersed himself in the Beatles Anthology project in the 90s. He emerged from that project with (to me at least) his real comeback album Flaming Pie. Those singles are looser and rock more than anything he’d done since the 70s. Shortly after that we lost Linda McCartney and Paul recorded one of our favorite albums of cover songs and I was pleased “No Other Baby” was included here.

Since Flaming Pie McCartney has been on such a creative roll. There are so many great songs many of you may not have stuck around to hear after his creative dip in the 80s and early 90s. “Jenny Wren” with the great B-side “Summer of ’59,” “Fine Line,” “From A Lover To A Friend,” and all the tracks from Dance Tonight, especially the title track. They even included his hit from the side project The Firemen, “See The Changes.” For what it’s worth they also included tracks from his opera album(s) and his old pop standard album. There are a few non-album singles here as well. Artists used to not wait until the album was finished and would just put out a single and not include it on the next album, just a little something to keep them in the minds eye.

Over the course of listening to this monolithic collection of songs it dawned on me how breathtakingly wide the range of things McCartney can do is. Whether it’s a rocker, a classical pop song with strings, a ballad, folk, country, a few reggae moments, Christmas classics, opera, electronic pop – there’s not any genre of music that McCartney didn’t try. The man is truly fearless with a boundless imagination with a bold need to experiment and try new things. He is truly one of the most important artists of the rock era – in and out of the Beatles. While the set dips a bit in the middle, like his career, the singles are still very strong. While I can’t suggest anybody plunk down even the $80 for the MP3 version of this – it’s certainly a collection everyone should hear… maybe not all at once like I did – and explore. There may be a stray single you missed or a great B-side you’ve never heard. Like McCartney’s career in total, this set has so many gems and pleasures that I think everybody will find something to enjoy.

I want to wish everybody who celebrates it (or endures it like me) a very Merry Xmas and Happy Holidays. Having people read these crazy ramblings is the greatest gift I get every year so thank you all very much!

Cheers!

 

Review: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, ‘Live At the Fillmore, 1997’ – A Truly Joyous Rock N Roll Live Album!

~ kcorsini ~ 3 Comments

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I wish I could tell you how happy I am about finally having Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Live at the Fillmore, 1997 to listen to. In the interest of full disclosure I can’t tell you that I’m holding this live box set in my hands yet… The sketchy character known as “Santa” is supposed to bring it to me. I have a strong feeling that it’s wrapped and under my tree already. In that sense I do own it right now but I just can’t get to it for another few weeks… 12 days and counting. I will say, if you haven’t asked Santa for this music you best get on the horn to the North Pole asap and get it on your rock n roll list. In the absence of holding the physical album in my hands I’ve been streaming this amazing live document of a band at one of their true zeniths almost constantly. Other than Neil Young’s latest LP World Record, it’s literally all I’m listening to right now.

Part of the excitement I feel over this package is I can remember Petty, when he was still alive, talking about it. The two projects I’d hear him mention in interviews before we alas, lost him, were a live album culled from their 1997 20-concert residency at San Francisco’s venerable Fillmore theater and the expanded version of Wildflowers that more accurately portrayed his original vision of that record as a double-LP. I have to say that Adria Petty (Tom’s daughter) and whoever else she’s working with has done a nice job on the posthumous releases they’ve done to celebrate the life of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. I’ll be the first to admit there was some skull-fuckery on her part around Wildflowers And All The Rest. I bought the deluxe 4-CD edition and it didn’t have the B-side everybody wanted, “Girl On LSD.” Well, there was a live version. That song, amongst a few others were held out for inclusion on a bonus “fifth disc” that a bunch of people spent a lot more money than I did purchasing. Then, chastised, they released that fifth disc separately as Finding Wildflowers. The folks that bought the 5-disc All The Rest were pissed and well, so was I just because Petty was never greedy like that. He once fought the record company to keep his albums priced at $8.98 vs the $9.98 the record company wanted to charge. That part aside, the Wildflowers And All The Rest was ultimately a very satisfying box set.

The other box set Adria (with help from some Heartbreakers, notably guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboardist Benmont Tench) put out to honor Tom – and to release a treasure trove of released and unreleased stuff – was 2018’s American Treasure. Man, do I love that box set. It was truly a different path through Petty’s amazing career than provided by his officially released albums. If you haven’t checked that out yet again, you might wanna call the North Pole. American Treasure finally saw the release of what I consider the definitive version of “Breakdown” recorded live at the Capitol Studios.

Now we finally have the live LP that Petty never got around to releasing, Live At the Fillmore, 1997. While he talked about it occasionally, I’m not sure Petty was a big live LP enthusiast the way we are here at B&V. I remember him describing live albums as being greatest hits played way too fast. As longtime readers know, I love live albums. I actually bought and still own Petty & the Heartbreakers first live album, the double vinyl Pack Up The Plantation. It was from the tour to support Southern Accents and coincidentally was the first tour I actually saw Petty live. I don’t know what took me so long. The whole Plantation theme and the big Confederate Flag as a stage backdrop were probably ill-conceived and Petty said later in his career he had some regrets about that. I really liked that live album but it was overshadowed for most folks as Springsteen released his mammoth live LP Live ’75 to ’85 at around the same time. And while I liked Plantation even I’ll admit I don’t think it’s representative of the true live spirit of the Heartbreakers. They had a horn section and back up singers on that tour and thus on the album. Petty eventually put out an epic live album of his own ala Springsteen with the 5-CD Live Anthology. It remains a favorite here at B&V.

As much as I loved Live Anthology, now that I’ve heard Live At the Fillmore, 1997 I might have to go back and change my post on our favorite live LPs, BourbonAndVinyl Comes Alive: The Epic List Of Essential Live Albums to include this one. When the Heartbreakers decided to hole up for a 20 night residency at the Fillmore in San Francisco in early 1997 things were changing a bit for the band. Longtime drummer Stan Lynch had split – last performing on the two bonus tracks on the Greatest Hits album – to be replaced with Steve Ferrone. They’d added multi instrumentalist Scott Thurston somewhere along the line to round out their sound. Luckily bassist Howie Epstein (who also provides delightful harmony vocals) was still with us and plays/sings on this live album. Of course guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboardist Benmont Tench are here in all their glory. The band had just put out their soundtrack Songs and Music From “She’s The One” in August of 1996 and were three years away from recording Echo. These performances were to be the Hearbreakers only live shows in 1997 but man, what shows it sounds like they were.

Instead of the usual set list of songs a band plays on a big tour the Heartbreakers mixed it up quite a bit on this residency. I saw the Stones in ’81 in Houston and and then Kansas City and they played the exact same songs, in the same order and looked utterly bored doing so. I mean, that has to get old right? This is like listening to the best house band ever in a small bar. If I lived out in California I’d have tried to go to as many of these shows as I could have. Instead of playing the usual big hits and time worn crowd favorites Petty and the Heartbreakers turn to playing the music that inspired and influenced them in the first place. You can tell what an absolute kick they get out of that. It’s like a resurgence of energy. The sheer joy pouring out of the speakers on these performances makes this essential Petty listening. It’s like capturing a moment in time forever in amber. Who among us wouldn’t want that? Some people might be put off at the lack of hits here but give me the Heartbreakers honoring Chuck Berry by way of the Stones by blasting through “Around And Around” all day long.

Early on, after blasting through “Jammin’ Me” and “Runnin’ Down A Dream” they crank up Little Richard’s “Lucille” and I am here for it! They follow that up with J.J. Cale’s “Call Me The Breeze” and that point on the album they’d played more covers than originals. The band sounds loose and happy but they are tight as Hell here. “I Won’t Back Down” gets an airing but it’s very stripped down. Petty plays “a song (he) learned at camp” which turns out to be “You Are My Sunshine” which leads into a soulful Bill Withers’ cover “Ain’t No Sunshine.” I feel like I’m standing in a bar, beer in hand, jaw agape thinking “I’m glad I came out tonight.” The band takes us in so many wonderful directions here.  They even dip into the early, early Mudcrutch catalog for “On The Street.” They dig pretty deep on the choice of covers with “Hip Hugger,” an instrumental by Booker T. and the MGs. Anything goes! A fan actually calls out a request for “Hearbreakers’ Beach Party” – a Playback obscurity – and the band obliges him and plays the song which Petty admits the band had heretofore never played live.

“Even The Losers” and “American Girl” appear but merely as acoustic renditions which was fine with me! They do the James Bond theme “Goldfinger” which no one wants to acknowledge was a song done by Mike Campbell’s side project (the Blue Stingrays). Eventually they welcome original Byrd Roger McGuinn onto the stage for a mini-Byrds set of tunes. The Heartbreakers were always compared to the Byrds so why not invite Roger to the party. Eventually John Lee Hooker comes out for some smokin’ blues. It’s fantastic and I’m so thrilled they included the guest stars on the record.

You name an influence on the Heartbreakers and there’s probably a song here by them: the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, the Byrds, Blues music, the Grateful Dead, Them (Van Morrison), the Everly Brothers…the list goes on. This is like Tom and the guys are still just a small band playing the biggest ballroom in Gainesville like back in the early days. There is just so much joy and great music on this live album. There’s so much that is great on this thing I can’t even begin to list it all. I can’t recommend this thing highly enough. It’s been a real treat to let myself get absorbed in these performances. It’s clear to me that Petty and the Heartbreaker’s were at an absolute peak at this stage of the game. Everyone should hear this album. It should be taught to all new bands… learn this great set of rock songs and you’ll always have a job.

Petty says at one point on the album he considered the shows they were doing at the Fillmore as one of the true highlights of his career and goes on to say “It’s going to be hard to get us off the stage…” Thank Heaven it was!

Cheers!

Review: Neil Young & Crazy Horse Return With Ecology Focused ‘New World Record’ – Third Winner In a Row!

~ kcorsini ~ 10 Comments

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Despite the fact that Neil Young, who is 77, has been quite prolific over the course of his late career, even I was surprised that he was back with a new album this quickly. When I speak of Young being prolific I’m not even talking about his Archival output from his vaults – the unreleased LPs like Toast or Homegrown or his wonderful Archive box sets – I’m talking about new material. This new album, World Record, is his third album in four years. And, more importantly it’s the first time in his career that he has put out three albums in a row with his once-and-future backing band Crazy Horse. There was a time in the 70s when he was cobbling albums together from previous recording sessions and many of his albums would have a few cuts from Crazy Horse, but he’s never done three proper studio albums in a row with Crazy Horse. Personally, I like the guitar chemistry Neil has with Crazy Horse and I considered the news that he had reconvened “the Horse” for a third go-round as good news to my ears. Clearly there will be no “soul covers” album from Neil Young like Mr. Springsteen has chosen to do… sigh. But then Neil has Everybody’s Rockin’ to atone for…

Crazy Horse has gone through quite a few changes over the years. Neil recruited drummer Ralph Molina, bassist Billy Talbot and guitarist Danny Whitten from a band named the Rockets back in ’69 for his second solo LP after leaving Buffalo Springfield, Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere. But then Neil joined CSNY for Deja Vu which helped solidify his status as a star. After all of that his relationship with Crazy Horse was sort of off again, on again. He’d recruit certain members of the band to play on certain albums. But then, in 1973 during the rehearsals for the tour in support of Harvest, guitarist Danny Whitten died of an overdose. He wouldn’t record a full album with Crazy Horse again until 1975’s Zuma. Although I’ve always considered Tonight’s The Night to be a Crazy Horse album…. Of course after Whitten passed Neil would play with Crazy Horse with guitar virtuoso Nils Lofgren taking Whitten’s place. By 1975 Lofgren was off on his solo career and Young hired Frank Sampedro to be the second guitarist in the band for Zuma. Sampedro was the perfect guitar foil for Young. Young recorded many of his great guitar epics with Sampedro egging him on, such as “Like A Hurricane,” “Cortez The Killer,” and take your pick from anything off of 2012’s Psychedelic Pill (Sampedro’s last album with Crazy Horse before he retired).

As I mentioned, this is Young’s third album of new stuff with Crazy Horse in a row. The first album he re-recruited Crazy Horse for was Colorado in 2019. This was when Nils stepped back into the band to take Sampedro’s place. I really liked Colorado. But I think we all realized that Crazy Horse was a changed entity by that time. Gone were the guitar epics that Sampedro helped fuel. There was a 13 minute epic on that album, “She Showed Me Love,” but it wasn’t as fierce as say, “Cortez The Killer” or “Ramada Inn.” Still, it was a great tune. They turned around and in 2021 they released Barn which I felt was an even better late period Young album. Frankly, I’ll admit that if you include World Record this may be Young’s best 3-album run since the 90s. Young’s main concern over the course of these three albums is the environment, climate change and the slow reaction mankind seems to be having to it. The man knows his way around a protest song.

As I said, when I heard Young had another album coming this soon, I was surprised. I’m told he had it written by July of this year, a mere seven months after Barn came out. According to Wikipedia, World Record‘s “lyrical content concerns Young “reminisc[ing] with gratitude about the gifts the Earth has given him” as well as the “state of Earth” and “its uncertain future,” as well as “Chevrolet,” a song about “Young’s relationship with cars.”” My only concern in hearing all of that was that this might be another record that Young spun up from the headlines and hadn’t taken time to write full songs for like say, Living With War. For the first time since he reconvened Crazy Horse I had some trepidation about this album. But then I heard Rick Rubin was going to co-produce the LP in his studio Shangri-La out in Malibu. I was hoping Rick would be able to curb Young’s recording ideology of “the first take is the best take,” and I started to look forward to this album more. Then I realized that Rubin is more of a “vibe guy” as a producer. Most likely he just sat cross-legged in the corner like a long haired, bearded Buddha and grooved to the musicians playing. The most he probably did from a technical stand point is hit the “record” button. Young does miss David Briggs, his longtime late producer.

I heard the first song, “Love Earth” and I chose not to write about it… I wasn’t sure about it. It was a laid back piano shuffle that brought to mind both Petty’s “The Man Who Loved Women” (recorded on ukulele no less) or Monty Python’s “Always Look On The Bright Side of Life.” Those aren’t meant to be criticisms but the tune made me think of old-timey songs. It certainly doesn’t sound like “protest” music but music that celebrates the environment and asks you to do something about it. The song does have a nice harmonica solo. Now that I’ve spent last week after Thanksgiving listening to the album, “Love Earth” has bored it’s way into my brain. It is a damn catchy tune. I had heard that this wasn’t going to be a guitar driven album. I knew that they would be using a bunch of different instruments like tack piano, pump organ, harmonica, accordion, and such. I feared that this album might sound like a one man band falling down a flight of stairs. I was, thankfully, wrong. Although admittedly the instrumentation wasn’t what you’d usually think you’d get on a Neil Young and Crazy Horse album. But as I said, Crazy Horse is a different animal these days.

As mentioned, the album kicks off with the first single, “Love Earth.” I simply love that song but I’ll admit it’s a grower. That leads into a jaunty piano driven tune “Overhead.” It sort of reminds me of “Are You Ready For the Country?” I’d almost call this a country stomper of a tune. It’s an uptempo thing and might have really smoked had it been on guitar vs piano/harmonica as lead. That’s not a complaint, I’m just trying to frame the vibe of the tune. “Overhead” almost feels like a statement of purpose for the record especially on the falsetto bridge. “This Old Planet (Changing Days)” is another piano and possibly accordion driven tune. It’s a lament about climate change where Neil reminisces about beautiful days with clear blues skies and sparkling water. He’s not wrong… especially when he sings “You’re not alone on this old planet.” “The Long Day Before” is another organ/accordion driven track. It’s a pretty Neil Young ballad with a great harmonica solo. It’s one of my favorites. “Walking On The Road (To the Future)” is a great plea for people to take the best from the past but move forward into the future. It’s another track I really liked. In the chorus he follows up with his other theme beyond climate change, “No more war, only love.” Nothing wrong with those sentiments for this wannabe hippy blogger.

“The World’s In Trouble Now” is a more urgent tune. Its rocking sans guitar which is a weird thing to type. I guess there’s some guitar on the track. It could have been a real barrel house rocker but I dig the way they did it here. Neil isn’t beating you over the head he’s finessing you. I dug the lyric, “Because the earth has held me so, I will never let go.” “The Wonder Won’t Wait” is another similar track to “The World’s In Trouble Now.” It’s another track that sounds old-timey via the instrumentation but makes me wonder what it’d have sounded like with some electric guitar leading the charge. “Take some time to live before you die” is a great line and frankly, good advice. It’s another plea to act on climate change but with the laid back instrumentation it doesn’t feel like a crazy corner preacher yelling at you that the end is nigh.

For you Neil electric guitar fans out there – have no fear, we get some of that too. “I Walk With You” has an ominous guitar riff that opens it up. For a split second I was transported back to Psychedelic Pill but it’s not that incendiary. It’s more laid back than that. But man what a big riff drenched in squall. The bridge hammers it home, “The end of war, the price of life, the cost of care…””Break The Chain” is another feedback drenched guitar song. You can almost read emotion in Young’s guitar tone. It’s chugging rocker that was also one of my favorites.

The biggest, bad-ass track here is the 15-minute “Chevrolet,” an ode to cars. Which, when you think about the environmental themes on this record, it shouldn’t work at all here but it does. In the tune Young sees an old Chevrolet and wants to buy it, the car is “speaking to” him. But he asks himself, “How will it comfort me, burning all that fuel again?” It’s almost like a break up song… where he breaks up with driving down the highway in a gas guzzler. I really love this track. It’s worth the price of admission. The guitar interplay between Young and Nils is reminiscent of well, Young and Poncho Sampedro. If you do one thing after reading this review it’s crank up “Chevrolet.”

This is simply put, an outstanding Neil Young album. It’s shambolic. It might have benefited by more liberal use of guitars instead of the odd instrumentation but like the tune “Chevrolet” – it shouldn’t work but it does. For a man this deep in his career to still be putting out fantastic music with an urgent, important message it’s quite something to hear. I mean, you don’t hear Harry Styles pleading with people about climate change. And yeah, he’ll sell more albums than Neil but that doesn’t mean the music is better than Young’s.

Put this one on and use your headphones to wring out some of the nuance of the tracks. Pour a little something strong… maybe light something up if that’s your thing and groove on the power of Neil Young and Crazy Horse. Be good to each other out there. And maybe recycle… it can’t hurt.

Cheers!

New Song Alert: Metallica, “Lux AEterna,” + Announcement On New LP – We Compare “Lux” To Recent First Singles

~ kcorsini ~ 6 Comments

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Those crafty guys in Metallica surprised me this week with a new song and have announced their new LP, entitled 72 Seasons, due out in April 2023. I keep a running list of upcoming albums in my head at all times – because I clearly have a problem – and early in 2022 I sort of took Metallica off that list. I had fully expected an album from them this year and I don’t really remember why I thought that. But then I read an interview with, I believe, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett where he said something along the lines of, “it would be impossible for Metallica to release an album any time soon.” I don’t know what the fascination is with these bands and acts wanting to surprise people with their album releases but kudos Metallica you caught me off guard!

Frankly I think I can attribute some of my surprise around this new Metallica song to the fact that I haven’t quite recovered from Thanksgiving yet. I got back from Colorado fully intending to focus completely on Neil Young’s new LP World Record. But then the sad, shocking news about Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac passing away hit me. That was on the heels of guitarist Wilko Johnson finally losing his battle with cancer… it was a heavy week. I found myself going through all my Fleetwood Mac records pulling up the Christine songs. She really was fabulous. I even came across her version of “I’d Rather Go Blind” from when she was still Christine Perfect and it’s sensational. Everyone should hear that track.

On the flip side of all of that for some reason now that the holidays are actually here for real – not just Christmas music firing up on Halloween, the holidays are really upon us now – I find myself turning more and more to harder rock n roll. ‘Tis the season to crank up the righteous metal, I guess. I’ve been returning to the Guns N Roses Use Your Illusions box set to crank the live stuff (and I wake up with “You Could Be Mine” in my head most mornings), then I head to Aerosmith’s mid-70s LPs, and then it’s Ozzy’s new LP from earlier this year, Patient Number 9. I guess I’ve never been the biggest Christmas person, one might call me a bit of a reformed Grinch… but this year I’m skipping the carols and heading straight for the hard stuff, musically speaking. So this new Metallica song, “Lux AEterna” (you’ll have to excuse me misspelling the title I don’t have a key on my keyboard with a merged A and E), fits in perfectly with my holiday rocking.

This new track “Lux AEterna” is heavy. If I ever go into cardiac arrest, throw this track on the stereo, crank it up and throw my body onto the speaker. It should revive me. Hell, it could revive my grandfather and he’s been gone over forty years. But before we get to heavily into “Lux AEterna,” let’s look back and see how it compares to some of their more recent first singles. I have to admit to being more of a dabbler into Metallica prior to Death Magnetic. I liked the Black Album as did most people. I had the added benefit of seeing them at Lollapalooza and they played a bunch of songs from that LP so I went out and bought it the day after. I kind of liked Load but didn’t get into Re-Load at all. Then they went into total collapse – long time bassist Jason Newsted left, singer/guitarist James Hetfield ended up in rehab, and then they reached their creative nadir with St Anger. I was frankly kind of done with Metallica. And then I heard “The Day That Never Comes” from Death Magnetic. Something about Metallica just clicked for me in that moment. I was in the car when I heard that song and immediately diverted to the record store. That album took Metallica back to their early style of music – long epic tracks, intense guitar solos, multiple time signature changes – and I loved it. It was also the first LP to feature new bassist Robert Trujillo, formerly of Ozzy’s band. “The Day That Never Comes” is an almost 8-minute tour de force. It’s in my not so humble opinion one of their best songs. After I heard that LP, I went back and purchased all four of Metallica’s first albums and have been a big fan ever since. Sometimes it takes something weird to flip the switch in my head. That’s a hard first single to compare other stuff to, it’s that momentous.

Then six years ago Metallica released “Hardwired” in anticipation of the LP Hardwired To Self Destruct. That was another awesome, heavy album. The track, “Hardwired” was one of the first things I reviewed for this blog. “Hardwired” was the opposite of “The Day That Never Comes.” It was hard and fast. It clocked in at only slightly over 3 minutes. It was so fast and hard it almost felt punk. Don’t get me wrong, I love the song, but it is a breakneck piece of rock n roll. The guitars snarl at you. Drummer Lars Ulrich hits the skins so hard you’d think he was mad at them. Although I have to admit with a chorus of “We’re so fucked, shit out of luck, hardwired to self destruct” the song seems a bit like self-fulfilling prophecy. Metallica always seems to deliver something special on those first singles.

“Lux AEterna” is definitely more in the “Hardwired” category. It is also a short track, only three-and-a-half minutes long. I really like this song. I played it for the Rock Chick and after declaring it “very heavy,” admitted it’s “very good Metallica.” I think Metallica plays as many notes on these short tunes as they do on the long, epic songs they just play the notes much, much faster. Hetfield’s frantic cry of “Lux AEterna” for the chorus sounds more like an anguished spirit calling out to the Gods than a metal singer. Kirk Hammett’s guitar solo is so unhinged it sounds like he’s about to lose control of his instrument half way through. One of the things that draws me to Metallica is the amazing drumming of Lars Ulrich. He is the engine and the engine is overhearing on “Lux Eterna.” This song sounds like a prize fighting champion working on the heavy bag… It is what every metal head out there needs to get them through a difficult holiday season. Here’s the track:

If you’re like me, a Metallica fan, or a fan of hard rock or heavy metal, put this track on for the holidays to drowned out Mariah Carey. My advice on this one is to turn it up as loud as it’ll go but beforehand secure all the fine china and glassware. It’s going to be a rocking spring with 72 Seasons.

Cheers and Devil Horns to all of you!!