Month: December 2023

“New” Song: Guns N’ Roses Release “The General” – A Song Even Slash Can’t Save…

~ kcorsini ~ 1 Comment

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Typically this is a pretty slow time here at the B&V labs. I usually post my “Best of” list (2023’s here), and take it easy until the New Year dawns. I’ve spent my holidays largely listening to Peter Gabriel’s new album and revisiting the Black Crowes’ masterpiece Southern Harmony & Musical Companion (Deluxe). I figured my rock n roll job was done for ’23 and now was the time for bourbon and reflection. But here I am watching the sand drain out of the ’23 hourglass and there’s not much going on around here. The Rock Chick, with the efficiency of a crack military unit, has already pulled down the tree and all Xmas ornamentation. You wouldn’t know that only Monday this place was festive and full of people. My daughter and her beau have left, decamping for points out West. It’s quiet around here… too quiet it seems.

Or at least I thought it was quiet. It appears our old friends Guns N’ Roses have released another of their “new” singles, in this case “The General.” I put that “new” in quote marks on purpose. Rather than focus on sitting down and writing new material for an album – or even a single – the Gunners apparently seem content to just go back into Axl’s vault full of old songs from the Chinese Democracy sessions and re-work them. Duff will add a new bass part and Slash adds guitar. God knows if Axl re-cuts his vocals. They have now released four singles, all of which date to Chinese Democracy. The first one, the aptly named “Absurd,” was frankly, terrible. It was the first new music released under the GnR moniker in 13 years and it was utterly disappointing. The follow up, “Hard Skool,” I actually really liked. It was a high octane, meet-me-at-the-finish-line, rock n roll song. It had some menace. If they’re gonna rewarm older tracks in the microwave, at least rock me…make my foot tap along to the song. “Hard Skool” might predate Chinese Democracy, if memory serves me. Finally, this year we saw the release of “Perhaps,” a cool piano driven track that found Axl almost sounding… contrite? Again, this was a great piece of music if not completely “fresh and new.”

And now we have the release of “The General.” I try to get out of game for a holiday vacation and GnR “pull me back in,” as Michael Corleone said in Godfather III.  “The General” had been announced when they released “Perhaps” as the B-side of the vinyl release of that song. You never know about a B-side. Sometimes they can be a sublime track in it’s own right (our favorite B-sides certainly are), or sometimes just a weak deep cut from the album. Sadly, “The General” falls into the latter category. Not even some really nice guitar work from Slash can save this horror. Supposedly this song is some kind of follow up to “Estranged.” It reads more like a follow up to “My World.” It’s a grinding song that sounds almost like industrial rock like Nine In Nails. Rose has always been obsessed with that sound. Axl sounds almost like he’s in pain, although his vocal range is still impressive. Don’t get me wrong I like heavy metal and hard rock. Metallica’s 72 Seasons was one of my favorites of the year but this just sounds awful to me. There are quiet moments between the pained shrieking which I suppose build a little tension, but then Axl’s banshee wail pierces the ear drum. This track wouldn’t be out of place on my Halloween Playlist…

Like I said, Slash does some cool things on guitar but not enough to save this nightmare. The lyrics point to some interesting themes – perhaps abuse of some sort, a search for forgiveness? But the execution leaves me cold. To my count the reunited line up has released 4 songs and they’re batting about .500. I don’t know why they haven’t sat down and written anything? Maybe they miss Izzy Stradlin who was always key to their creative process. They sounded great in concert this summer, even without Stradlin or Steve Adler. I don’t know why they can’t pull something together in the studio? Maybe they are secretly making all of our collective GnR dreams come true and recording a new album of actual new material. GnR are such a dysfunctional band who knows what they’re up to. With “The General” I do think they’re wearing out the “retread” song plan. I’d even be happy with a Spaghetti Incident? album of all cover songs. It’s been going on 16 years since Chinese Democracy came out. GnR are starting to border on Stones and Peter Gabriel territory here…

While I love GnR, I’d rather put on the live stuff on the Use Your Illusion – Super Deluxe box than this song. These guys are one of the greatest rock n roll bands of all time… Step up and prove it Axl, Slash & Duff.

Cheers and Happy New Year to all of you out there. I’m wishing you all good things in 2024! Thank you for your continued support of B&V, it’s much appreciated. Be safe out there when you’re ringing in the New Year! We’ll see you next year… and if you’re having trouble getting people to leave your party this year… just put on “The General.”

B&V’s Best of 2023: Our Favorite New LPs & Vault/Reissues/Live Releases

~ kcorsini ~ 3 Comments

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I can’t believe the Earth has made another journey around the sun and it’s already December and time for our annual, year-end, “Best Of” lists. It seems just like yesterday I was sitting around the B&V labs, dreading January – which thankfully wasn’t dry this year – researching music from 1973 for a playlist. When I started this blog, as I stated in my Mission Statement, I intended to focus on older artists making new music. I was probably deluding myself as my focus was never going to be that narrow. I wasn’t thinking about all the great vault releases/reissues that come out every year. That’s the stuff the artist kept in the can over the years. And while I have to say, in 2023, there wasn’t a ton of new music from our classic rock heroes, what little there was released was of amazingly high quality.

I have started my year-end post a number of times with a quote from Don Henley, “It was a pretty good year for fashion, a lousy year for rock n’ roll.” I really can’t say that about 2023. I could never complain about the year that the Stones, after 18 years, finally decided to put out an album of original material. There was so much great stuff put out in the universe, including an amazing slate of concerts this year. It’s always nice to have a show to look forward to. My first show this year was Bush, a band I’d kinda given up on until their last LP came out, The Art Of Survival. Bush tore the roof of the joint and for bonus points, one of my favorite new bands, Starcrawler opened up. The Rock Chick talked me into seeing Springsteen again and man, am I happy she did. It was one of the best, if not the best concert I’ve ever seen from the E Street Band… of course I didn’t get to go to The River tour show in ’79…(bygones Brewster). I also traveled to Vegas to see U2 at the Sphere and Billy Idol two days later. Believe it or not, I saw ex Traffic guitarist Dave Mason on Martha’s Vineyard this summer… but that’s a long story. Closer to home I saw 311 and the Struts this year in small venues and both were fabulous. Guns N Roses at a local baseball park was pretty epic as well. I certainly did my part to support live music this year. Buy the ticket, see the show, people.

Of course, raucous evenings at live shows weren’t the only story of rock n roll in 2023. We lost a lot of great ones this year. In the span of about a week we lost Tony Bennett, Sinead O’Connor and ex-Eagle Randy Meisner. That was a tough stretch. We’d started off the year losing guitar virtuoso Jeff Beck and ex-Byrd, ex CSNY member David Crosby. Croz was in the midst of a great late career renaissance so that stung. It was also quite the gut punch to lose songwriter/guitarist Robbie Robertson from the Band. It started to feel like legends were dropping left and right. We also lost Jimmy Buffett and Tina Turner. I wasn’t a huge fan of those last two artists, but their influence and cultural impact can not be overstated. Man, tough year, indeed.

Some artists went old school and only released a stray single, like artists used to do in the 70s. Back then it was common for a band to issue a single and not put it on the next album. Of course we all still collected 45s back then. The Faces, McCartney, the Who and so many others used to do that. I guess everything old is new again and we had a handful of great non-album singles this year. Beck released the heartbreakingly beautiful “Thinking About You.” Lenny Kravitz is ready to sex you up on “TK421.” Guns N Roses continued their string of releasing Axl Rose’s old songs from the Chinese Democracy sessions as new material with the release of “Perhaps,” a track I actually really like. In a surreal collision of two worlds Al Green covered Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day,” a song I used to play for the Rock Chick and the daughter when they were collectively pissing me off… and Al’s version is sublime. Best of all, Paul McCartney went in and used some high tech to finish “Now And Then,” the Beatles’ final song. Oh my, how I love that song. It’s so easy to miss a great single when it comes out… check out each of these tracks, I think you’ll dig them.

Without further adieu, here are our favorites from 2023… If you haven’t checked these albums out, I urge you to do so while you’re trying to drowned out relatives over the next week or so… These lists are in no particular order and do not imply a stack ranking. The links to our original reviews are embedded.

Best New Albums 2023

  • Iggy Pop, Every Loser – Right out of the chute 2023 exploded with a rock n roll banger from Iggy. This album was produced by the white-hot Andrew Watt who will appear a couple times on this list. This is Iggy’s most Stooges sounding album in years.
  • Depeche Mode, Momento Mori – Depeche Mode’s (Dave Gahan, vocals; Martin Gore, guitar/keyboards/vocal) first album since the death of founding, longtime member Andy Fletcher. While he didn’t play on the record, Fletch’s presence is all over this dark, intense record. It’s a grower, it takes a few spins to get into it, but that doesn’t mean Momento Mori isn’t superb Depeche. “Ghosts Again,” for me, ranks amongst their best songs.
  • Metallica, 72 Seasons – Metallica do one thing but they do it very well. This hard ass metal album is one of their best. These guys are on the harder end of the B&V spectrum but they’re so genius it’s worth the hearing loss.
  • John Mellencamp, Orpheus Descending – The best album of protest music that you’re ever going to hear. “Hey God” is one of the best tracks Mellencamp has ever done. We’re not a political blog here, I’m a lover not a fighter, but this music is topical, rousing and just kick ass.
  • Queens Of The Stone Age, In Times New Roman… – After some almost funky LPs, Queens return to their harder, earlier sound. I really dug this record.
  • Greta Van Fleet, Starcatcher – After the somewhat tenuous second album, The Battle At the Garden Gate, GVF returned with a great third record. Never underestimate the “sophomore slump”… it’s hard to overcome but GVF are back on the right track. “Meeting The Master” is an epic tune that deserves to be cranked up to 11.
  • Pretenders, Relentless – Chrissie Hynde and the gang follow up the great Hate For Sale with another great album, Relentless. It’s nice to see these guys on a roll. “Let The Sun Come In” was my summer jam.
  • The Rolling Stones, Hackney Diamonds – I can’t believe it took 18 years for the Stones to follow up A Bigger Bang, but what a glorious way to return. With spectacular tunes like “Angry” and “Sweet Sounds Of Heaven,” this Andrew Watt-helmed album is a latter day Stones’ classic.
  • Peter Gabriel, i/o – Speaking of long waits between albums… Peter waited 21 years between records but this is another triumphant return. i/o is much like Momento Mori in that it’s a grower… you’ll need a few spins on this record before it clicks, but when it does, man what a great record. This is truly a work of genius.

Best Vault/Reissues/Live LPs of 2023

This is such a delightful mixed bag of box sets, live LPs, stuff from the vaults and even an EP… it was a delightful year for rock n roll.

  • Starcrawler, Acoustic Sessions EP – Starcrawler strip down several songs from their last LP, She Said, for a groovy 70s, country rock vibe. This band continues to impress me.
  • Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon – 50th Anniversary – The Live At Wembley ’74 concert where they performed Dark Side in it’s entirety for one of the first times, finally sees official release after being bootlegged for… well, almost 50 years.
  • The White Stripes, Elephant – Deluxe Edition – The White Stripes’ classic album with a complete concert from that tour. Fabulous stuff. This was the first tour I saw these guys… ah, memories.
  • The Who, The Who With Orchestra: Live At Wembley – I just loved this combination – The Who with a big orchestra – and with so many live records already out there, what a nice twist. This album boasted some surprisingly powerful performances.
  • Stephen Stills, Live At Berkeley ’71 – A wonderful snapshot of Stills at the peak of his powers. A nice cameo from David Crosby for a few tracks. Great live album that I’m stunned he left in the vaults all these  years.
  • Bob Dylan, Shadow Kingdom – The great soundtrack from a Covid-era streaming thing he did. Even with no drummer these songs come off as urgent and fresh. Dylan did once say, when praising a drummer, “He’s almost as good as no drummer at all.” The man is constantly reinventing his music.
  • Neil Young, Chrome Dreams – The legendary, oft bootlegged, unreleased LP from ’77 finally sees official release. I also have to give Neil some honorable mention for releasing the additional four songs from Ragged Glory which were all epic tracks!
  • Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense (Deluxe Edition) – The legendary live album expanded to include all the songs from the movie on it’s 40th anniversary. One of the best live albums/movies ever.
  • Stevie Nicks, Complete Studio Albums & Rarities – The title is a little misleading… this isn’t the complete set of her “rarities” and unreleased stuff, but there are enough here to make this a very intriguing listen. It even includes her great cover of the Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.” Stevie has been so great for so long, check this box out.
  • Fleetwood Mac, Rumours Live – Speaking of Stevie Nicks, her erstwhile band Fleetwood Mac dug into the vaults and released a complete concert documenting the tour for their legendary 1977 album. This complete show from L.A.’s Forum is like traveling back in time.

There it is folks, our favorite list of new albums and our list of vault, live LPs, EPs and reissues with bonus material. Did we miss anything? If you’ve got an album or a single you think we should have mentioned, by all means share it with us in the comments. I’d love to hear your thoughts on 2023’s rock n roll.

I hope everybody has a happy and sane holiday season over the next week or so. Stay safe out there and don’t drive drunk. There’s no upside in that. Hopefully you’ll all wake up on Xmas morning – if you celebrate Xmas – and Santa will have put all your rock n roll wishes under your tree in nicely wrapped packages… When I wrap a package it looks like the cat wrapped them… oh well. My skills lie elsewhere. I am looking forward to 2024 with possible LPs from Lenny Kravitz, Social Distortion and Billy Idol. The Stones have announced they’re touring… don’t be surprised if I wander into a stadium or two on that one!

Cheers and Happy Holidays!

Review: Black Crowes ‘Southern Harmony & Musical Companion (Super Deluxe)’ – Revisiting Their Classic Second Album

~ kcorsini ~ 7 Comments

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The Black Crowes have just released a box set for their landmark second album – and how many second albums can we say that about, that it’s a classic? – Southern Harmony And Musical Companion. The box is modeled much the same way as the Shake Your Money Maker – 30th Anniversary box from a few years ago in that it’s a three disc box with the original album, a disc of outtakes and finally a concert disc from the “High As The Moon Tour” from 1992-1993. I still wonder why I didn’t include the Crowes and Southern Harmony on my list of bands who defied the “sophomore slump.” Maybe because their debut album was so strong? While I love this album and if you don’t own it this is a nice package, I do think the box is flawed. And at (currently) $97, it’s a bit pricey for a three disc set.

As I have stated before, I got on the Crowes band wagon in 1990, shortly after I’d returned from my corporate exile in Northwest Arkansas. I remember hearing “Jealous Again” in my car and that was all it took. I may have even heard this song when I still lived in Arkansas. However, I did wait until I heard their Otis Redding cover “Hard To Handle” before I headed down to the CD store in Westport to pick up the album. Man, am I glad I did. Blues rock had largely been supplanted in the 80s by Hair Metal. Those bands all wanted to look and sound like Van Halen – few did – and that wonderful connection to rock’s roots in the blues was severed. When the Crowes surfaced, they took me back to that classic Stones/Faces vibe that I sooo love. The Stones are my Alpha and Omega. In a world dominated at the time by Grunge, here was a band singing the blues and lamenting how they were “Seeing Things.” Oh, yes!

By May 12th in 1992 I was home in Kansas City and in that classic successful phase of life known as, “Moved back in with my parents.” So I can only guess that my first time hearing the first single “Remedy” had to be in the car. Mom didn’t appreciate high volume rock n roll the same way I did. She almost had a heart attack when I played some Sabbath at full volume… I didn’t know she was home…Anyway, at the time I remember reading in Rolling Stone magazine that the Crowes were putting out their second album. I was primed for some new Crowes but second albums can be difficult… the sophomore slump is real. As ready as I was for new Crowes in 1992, I was not emotionally prepared for the power of that first single, “Remedy.” God, what a song! It leaped from the speakers and grabbed me by the lapel and slapped my face. That riff was huge and heavy and wonderful. I steered the car immediately to the record store. I remember visiting a guy I knew in Dallas at the time and I couldn’t stop singing “Remedy.” I kept blowing the lyric, “Baby, baby why you dye your hair…” and I was singing, at the top of my lungs, “Baby, baby why you dry your hair…” Yes, there was drink involved. It’s hard to stay sober in Texas.

The first half of Southern Harmony is about as good as the Crowes ever got. And believe it’s sublime rock n roll, dripping with blues feel. The opener “Sting Me” did just that. That track led to “Remedy,” my favorite Crowe’s tune. But just when you’d been pummeled into submission, in a good way, here comes the acoustic guitars (which weren’t heard a lot back then outside of the Unplugged Series) with “Thorn In My Pride.” “Bad Luck Blue Eyes, Goodbye” perhaps my favorite of their bluesy stuff, follows and at that point I’m in need of a shot of bourbon and fan. After that they just rock out. Listening to the entire album yesterday while I drove down to the DMV (yet again), it was those deeper, harder rock tracks that grabbed my ear. “Hotel Illness” was always a favorite. “Black Moon Creeping” is a sledgehammer of a rock song as is “No Speak No Slave.” “My Morning Song” is a great slide riff. There’s not a bad moment on this album. And then, just to freak me out, they cover a deep track of Bob Marley’s, “Time Will Tell.” Acoustic reggae on a blues rock album, Hell, yes!

As mentioned, the first disc in the box is the original album in all it’s glory. It’s been remastered and as usual they’ve cranked up the sound to 11 so it’s pretty damn loud aka “brickwalled.” But if you’ve never owned the album it’s still a great listen. Disc 2, for me is usually where the gold is found. Although, and this is where I think this disc is flawed, there’s only 9 tracks on the outtakes disc. I have to think these guys were on such a roll they had more in the can than just these 9 tracks. The last four tracks are “In Studio Live” versions of tracks on the album: “Sting Me (Slow),” “Sometimes Salvation,” “Blue Eyes Bad Luck, Goodbye” and “Black Moon Creeping.” Those are nice to have but far from essential. The “Sting Me (Slow)” version is one that I already had as bonus track. It is, as advertised, a “slow” version of “Sting Me” which is interesting.

Half the bonus disc filled with “In Studio Live” is just meh for me. However, that said there are 5 nice outtakes that every Crowes fan will dig. “99 Pounds” is quintessential Crowes, but it has been released prior to this and yes, I already have the song. “Miserable,” which I reviewed earlier, is a great track. I like the slow burn blues track more each time I hear it… and it does explode into a jam at the end. They do a ripping “In Studio Live” cover of Dylan’s “Rainy Day Woman No 12 & 35,” (the “everybody must get stoned” song). I do so love Dylan covers… “Boomer’s Story” is a nice bluesy number. It would have fit perfectly on the album. I really like this song. “Darling Of The Underground Press” is an acoustic blues number that knocks me out. Over bluesy acoustic there are stabs of electric guitar. As much as I love “Time Will Tell,” (nobody covers Bob Marley!), I would have rather had this track on the finished album.

Disc 3 is a concert from the tour for Southern Harmony, which was known as the “High As The Moon” tour. This was the first tour me and my friends saw the Crowes and man, were they awesome. As an aside, the Rock Chick saw the Crowes on their first tour when they opened for Aerosmith. She said she was more impressed with the Crowes that night than she was with Aerosmith. There’s a reason I call her the Rock Chick, but I digress. I saw pretty much the same setlist as they played in Houston, where this concert was recorded… this was only a couple of weeks before we – Storm Cat, the Accountant and I – saw them. Storm Cat liked the show so much a few months later he jumped in a car with two stoner cooks from where he worked and drove up to St Joseph, Missouri to see it again… kudo’s Storm!

No one is a bigger fan of a live album culled from the then current tour that bands put into these box sets than I am. It’s also usually where the gold is. Guns N Roses shows from the Use Your Illusions tour is a case in point. I don’t know how many times I’ve walked out of a concert and thought, “that should be the live album, just release this show.” Of course nowadays, bands actually do that. I purchased the Springsteen show I saw in February here in KC right after I saw the show and I love that live album! There was a real opportunity for the Crowes on this live disc. However, they edited all the Shake Your Money Maker live songs from the concert off this disc. They also did a Bob Marley cover that night and they cut it off. You get each Southern Harmony track live plus a “Jam” they put together. It’s good but as they say down south, it’s like kissing your sister. If they’d released the whole show I’d be 100% in. It doesn’t help that the bootleg of the entire show has been out there for 30 years… Sigh. They blew this one. Give us the whole concert – especially at $97!

As much as I love the Black Crowes – I even loved the EP they did last year 1972 – I can’t recommend this box as a purchase. First and foremost, it’s too expensive. The price may come down after the first of the year so keep an eye out and you may get it cheaper. The outtakes disc is far too short and contains too many “In Studio Live” songs that are already on the LP in a superior version. And finally, they edited the concert down which is, in this Rock Historian/Complete-ist view, a sin. This is going to be a set that you’ll want to stream – especially those first 5 outtakes – and the concert. While disappointing as edited, the live performance is still somethin’. This is some peak Black Crowes on these slender discs.

Cheers and Happy Holidays!

Review: Peter Gabriel’s First LP In 21 Years, ‘i/o’ – An Understated, Gem Of An Album

~ kcorsini ~ 5 Comments

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“I have so much left to give…” Peter Gabriel, “So Much”

It’s hard to believe that Peter Gabriel, erstwhile lead singer of Genesis, waited 21 years to release his follow up to 2002’s Us. I was going to joke that this was his Hackney Diamonds and ask who does this guy think he is, a member of the Stones? But then I read somewhere that Rolling Stone magazine was calling Gabriel’s new LP, entitled i/o, the Chinese Democracy of Peter Gabriel albums and that was just so much funnier. Of course Gabriel hasn’t been idle since 2002. In 2010, like the Stones (in 2016), he released an album comprised completely of covers (and we do so love our cover albums here), entitled Scratch My Back. On that project he was to cover a song from an artist who would return the favor and record one of his. I know Paul Simon did “Biko” but I’m not sure anybody else jumped in. And a year after that he released an orchestral re working of songs from his storied catalog, New Blood. How very Sting of him… Regardless, when an artist like Peter Gabriel releases an album, especially after working on it for 21 years, it’s a big deal.

I’m like most folks in the Midwest when it comes to Gabriel. I didn’t hear his music on the radio, ever. I’ve mentioned in these pages before, when I was in middle school (aka junior high school) and just discovering music and bands I thought Black Sabbath’s only lead singer was the then current Ronnie James Dio. I was unaware that the crazy solo artist Ozzy Osbourne had once been their lead singer. I’m not sure I figured that out until a few years later. It’s hard to discover the truth about music when you don’t have an older sibling. I could tell the same story about Gabriel and his original band Genesis. I knew the Phil Collins era of Genesis and was unaware that Gabriel had been the original lead singer until, well, college. “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway” didn’t get a lot of air time on my local radio.

Since songs like “Games Without Frontiers” and “Solsbury Hill” weren’t on the radio where I lived, it wasn’t until college and gads, MTV that I first discovered Gabriel. They played the video for “Shock The Monkey” on high rotation down there at MTV and I remember thinking, who is this guy? What the Hell is going on in this video? I actually liked the song but the video kinda kept me away. Then I discovered he’d been in Genesis, and would dress as a flower on stage and shave his head in a reverse Mohawk. I remember thinking he was like some acid-less Syd Barrett doing art rock that I’d likely never be interested in a big way… not realizing how long life is and how everything can change.

It was 1986 when Gabriel dropped the landmark album So. Up to that point Gabriel hadn’t really been doing himself any favors as he named every album he’d done up to that point, Peter Gabriel, as he felt every album in his catalog was a different chapter in the same book. Some people are just too smart for their own good. Or maybe I’m just not smart enough? I remember the first time I heard “Sledgehammer,” and yes, it was on MTV. They actually played music videos back then. To this day my body starts contorting when I hear that song, as if there’s a dancer trapped within me, but it turns out looking more like someone has hit me with a cattle prod. What an epic song. It was to be the first of 5 singles he released from that album, including “Red Rain,” “In Your Eyes,” “Don’t Give Up,” and “Big Time.” My college girl friend loved “Big Time.” Like the entire world, I was on the bandwagon.

He followed up six years later – which was lifetime back then – with Us. I thought it was pretty similar to So but not quite as strong. Although, there were some great songs on that album. “Steam” immediately popped out at me, although not as powerfully as “Sledgehammer.” “Kiss That Frog” is the funniest song ever written about oral sex and yes, I’m juvenile, I love that song. “Digging In The Dirt” was another great track. I have to admit, after that I was more of a greatest hits fan of Gabriel’s. He takes so long between albums I didn’t even know about Up until it’d been out for a long time. Sadly, that record left me cold.

For his new album, i/o, Gabriel started releasing it, a song at a time, starting last January. He released a song every month on the full moon until the entire thing was out. To complicate things further, he couldn’t choose which producer’s mix he liked best so he released 2 versions of each song, a “Bright-Side Mix” produced by Mark Stent and a “Dark-Side Mix” produced by Tchad Blake. Again, I’m not smart enough to sort through all of that so I just waited until the entire album was out to comment. I did check out the first song, “Panopticom” and I was like, what is that? He’s making up words now? Too complicated… Although I later found out it was a play on “Panopticon,” which is a word used to describe old prisons that were fashioned after the Embassy Suites, with the rooms on the outer wall around a courtyard. No word on if there’s a free happy hour from 5 to 7pm or free breakfast.

I have to say, I don’t think there’s a huge difference between the Bright-Side and Dark-Side mixes. If I had to choose, I’d probably lean toward the Dark-Side, but hey, that might be psychological. Never underestimate the power of the Dark Side. Anyway, the Dark-Side mixes are slightly murkier and again it might be just me but the acoustic guitars and pianos shine a little more on the Dark-Side to my ears. Gabriel is still in fine voice but I do detect a little more gravel in  his voice than in the old days.

Make no mistake, this is a great album. But it’s not going to be one of those albums you put on at a party. There’ll be no, “Honey, the Andersons are coming over for drinks tonight, let’s crank that new Peter Gabriel.” This is a very mature, grown up rock n roll album. It’s an album that is going to require a few listens before it clicks. It’s one of those late night, tumbler full of dark, murky fluid kinda albums. Even the upbeat tracks start off mellow and build. Gabriel writes and produces music with a cinematic scope and he manages to build a lot of dramatic tension in the songs. The surface may seem grim but once you dig into the lyrics you get a sense of pugnacious joy. A resolve to, against all odds, be happy. There is a lot of ruminations about mortality here, much like Dylan’s Time Out Of Mind or McCartney’s Memory Almost Full, but it’s not a drag.

There are a number of great songs that start off slow and build. The first track, “Panopticom,” that I dismissed upon first listen has become an ear-worm that has burrowed into my head. It’s been the song in my head when I wake up the last few days. “Panopticom” is all percussion and synth that just builds and builds. “Playing For Time” a lovely ballad about mortality takes me back to “Here Comes The Flood.” “You and I, still playing for time.” The title track is a wonderfully upbeat track about finding rebirth in the interconnected-ness of all things. “I’m just a part of everything,” indeed. The emotional center of the album is the brilliant “Four Kinds Of Horses,” that just blew me away. It seems to be a meditation on our current situation, “This is how you travel, if you live to see the world explode.” “Road To Joy” with it’s huge chorus just makes me smile. One might say it makes me joyful. “Olive Tree,” like “Road To Joy” has a huge chorus, and when he sings, “I’ve got the sunlight bright on my back” I can almost feel the warm glow. “So Much,” quoted above is another gorgeous ballad on the resolve to continue to contribute.

The album does mellow out on the second half. It ends with a series of ballads. “Love Can Heal” comes across like a mantra. It’s a “no matter what happens, love will heal you” kinda song. I love that message. “This Is Home” is another beautiful song to a lover. Wherever I am, the Rock Chick is my home so I dig that one too. “And Still” seems to be a sweet requiem for a mother who has passed. “Live And Let Live” ends the album on a midtempo track…”lay your burden down.”

This is an album that will reward any listener who takes the time to listen to it a few times. I had to drive out into the rural part of Missouri yesterday and I had this album on in the car. As I drove through the grey fields and the landscape rushed passed by me, I couldn’t help but think this is a perfect soundtrack on this winter day. It was like a bit of filtered sun on a cloudy day. I hope you’ll take some time and put this one on!

And while it’s true, “We’ve lost the line between the good and the bad, we’ve lost the line between the sane and the mad,” I hope you’re all doing ok. Take care of each other out there. As we look toward 2024, it could very well be a dark ride. We need to choose the road to joy, folks.

Cheers!

Playlist: Our Favorite Songs About The (Sometimes) Exquisite Pain of …. Waiting

~ kcorsini ~ 6 Comments

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I had the distinct displeasure this week of having to deal with an issue with the county I live in. As fate would have it, I couldn’t resolve the issue on-line like civilized societies do. I had to drive over to an old, historic courthouse on the east side of town where I spent more than my share of time… waiting in line… in the cold. As I stood there my mind began to roam, searching for anything to distract myself from where I was. Naturally my mind drifted to rock n roll. I am who I am. Before I knew what was happening, Tom Petty’s voice was running through my skull…”the waiting is the hardest part.” After being told I was in the wrong line, the mental jukebox in my mind, ever on “shuffle,” quickly jumped to the Who and “This is no social crisis, just another tricky day for you.” I began to realize there are a bunch of great songs about “waiting.” And, it has been a while since we’ve done a playlist… so here we are.

When you say the word “waiting” or “wait” to someone it likely conjures a bad feeling. We all want that instant gratification these days. But waiting is not always as bad as say, being at the DMV. Now that we’ve blown through Thanksgiving and are into the thick of the holidays, I suppose a lot of people are anxiously, joyfully waiting for Christmas. I don’t necessarily get that, as I’m on record as being a bit of a Scrooge. If you think about it, waiting is a integral part of life. When we’re little kids, we can’t wait to be older and more autonomous. When puberty hits, we can’t wait to… kiss a girl or boy, go on a date and likely we’re impatient for more temporal experiences. When we’re a young adult we can’t wait for our careers to take off or to find a spouse or soulmate. When you’re married some folks can’t wait to have kids, although for the life of me I never got that one?

Waiting, when I think about it, is just the time between realizing you want something and actually getting it. There can be something exquisitely painful about that time. The anticipation between the time you meet someone you consider special and that first kiss can actually be quite exhilarating. What’s that old saying my father was fond of, “Good things come to those who wait.” My dearly departed friend Tom always used to say, “Pappy, let the game come to you,” which is just a sporty way of saying, “just wait on it.” For every miserable waiting room at the doctor’s office or airline gate you’re stuck in while your flight is delayed yet again – I am an absolute horror in an airport when I’m delayed – there are more positive waiting experiences in life. Patience, as they say, is a virtue… and admittedly a virtue I’m sorely lacking in.

Most of us when forced to wait on something, allow our mind to do anything it can to distract us from the pain of waiting. For some of us, standing in the cold outside the Truman Courthouse, waiting causes us to start thinking of rock songs to put on a playlist… I know, I should seek help. But what if, in those moments of having to wait for something, we just allowed ourselves to be in that moment. Finding contentment in stillness. To soak in all the wisdom that the universe is sending our way while it makes us wait. We’re all waiting for a door to open, we might as well focus on those moments we actually have rather than always put our minds forward into some imagined future or into some other cloud to take us away from the now, from the “wait.” In a dark sense, we’re all sort of waiting to die… might as well enjoy the ride before we punch out. As they say, life won’t wait for anybody, so might as well stop waiting to live… put on some music, pour something strong and enjoy the wait.

As usual with our B&V playlists, I’m all over the place stylistically. We go from AC/DC to well, Carly Simon (which is a first). You can play this thing straight through or you can use the “shuffle” button, which I advise on this one. While we go from screaming rock n roll to mellow acoustic stuff, if you can’t take that roller coaster ride… you can either wait for the next song or hit fast forward. It’s up to you. I feel like there’s a lot of wisdom here… well, that and horny musicians who can’t wait for a little “love.” If there’s a song about waiting you love, and I missed it, put it in the “comments” and I’ll add it. Remember these playlists are ours, not mine. My comments on the songs, below.

  1. The Who, “Another Tricky Day” – I love this song. It’s from one of those LPs probably only l love. How many of us have thought, “You irritate me, my friend… this is you having fun, getting burned by the sun…this is no social crisis this is you having fun.”
  2. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “The Waiting” – They play this song during challenges at NFL games now. It’s the inspiration of today’s playlist.
  3. Van Halen, “I’ll Wait” – This is one of my favorite VH keyboard tunes. It’s always felt like it was written from the view of a stalker or maybe took inspiration from Dorothy Stratten’s story.
  4. The Doors, “Waiting For The Sun” – This reminds me of college, sitting on the curb outside this little bar that opened at 6am… Me and Stewie sitting there waiting for the bar to open…having been up all night.
  5. Led Zeppelin, “Fool In The Rain” – Proof that Led Zeppelin had a sense of humor. From their final studio album, In Through The Out Door.
  6. The Beatles, “Wait” – Do the Beatles have a bad song?
  7. The White Stripes, “I Can’t Wait” – Great blues rocker from the Stripes. Superb drumming from Meg White, drummer extraordinaire.
  8. Ozzy Osbourne, “Life Won’t Wait” – So many of us are on the sidelines, waiting for something. Jump in, baby, life isn’t gonna wait.
  9. George Harrison, “Awaiting On You All” – Preachy George, but still a great song from All Things Must Pass.
  10. B.B. King, “Waiting On Your Call” – Back when people still used phones to call people… how many of us can remember sitting by the phone, waiting to hear from that certain someone? From the sensational One Kind Favor.
  11. The Beach Boys, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” – I despise the Beach Boys, but it would have been criminal to omit this story of a young high school couple wishing they were…”older.”
  12. Guns N Roses, “Patience” – I always chuckle when I think of Axl Rose preaching patience. Zen Axl? I just saw GnR in concert and it was fabulous.
  13. The Supremes, “You Can’t Hurry Love” – A first for us here at B&V with a Supreme’s tune. I’ll never forgive Phil Collins for his awful cover.
  14. Chris Isaak, “Waiting For My Lucky Day” – Luck favors the prepared but I can completely relate to this track.
  15. Buffalo Springfield, “It’s So Hard To Wait” – Dreamy country rock from one of my favs, the Springfield.
  16. Norah Jones, “Waiting” – The voice of an angel.
  17. Fugazi, “Waiting Room” – A Rock Chick tune that I just fell in love with when she turned me onto it.
  18. The Runaways, “Waitin’ For The Night” – I used to consider the Runaways a guilty pleasure. Now I just think they kick ass.
  19. Bonham, “Wait For You” – From John Bonham’s son Jason’s first band.
  20. George Harrison, “Don’t Let Me Wait Too Long” – Wonder folky rock song where our hero is beseeching his woman to move things along…
  21. Peter Wolf, “Waiting On The Moon” – Every day I feel like I’m waiting for the moon to rear it’s beautiful face. I’m like the Stones, “the sunshine bores the daylights out of me…” I included it on our playlist of tracks about the Moon.
  22. Little Steven & The Disciples Of Soul, “I’ve Been Waiting” – From Little Steven’s fabulous solo debut album.
  23. Bob Marley & the Wailers, “Waiting In Vain” – I used to play Bob Marley and this song to soothe the savage beasts in my house…
  24. Roger Waters, “Wait For Her” – Perhaps Waters’ most lush, gorgeous ballad.
  25. Stevie Nicks, “I Can’t Wait” – This track is a near miss for me. It’s when cocaine started to send Stevie off the rails. Stevie put out a great box set this year of her collected works.
  26. The Velvet Underground, “Waiting For The Man” – Lou Reed singing about waiting for his drug dealer. It’s on our playlist, Songs About Heroin as well.
  27. The J. Geils Band, “Wait” – The J. Geils Band’s early bluesy stuff is such a treat.
  28. The Beatles, “Please Mr. Postman” – “You gotta wait a minute, wait a minute…” Does anybody write letters anymore? I haven’t written a letter in 30 years.
  29. Green Day, “Waiting” – From Green Day’s last masterpiece…
  30. No Doubt (featuring Prince), “Waiting Room” – I didn’t like No Doubt until I saw them live. Gwen Stefani has sort of tarnished this band for me… but I had to include this weird song as Prince is on it.
  31. The Rolling Stones, “Waiting On A Friend” – One of my all time favorites from Tattoo You. “Making love and breaking hearts, it is a game for youth…”
  32. Buddy Holly, “Crying, Waiting, Hoping” – I’ve always been more of a Chuck Berry guy, but I do dig Buddy Holly. He was a huge influence on almost every 60s rocker.
  33. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, “Waiting For Tonight” – There’s nothing quite like night time…
  34. Bob Dylan, “Can’t Wait” – Dylan, sounding like a disembodied spirit who is tired of waiting around.
  35. Eric Clapton, “She’s Waiting” – “She’s waiting for another love…” I went through this once.
  36. Talking Heads, “Memories Can Wait” – A great, menacing deep track from the Talking Heads.
  37. Pretenders, “The Wait” – One of my favorite tunes from the Pretenders. Their latest LP, Relentless, is certainly worth checking out.
  38. David Bowie, “I’ve Been Waiting For You” – From one of my favorite late period Bowie LPs, Heathen.
  39. LIndsey Buckingham, “Wait For You” – Lindsey’s solo career is hit and miss but this one is a winner.
  40. The Black Crowes, “Waitin’ Guilty” – Bonus track from the great box set for Shake Your Money Maker.
  41. Foreigner, “Can’t Wait” – I bought Inside Information, which was way past Foreigner’s prime, at a truck stop in southern Arkansas and used to crank this particular tune up loud as I toured “the Southlands.” Some tracks are only for me…
  42. The Kinks, “Tired Of Waiting For You” – One of those early, primal Kinks tunes.
  43. The Jayhawks, “Waiting For The Sun” – A great song from a band the Rock Chick turned me on to…
  44. Beck, “Die Waiting” – I wasn’t crazy about Hyperspace, but I really like this song. And let’s face it, who amongst us hasn’t felt that we could “die waiting.”
  45. AC/DC, “Ain’t No Fun (Waiting Round To Be A Millionaire)” – Bon Scott at his most hilarious. And yes, it’s no fun waitin’ round to be a millionaire, so can somebody help me with this one please?
  46. Ozzy Osbourne, “Waiting For Darkness” – Sadly, in my late 20s, early 30s, I didn’t have to wait for darkness, I was already in the heart of it.
  47. Elvis Costello, “Waiting For The End Of The World” – From his great debut album but then we’re fond of debut albums here at B&V.
  48. Lenny Kravitz, “I’ll Be Waiting” – Nice piano ballad that seems a lifetime away from his latest track, “TK421.”
  49. The Rolling Stones, “Tell Me” – Boy meets girl, girl leaves, boy hopes she’ll return. Rinse, repeat.
  50. Bruce Springsteen, “Waiting On A Sunny Day” – As I sit here in the grip of grim winter, yes, I am waiting on a sunny day.
  51. ZZ Top, “Waitin’ For The Bus” – Great, early ZZ Top.
  52. George Michael, “Waiting For That Day” – I’m not a huge George Michael fan, and he’s never been on a playlist before, but this one, I’ll make an exception for. It’s an amazing tune that sums up emotions I felt very keenly in my 20s… “My memory, serves me far too well.”
  53. The Byrds, “Wait And See” – The Byrds were a band I didn’t discover until recently, but I love most of their early stuff.
  54. Eagles, “Waiting In The Weeds” – Don Henley sounding hurt and creepy at the same time.
  55. The Cars, “It’s All I Can Do” – “to keep waiting for you…” It turns out, sometimes you should just move on.
  56. Kings Of Leon, “Wait For Me” – I don’t know much about Kings of Leon, but I love this song.
  57. Wilson Pickett, “In The Midnight Hour” – “I’m gonna wait till the midnight hour…”
  58. The Rolling Stones, “I Am Waiting” – So many great Stones tune. I should have included this one on my list of favorite deep Stones tracks.
  59. The Smashing Pumpkins, “Waiting” – Great outtake that should have made an album somewhere.
  60. The Black Crowes, “Been A Long Time (Waiting On Love)” – Latter day Crowes telling the timeless tale of a man’s relentless search for love.
  61. Jack Johnson, “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing” – Mellow strummer but catchy as heck.
  62. Garbage, “Temptation Waits” – Temptation certainly waits around every corner…
  63. Tom Waits, “Hold On” – From the brilliant Mule Variations.
  64. Sterephonics, “Hurry Up And Wait” – This seems to be my mantra at work these days.
  65. Jimi Hendrix, “Hear My Train A Comin'” – Lately it’s more like, “hear my plane a comin’.” But I like the idea of a man waiting for a train.
  66. The Donnas, “Don’t Wait Up For Me” – What a great little band the Donnas were…
  67. The Replacements” – “Can’t Hardly Wait” – Another band I need to explore more deeply. There’s always more music out there to discover.
  68. Bob Dylan, “Groom’s Still Waiting At the Altar” – One of Dylan’s best, late career, blues-rock songs.
  69. Johnny Cash, “Waiting On A Train” – What else would Johnny be waiting for? He’s the “songs about trains” King.
  70. Meatloaf, “Heaven Can Wait” – Spectacular ballad. Just piano and Meat.
  71. U2, “Are You Gonna Wait Forever” – Deep track from the Vertigo sessions.
  72. Lou Reed, “Wait” – I’m on a Lou Reed deep dive of late.
  73. The Rolling Stones, “Time Waits For No One” – If there was one song that conveyed the message of this playlist, it’s this one. Time, truly, waits for no one.
  74. Warren Zevon, “Trouble Waiting To Happen” – Me, from 13 to 35…
  75. Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Wait Until Tomorrow” – Another great tune from Hendrix. Does he get enough credit as a songwriter?
  76. Greta Van Fleet, “Waited All Your Life” – From this year’s great LP, Starcatcher.
  77. Carly Simon, “Anticipation” – Another first time appearance on our list for Carly. I’ve always liked this tune… too bad she sold it to a ketchup company for a commercial. I’d have guessed she had enough of that Simon & Schuster publishing money to do that?
  78. Foreigner, “Waiting On A Girl Like You” – A cheesy ballad that no one admits to loving but everyone does… It did perhaps signal the end of Foreigner’s arena rock days.
  79. Bruce Springsteen, “If I Should Fall Behind” – I thought I’d end on this very positive note… “If I should fall behind, I’ll wait for you.” I’m surprised this song isn’t played at more weddings.

There ya go! I appreciated everyone who waited long enough to get through this playlist of songs about Waiting. Again, if I missed an essential waiting song, please put it in the comments section and I’ll add it if it fits.

Whatever you’re waiting for out there, I hope it comes to you, especially in this holiday season. It can be a long dark ride… take of yourselves out there.

Cheers!