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Review: Pink Floyd’s New Box Set, 3-Disc ‘Wish You Were Here 50’ – Revisiting the ’75 Masterpiece

~ Kenneth Corsini ~ Leave a comment

“Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun” – Pink Floyd, “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”

Rock legends Pink Floyd have released Wish You Were Here 50 to celebrate the golden anniversary of their landmark 1975 album. Coincidentally, to kick off 2025 I did my usual “50 year lookback” playlist consisting of songs from 1975 and of course the song “Wish You Were Here” was on that list. Inspired by the research for that playlist, I ended up posting about Wish You Were Here on January 10th of this year, because it may just be my favorite Pink Floyd album and I wanted to celebrate it. And now with this 50th anniversary version, it seems I’ve come full circle this year. From Floyd to Floyd. Although it feels like I lived 11 years in the 11 months between these posts…

I can’t say enough positive things about Wish You Were Here. It was the follow-up to Floyd’s major breakthrough album, Dark Side Of The Moon and anticipation (and pressure) on “the Floyd” (Roger Waters, bass/vocals; Nick Mason, drums; Rick Wright, keyboards/vocals; David Gilmour, guitar/vocals) was immense. Not to mention the “survivor’s guilt” they felt about making it big while leaving founder and mad genius Syd Barrett behind seven years prior.

The lyrics of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” and “Wish You Were Here” can be read as a direct call to Syd. Although Waters says he wrote “Wish You Were Here” to get the rest of the band to re-engage in the creative process… they were drunk on fame and well, booze. Tough sledding to record the most anticipated follow up in rock n roll with a checked out, drunk band. Hell, I used to have that same problem getting my friends motivated to go out on a Saturday let alone to do something ambitious, but I digress.

While they were recording the album, Syd Barrett made a surprise appearance at the studio on the day Gilmour was getting married to his first wife. Nobody recognized him… he’d shaved his head and eyebrows (in case you were wondering where that scene in The Wall movie came from) and had gained a lot of weight (he claimed from eating pork chops). Grown men wept that day. Syd hung around, talked about helping on the album and then did the ol’ “Irish Exit” and disappeared. His spirit hung over this record, why not his actual physical presence to do the same? Careful what you wish for…

This album is such a brilliant study on madness and isolation but it also has some of Floyd’s most scathing indictments of the music industry: “Welcome To The Machine” and “Have A Cigar.” It was a simply brilliant follow up to Dark Side and it solidified Pink Floyd, along with Zeppelin, as the coolest bands in the world, at least in the 70s…and Hell, maybe even now.

In this box we get the original album in all it’s glory on disc 1. You can read my thoughts on it, on the link to Wish You Were Here above, from January of this year. I won’t beat that dead horse, but if you are a music collector and don’t have Wish You Were Here, why are you here?

Disc 2 consists of outtakes and at first glance it may look like these are tracks only a completist would want. I tend to differ on that. We get a couple of very early, ie demo, versions of “Welcome To The Machine,” called here “The Machine Song” that is a glimpse into how that track was developed. There’s a partially sung by Waters version of “Have A Cigar,” originally sung by Roy Harper who was brought in because Waters didn’t think he could get the vocal right. “We’re so happy we can barely count…” indeed.

There’s a version of “Wish You Were Here” that features violinist Stephane Grappelli who was recording next door. I bought that version of the song when they put out the 40th anniversary version of the album and I thought it was spectacular. There’s also a version of “Wish You Were Here” without vocals but featuring a pedal steel guitar. Who’d have imagined Floyd going all Sweetheart Of The Rodeo? Maybe because the song is so amazing, each of these versions work for me.

Of particular interest to me were the several versions of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.” There’s an early instrumental version that feels like you’re sitting in the studio and listening to the band jam. More importantly there is a combined version of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Pts 1 – 9” which combines the two original tracks into one whole. This is the version that Gilmour wanted to put on the album – keeping “Diamond” as one big suite vs two separate pieces – but he was outvoted on splitting it up 3-1 in favor of Waters’ split versions (“1 – 5” and “6 – 9”). It reminds me of the Beatles on the Abbey Road box, re-inserting “Her Majesty” into the side 2 medley where it had originally been. I’ll let you be the judge of whether it was the right thing to split it in two…

Finally, we get disc 3 that features a concert from Los Angeles in ’75. The album came out in September of ’75 but I’m still assuming the show was done after that? I only saw Floyd once, on the post-Waters, Division Bell tour but everything I’ve ever heard from the classic lineup makes their concerts seem like recitals. This show is a little rougher and I like it. Gilmour’s guitar shines across the performance. This show is proof Waters was nuts to fire Rick Wright whose keyboards are incendiary as well.

They open with two tracks that would eventually end up on their next record, Animals (1977). The first was “Raving And Drooling” that became “Sheep” and then “You’ve Got To Be Crazy” which became “Dogs.” Call me sentimental but I think it’s cool to have these early, live versions of those tracks. I’m guessing they were widely bootlegged but I’d never heard them. I wonder if the crowd realized they were getting a preview of the next record?

The other live highlights for me are the “Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Pt 1 – 5” to “Have A Cigar” to “Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Pt 6 – 9.” Oddly that’s the only bit of Wish You Were Here we get on this show which makes me think it’s either truncated or perhaps it was before the proper album had been released. After that section we get a complete version of Dark Side Of The Moon. They follow that up with a 22 minute version of “Echos” that just delights me! I love that song! I’ll take any live Floyd from the 70s I can get my hands on!!

This is a box befitting such a legendary album. It’s not too late to slip this into someone’s stocking this year. It’s just a great way to put 1975 and Pink Floyd into context. I’ll be cranking this live concert for a long time to come much as I have the original album…

Cheers!

(“Come on, you boy child, you winner and loser, Come on, you miner for truth and delusion, and shine…”) 

Review: Depeche Mode, ‘Memento Mori: Mexico City’ – An Unsurprisingly Potent Live LP

~ Kenneth Corsini ~ 4 Comments

Venerable alternative rock band Depeche Mode have released a brand new live album, Momento Mori: Mexico City, from their most recent tour (2023-2024) in support of their last LP,  Momento Mori. The live album is actually a soundtrack to a concert movie they shot of this show in Mexico City, entitled Depeche Mode: M. I’ve got to tell you, this is one helluva live album that stands on it’s own without the video! I had vaguely heard about this concert movie but now I realize I’ve got seek this thing out.

I’m a little pissed at myself for not seeing Depeche Mode on this tour. Of course they came nowhere near where I live, but last time they toured for the great, politically charged 2017 LP Spirit, I traveled first to Denver and then to Tulsa to see them. The Tulsa show was quite a trip… it was like going to a rave in the basement of a fundamentalist church. I wasn’t sure if the Tulsa citizens were going to clap or riot…

Ever since the Rock Chick turned me on to Depeche, I had always wanted to see them and when they announced the tour for Spirit (2017-2018) it was a no brainer to travel. Momento Mori was a little different for me. While Spirit, with songs like “Where’s The Revolution” and “We’re Going Backwards” was an instant classic for me, Momento Mori was more of a “grower,” one of those albums that takes a while to bore into my psyche. It was a bit of a dark record.

Sometimes, when a band I love puts out an album that doesn’t instantly hit my lower brain stem, I hold off on going to see them in concert. “I just saw them,” or “This album isn’t grabbing me like the last one,” are common misconceptions I’ve allowed myself to fall under. I also had a wedding to pay for and that was looming large on my mind (and my budget). Like not drinking on an empty stomach, when am I going to learn that it’s always a treat to see one of your favorite bands? I think Mori turned out to be a great album, but my expectations got in the way. It was, to me, a little dark and it heralded the loss of founding member/keyboardist Andy Fletcher, “Fletch” to his adoring fans and bandmates alike.

With Fletch’s loss as a back drop Mori was bound to be a little somber. Who can lose a friend and not feel it? We saw some live footage of Depeche early on this tour and it was the Rock Chick who scuttled any thoughts of going to see them when she said, “They seem sad. I think this will be a tour that might lack some punch.” Listening to this live album (and looking forward to seeing the concert film) makes me realize for once, she might have been wrong…don’t mention to her I said that. I can almost close my eyes and envision lead singer Dave Gahan twirling like an extremely handsome, sexy Praying Mantis in white boots.

Depeche Mode are a model of what a veteran rock band should do in concert. They play a bunch of their new songs – as groups used to do in the old days when they had something new to play – which keeps them vital and sounding alive. They also throw in a smattering of greatest hits. But what I love is that DM also play a lot of songs from their string of great albums over the last few decades like Ultra (1997), Songs Of Faith And Devotion (1993), and even a few from Playing The Angel (2005). Like last time, Dave Gahan (vocals) and Martin Gore (songwriter/guitar/keyboards/vocals) augment the concert lineup with longtime sidemen Christian Eigner (drums/keyboards) and Peter Gordeno (bass/keyboards/backing vocals).

The show starts, after an intro thing with a quick blast of two tracks from the latest album, “My Cosmos Is Mine” and “Wagging Tongue.” I might like these live versions better than the studio versions on the album. “Walking In My Shoes” will always be a favorite live and this performance is no exception. “It’s No Good” is another highlight, of which there are many.

They go all the way back to ’83 for “Everything Counts” and it’s a real treat. One has to feel that’s a nod to Fletch and their early days. “Precious” is one of my favorite late era Depeche songs and I’m thrilled it’s here. Martin takes the mic for “Home” and it’s great, as usual. He gets his Keith Richards’ moments at the mic and I’m always up for it. “Soul For Me” is stripped down to just Martin’s singing and piano, a truly beautiful, quiet moment in a powerful show.

“Ghosts Again,” the first single from MM is even more powerful in concert. “I Feel You” kills! They hit thru a string of tracks that really form the emotional heart of the show: “A Pain That I’m Used To,” “World In My Eyes,” and the oft overlooked “Wrong.” Then they blow my mind and go all the way back to 1986’s Black Celebration for “Stripped.” They turn the blues on it’s head for “John The Revelator.” “Enjoy The Silence” which ends the main set is another killer.

The encore starts slowly with “Waiting For The Night” but quickly kicks in with two big highlights in “Just Can’t Get Enough” and “Personal Jesus.” I’ve got to find Music For The Masses and Violator on vinyl and I’ve gotta do it now.

Another treat on this album, after the concert is over, Depeche tack on four studio tracks from the Momento Mori sessions. These are not demo’s or stripped down sketches, these are fully realized songs. I have to tell you, these are all great songs. It makes me wonder why they’d have left these off the album? I really like “Survive,” but “Life 2.0” and “Give Yourself To Me” are also great songs. Frankly, “In The End” should have been on the record. Any of these tracks inclusion on the original album would have made it that much better.

Depeche Mode is one of the world’s greatest bands and they are always going to show up in concert. This live album is a wonderful reminder of their power and glory on a stage. I’m sad about Fletch, but these guys, as they sing, “will survive.” Every fan needs to hear this live album, if just for the bonus studio tracks that didn’t make Momento Mori’s final cut.

This is, simply put, a great live document of a great band and a late career gem of a live disc. Moody, atmospheric, and rocking this is sensational music.

Check this one out! Maybe it’s not too late to ask Santa for it… Cheers! (If anybody knows if/where I can stream the concert movie, please drop it in the comments).

B&V’s Best of 2025 (Part 1) – Best New Albums Of ’25 – The Good New Stuff

~ Kenneth Corsini ~ 8 Comments

When I was young and reading Rolling Stone and whatever rock n roll magazine I could get my hands on, I was always annoyed when their “best of” columns dropped in late December. They were usually written in early November and often great albums that were released late in the year were ignored. The Eagles’ Hotel California and Queen’s A Day At The Races both came out in December (of ’76) as just one example.

But, here I am in early mid-December and I’m doing my “Part 1” list of best new albums. Later this month I’ll post my “best of, Part 2” that will be our list of favorite vault/live releases from ’25. Sadly, at this stage of the game I doubt there are any new rock n roll albums being released through the end of the year. I don’t think we’ll see another album until 2026 is upon us… I’m hearing Lindsey Buckingham and Social Distortion will have stuff coming at us early in the new year but I’m not as prone to trusting rumors these days.

I have to tell you, despite the wonderfulness of my daughter getting married, ’25 was a tough year. I had a series of sports injuries that kept me sidelined from the gym and that makes me crazy. After decades of serving my corporate masters faithfully, I was laid off this year… victim of the soft economy and bleak outlook. That’s okay, I welcomed the blade. Now I’m like the Hiram Roth character in Godfather 2, “I’m a retired investor, living on a pension…” I’ll have more time for B&V!

Due to the big wedding, I curtailed my concert going this year. I only hit two shows this year, which is something I’ll be remedying in the new year. I started off ’25 by finally catching Jack White solo on the No Name tour. It’s like my friend once said to me, “Jack White is like seeing Hendrix.” I did wrap up the year, in mid November down in Wichita, with my old college roommate Drew for Joe Walsh’s all-star show for Vets Aid. Good music for a good cause. Vince Gill, and Tedeschi Trucks were both on the bill. I’m now a Tedeschi Trucks fan, Derek is a maestro of guitar. Hell, Jimmy Webb who wrote “Wichita Lineman,” showed up and he and Joe sang that great song at the end. Any great nation takes care of their veterans.

There was so much great music this year. I will say, I think the vault releases and live stuff that came out this year were incredibly strong, more on that in a later post. We also got some great new stuff from older artists, which is why I write this stuff in the first place. Here is our list of our favorite new albums of 2025 with the link to our review (in no particular order):

  • Ringo Star, Look Up – I must admit, I’ve never owned a Ringo album before – sure I have a few of his hit tunes downloaded – but this T Bone Burnett, country-rock album was sensational. I love to see Ringo do something this fabulous. Yee haw! Billy Strings on guitar is the secret weapon.
  • Various Artists, Heart Of Gold: The Songs Of Neil  Young, Vol 1 – Another first for us down at B&V, the inclusion of a tribute album on our “best of” list. This great collection of songs, to benefit Neil’s charity, the Bridge School, turned out to be a surprise gem for me. These things are usually a bit disjointed, but most of the artists here stuck to Neil’s acoustic side so the album is actually pretty cohesive. Fiona Apple’s “Heart Of Gold,” and Eddie Vedder’s “Needle And The Damage Done” are the shining stars of a lot of highlights.
  • Van Morrison, Remembering Now – Van kinda lost his mind during COVID and was doing bad topical tracks like, “Why Are You Still On Facebook?” Yeah, that’s the kind of thing I don’t wanna hear. But he came roaring back with this late career gem. A lot of great songs but I was happy he included “Ode To Joy” from the movie Belfast here.
  • Neil  Young & The Chrome Hearts, Talkin’ To The Trees – At his age, with a new backing band, this is a better album than any of us expected. I wish “Big Crime,” his new protest song, had made the album.
  • Alice Cooper, The Revenge Of Alice Cooper – An album 50 years in the making. The original line up, sans lead guitar Glen Buxton who we tragically lost in ’97, reunite and kick out an album like no time had passed at all. Great, great record. I hope they do more! I’ve always liked Alice Cooper the band, more than Alice Cooper the solo artist/singer.
  •  Black Keys, No Rain No Flowers – The Keys lean a little more toward their pop side, but the back half of this album is still Keys blues rock. I was thrilled they put out an album roughly 1 year after Ohio Players. It’s like they think it’s the 70s.
  • David Byrne, Who Is The Sky – Another great, accessible group of songs from the former Talking Heads front man. This follows the wonderful American Utopia. He’s touring in ’26…I might go but it’ll be a hard sell to the Rock Chick.
  • Robert Plant & Saving Grace, Saving Grace – Plant comes roaring back with a folky album, new backing band and new female vocal foil Suzi Dian. I know many would rather see him get Zeppelin back together, but short of that, I’ll take this wonderful album.
  • Chrissie Hynde, Duets Special – Another first for us, I typically shy away from duets albums as quickly as I do Xmas albums but I should have known Chrissie Hynde, the Countess of Cool, would kill a project like this. It’s not the usual punk rock fare, but I dug her stretching out here.
  • Cheap Trick, All Washed Up – That title is clearly tongue-in-cheek as these guys are far from washed up. I will say the ballads are over the top cheesy, but the album as a whole works for me. The first single “Twelve Gates” is still my favorite track. It’s always good to get a blast of rock n roll from these guys.

Those are our favorites among this year’s crop of new records. Did I miss one that was on your favorites list? Drop it in the comments, I’m always looking for something I might have missed. We’ll be back later in December with our list of our favorite Vault/Live releases, from the Black Crowes to Neil Young there was a lot to love from the vaults this year!

Happy Holidays to all of you for whatever holiday you celebrate. I’m trying to shake off a bad case of the “Bah-Humbugs” this year. But then that’s every year for me!

Cheers!

Review: Guns N Roses Release 2 New Songs (“Atlas,” “Nothing”) To Announce ’26 Tour

~ Kenneth Corsini ~ 4 Comments

*Image taken from the internet and probably copyright

Last month (November ’25), Guns N Roses announced the next leg of what seems to be their never ending tour that will extend through the summer of 2026. To placate fans, many who are like me, who are clamoring for new Guns music they also announced they were releasing two more “new” songs, “Nothing” and “Atlas.” Although, along with being one of the greatest rock bands ever, GnR are still “the gang who can’t shoot straight,” and the songs which were supposed to come out December 2nd, inexplicably weren’t released until yesterday, December 4th. Keep bringing that drama, Axl.

I think it’s been almost 10 years since GnR announced that original members Slash (lead guitarist extraordinaire) and Duff McKagan (bass, well, extraordinaire) were returning to the fold and the band was going out on the road. Original lead singer Axl Rose was still helming GnR with Richard Fortus (rhythm guitar), and drummer Richard Ferrer who has since recently been replaced by Isaac Carpenter. And of course, Dizzy Reed & Melissa Reese on keyboards. Like all other Guns fans, I was delighted and saw them at Arrowhead Stadium early when they went back on the road in KC in 2016. That was one helluva show. And yes, I saw them again (on what appears to be the same tour) just a couple of summers ago at Royals Stadium.

I enjoyed both of those shows immensely, although my friend RK and I may have been slightly “over served” at that last one. Live your life. But I think I speak for most GnR fans when I say, we want some new Guns N Roses music! Their debut, Appetite For Destruction, was one of the greatest debut albums of all time. Then their magnum opus, the Use Your Illusions albums, did nothing but burnish that legend. Sadly after that, original rhythm guitarist (and songwriting secret weapon) Izzy Stradlin split. It didn’t take long until everybody was gone but Axl Rose.

The rest, as they say, is history. Axl labored and tinkered on their next album for decades. To say that Chinese Democracy was a disappointment is an understatement. I listen to it now and there are some moments that are pretty good, but that album was doomed to crumble under the weight of all the expectations it was born under.

Perhaps we could all be forgiven for thinking that the return of Slash and Duff would drive GnR to capitalize on the new momentum from the road and take it into the studio. Alas, all we’ve gotten from GnR since 2021 is a series of singles. All of these tracks were leftovers from the sessions for Chinese Democracy, and most had been leaked in their original form and widely bootlegged. I will admit right up front I’ve never heard or even sought out any of those boots so this stuff is all new to me – which I think it is for most non-obsessive fans. Rather than create some truly new stuff, Axl and the gang take these older Chinese Democracy era tracks back in the studio and Duff and Slash re record the bass and lead guitar parts. Admittedly, Slash & Duff elevate any track they play on.

These two new tracks bring the total of released, rewarmed Chinese Democracy leftovers to six songs. At this point, it’s starting to feel like rock n roll necrophilia. C’mon guys, give us something truly new. The four tracks they’d previously released are a bit of a mixed bag. The first track they dropped was  2021’s aptly titled “Absurd.” I was stunned they picked such a bad song to be the first new GnR song in 13 years. I thought that one was awful. They quickly made up for that later in ’21 with the great rocker “Hard Skool.” Duff’s bass really helped elevate that one.

2023 saw the release of a midtempo/ballad thing in “Perhaps.” I actually liked that one a whole lot. It almost felt like Axl admitting to what sounded like… regret? Other than “Hard Skool” it’s the pick of the litter for me. Then they ended ’23 with the awful track “The General,” one that even Slash couldn’t pull out of the dumpster fire.

And now, as the final sands are dropping out of the hourglass of 2025, we get these two new songs. Now, I may be complaining that these are not really new and they’re just warmed-over but I actually really like these songs. I’m telling you the chemistry of Axl/Slash/Duff can be magic. I thought maybe one of these would be midtempo and one would be a screaming rocker but no, they’re both midtempo, bordering on ballads. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The first track is “Nothing.” The track starts off with some 70s electric piano and I’m like, yes!! It borders on soulful, at least in terms of Axl’s vocals. Slash and Duff indeed elevate this thing. I love Slash’s understated guitar solo. It’s perfect. “Nothing” is a classic power ballad. This may be my favorite of the two tracks:

The second track up is a song called “Atlas.” Apparently it used to be called “Atlas Shrugged.” Beware any rock star quoting crap author Ayn Rand. Even Neil Peart, who was a fan of Rand’s early in Rush’s career, has admitted that it was “misguided.” “Atlas” is the more midtempo, less ballad-y track of the two. It’s also not a bad song. It’d have made a solid album track on any GnR album. It rocks a little more. Here it is:

So we end 2025 with two decent Guns N’ Roses tracks which is never a bad thing… unless it’s “The General.” But I can’t help being a little disappointed they can’t pull their act together long enough to spend a little time in the studio putting together something genuinely new. People are going to get tried of leftovers eventually… and yet here I am writing about them and actually generally excited about these new tracks. New Guns is always welcome. As usual, I just want more. Aren’t we all dying for a new GnR album in our lives?

Enjoy these new tracks while we continue to light candles and hope the lads will bang out something new in the next… few years?

Cheers!

Review: Smashing Pumpkins Revisit 1995 Magnum Opus With ‘Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (30th Anniversary Edition)’

~ Kenneth Corsini ~ 2 Comments

One of our favorites down here at B&V, the Smashing Pumpkins, are looking back to their magnum opus LP from 1995 and have released Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (30th Anniversary Edition). This “double album” was so momentous I even included it on my list of our essential “old school” double albums. While it was predominantly purchased on CD and not at all old school, it just had that 70s, double vinyl vibe that I’ve always loved so I included it on the list anyway. Billy Corgan (lead vocals/guitar/keys/songwriting) is nothing if not a rock n roll classicist. Billy is one rock star we include in our “great man (or woman)” theory of rock n roll. While I typically try to shy away from being overly sentimental (and usually fail) this one does have me saying, “Thirty years? Really? Where’d they go?”

We find music in different places. When I was kid and first started down my rock n roll rabbit hole, it was typically either through local rock radio (KY/102 in KC) or through my peer group – what everyone else was listening to. As I got older I found music through MTV, rock magazines and even public radio as terrestrial radio had died. I was quickly aging out of my 20’s when Mellon Collie came out, and admittedly not much else had changed in my life since I was 13. Well, I had a job and lived by myself but my world view hadn’t changed much…and I was still eating Capt’n Crunch for breakfast. And, as such, I discovered the Pumpkins the old fashion way, through my best buddy – still to this day – Doug.

In that ’93 – ’94 time frame Doug was still living in Chicago. That sentence doesn’t really do him justice. He fancied himself, as did we, “Mr. Chicago.” Since he was a “dazzling urbanite,” living in the Windy City he was an early adopter on the Pumpkins, a Chicago band. He flew down for my birthday in the spring of ’94 with a CD in hand as a gift. It was the Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream and I have to say, I was impressed. Of course at the time I knew nothing about Billy Corgan, James Iha (guitar), Jimmy Chamberlin (drums) and D’Arcy (Wretzky, bass). I thought this was another Poi Dog Pondering, a Chicago based, mostly regional band. It wasn’t until I saw the video for “Today” with the ice cream truck that I realized, “Hmm, these Pumpkins might be bigger than I thought?”

Nobody I know was really into the Pumpkins prior to this album. There were so many bands exploding in the early/mid 90s it was hard to keep up. My pals were aware of the Pumpkins, but I was the only one who owned a CD of theirs. All that changed as soon as we heard “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” in the fall of ’95. People were racing to get on the band wagon… “The world is a vampire….” Of course I told people, “Oh these guys, I’ve been listening for years…” We all rushed down to the CD store and picked up our copy of Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness as soon as it came out.

This album really is the Pumpkins’ magnum opus. It should be thought of as their White Album (aka The Beatles). Corgan and the band do it all here. We were so taken with this record I had a friend start doing research into classic music featuring a piano simply based on the instrumental title track that opens the album. The Pumpkins had eschewed their previous producer Butch Vig (of Nirvana Nevermind fame) and brought in a couple of English guys Alan Moulder and Flood. What they got was a cleaner, more classic rock/heavy metal sound which differed from that grungy, murky sound of the previous record.

How many albums can go from the majesty of “Tonight Tonight” with a full orchestra to the metallic crunch of “Jellybelly”? “Zero” is one of the greatest riffs of all time. Corgan was rumored to have played all the guitars and all the bass on Siamese Dream, but on this album he split the solo’ing with James Iha and let D’Arcy play bass. The band, pleased by this development, clearly responded. Personally I don’t think there’s a bad moment on this thing. Sure, a song like “Bodies” might be a little crazy heavy for some folks but then the metal heads might not have been happy with the beautiful “1979.”

“Stumbleine” is a beautiful acoustic ballad. Each disc ends with a James Iha penned, acoustic almost folky track. Admittedly, when I burned these discs to my iPod, I skipped loading those tunes, but re-listening now, I kinda like them. To further my White Album analogy we even get an old-timey track “Lily (My One And Only)” of the ilk that only McCartney loved. That song still makes me laugh. “Galapogos” is another lush, beautiful ballad. There are too many highlights to pack into one post.

If you don’t have this album, this would be a nice opportunity to pick it up, as every serious fan of rock n roll needs this record. But we must now consider the bonus material. I was delighted when I saw that they’ve included live selections from the tour in ’96. I have to say, the Pumpkins have some live stuff out there but it seems all hard to get. I don’t think they’ve ever put out a “proper” live album… there’s no The Smashing Pumpkins Come Alive album for me to include on my list of Essential Live LPs.

That tour was actually the first time I ever got to see the Pumpkins. I can remember, like it was last night, standing on the chairless, GA floor of Kemper Arena on September, 1, 1996 with a ziplock bag of vodka in the front of my pants. While I was happy to see some live stuff from that tour, I’ll admit I’m a little disappointed that it’s not a whole, unedited concert. They’ve picked different songs from different shows from San Diego to Cleveland and weaved them together. The result is we don’t get a complete picture of the Pumpkins live in ’96 but only a feel for it.

We get a mix of really hard rock songs with a few mellow tunes like “Cupid De Locke” or “Galapogos” to break things up. These tracks are great. The guitars attack and Jimmy Chamberlin’s drums pound. Corgan’s voice is high in the mix which is nice. His vocals are crystal clear. The sound is great but yet, I’m left wanting a whole show, especially when I peruse the setlist from the show I saw. There’s no “1979” or “Tonight Tonight.” It’s just a great grab bag of tracks from Mellon Collie and Siamese. I was happy to see a version of “Siva” on here too. But would it have killed them to give us a whole show? It’s a nit but it bothers me. However, with the dearth of live stuff out there from this time period, I should be happy we got this much.

I know the tour ended rather tragically. Chamberlin and concert keyboardist Johnathan Melvoin were doing heroin and Melvoin sadly OD’d. Heroin is insidious. Maybe that’s why the band doesn’t want to fully revisit this tour with a full concert. I do think there is enough great live stuff here for any Pumpkins’ fan to enjoy but as usual, I want more!

Enjoy revisiting this classic 90s album at full volume. Stay warm out there! Cheers!

Review: Black Crowes ‘amorica.(Deluxe Edition)’ – Surprisingly Good – Worthy Of Re-Appraisal (Man, Was I Wrong In ’94)

~ Kenneth Corsini ~ 6 Comments

The Black Crowes just released a 3-CD (5-LP) Deluxe Edition of their 1994 album amorica, yes the one with the racy album cover (pictured above) that was banned by the prudes down at Walmart and what was K-Mart (“Blue light special,” indeed). Blame lead singer Chris Robinson for that idea. I have to come completely clean on this album – when it came out in 1994 I absolutely did not like it. It left me staggeringly cold. I think I heard all of it and I know I heard parts of it and it just sounded so druggy, kind of like Exile On Main Street, but without the epic scope. And I’m not talking about the fun drugs, I mean this sounded like a heroin record way back when, but then it was the 90s and heroin chic was in. Luckily I never dabbled in that dark corner.

By the time ’94 rolled around I was a huge Crowes fan and had already seen them live at least once. When their debut album Shake Your Money Maker came out in ’90 my buddy and I thought we had discovered our new Stones. Of course, at the time I was thinking more Faces, but let’s not split hairs. When their second disc came out, Southern Harmony And Musical Companion in ’92, I was over the moon. For me, that is their masterpiece.

Naturally, at that point, waiting for the follow up my expectations ran to the extremely high. I’ve spoken here before about the curse of expectations. If you expect too much from something you’re bound to be disappointed. And disappointed – seemingly unwarranted as I listen now – I was. We heard rumblings in the rock magazines that the Crowes wanted to “change directions.” They were purportedly headed in a more “jam band” direction. I was loving all this dirty bloozy rock, why change? I guess not every body wants to be AC/DC and just do the same thing their entire career (not that there is anything wrong with AC/DC). It reminded me of the Cars, who after two killer LPs (their debut and personal favorite Candy-O) decided to get experimental on Panorama, an album that had also left me cold.

When I heard the first single, or more likely saw the video for “A Controversy” I just scratched my head. Rich Robinson and Marc Ford (who alas fell apart eventually on, yes, heroin, but lived to tell) put their guitars right out front and that rocked but something was missing for me, maybe that connection their music always had to the blues? When the album came out, usually I’d have been at the CD store right after work with my dollars in my hand, but I balked on this one. Damn expectations. If I’d given this a little time, like I’ve done recently with this Deluxe Edition, I’d have found that this is actually a masterpiece of an album. After hearing people say for years this was their absolute “peak,” and rolling my eyes, I know have a lot of, well, crow to eat.

Beyond Rich Robinson and Marc Ford manning the guitars the Crowes in ’94 were rounded out by lead singer Chris Robinson, drummer Steve Gorman, keyboard player “Weird” Eddie Harsch, and bassist Johnny Colt. And while I still maintain this is a very druggy album, I wouldn’t call it a jam band project. There are certainly elements of that, but there’s an undercurrent of country rock, blues and even a dash of psychedelia I get from this record. The sound of the band playing together is as integrated as they ever were. Chris Robinson, in particular digs deep on the vocals and reaches a range of emotion I’m not sure I was aware he was capable of.

Disc one in the Deluxe Edition has the original album and a handful of bonus tracks that have been around for a while. The album starts with two rockers. The guitars are banging on this thing. “Gone” gives me heavier War vibes. “A Controversy,” the first single is even harder. I don’t know why I didn’t jump in on that track, I was probably put off by the video. Then we go back to that vibe again that the band War used to exude, with “High Head Blues.” I’ve always liked that one… it should have made it on to our Playlist: 4:20 Songs, the Rock Chick curated for us. “Cursed Diamond” is one of their most underrated great songs. The piano accents from Eddie Harsch really set it apart. It starts ballad and then the guitars explode.

“Nonfiction” is a straight up acoustic ballad and we didn’t get any acoustic guitar in the 80s so I don’t know how this track wasn’t everywhere. “She Gave Good Sunflower” and “P.25 London” are that nasty blues rock these guys always delivered. It’s all a bit darker but it’s great music. “Ballad In Urgency” is a shimmering beauty. It’s a real stunner. That leads right into “Wiser Time” the real classic on the album. It’s a country rock thing that just bores into my soul. I just don’t know how I could have possibly ignored this album all those years ago?

The bonus tracks have all been released before as B-sides. “Chevrolet” is a heavy Taj Mahal cover. It’s got some jump in it. And yes, we put it on our Playlist: Songs About Cars. “Songs Of The Flesh” is a slower bluesy number with some great slide guitar. And finally, “The Sunday Buttermilk Waltz” is a countrified instrumental. I don’t see going back to that one much.

The first bonus disc, disc 2 if you will, contains early versions of songs they were working out for the original concept of the album, which they called Tall. They eventually either aborted Tall or it morphed into amorica, depending on who you ask. Two thirds of these tracks can be found in one form or other on The Lost Crowes. These are supposedly different mixes. “Lowdown” is the track that eventually became “Ballad In Urgency.” “Evil Eye” didn’t see the light of day until the next album, Three Snakes And One Charm. “Dirty Hair Halo” is a great little jaunty rocker that should have made the album. “Feathers” is another great one that surprises me missed the cut.

There are three songs on disc 2 that had never been released before (although I suspect they’ve been bootlegged over the years). “Title Song,” “Bitter Bitter You” and “Paris Song.” “Bitter, Bitter You” is the pick of the litter for me. It’s a great song.

On disc 3, the Crowes eschew the usual Super Deluxe formula of adding a contemporary concert from ’94. We get two sessions, the first entitled Marie Laveau Sessions, which I think is from a studio jam in New Orleans. This part of the disc has the feel of being backstage during a soundcheck. I was prepared to be disappointed (do I ever learn?), but I really like those Laveau sessions. Again, I’m not someone whose heard any of this stuff bootlegged. “Exit” is a heavy, heavy rocker as is “Fear Years.” The Crowes were not afraid to turn it up to 11. I’m frankly not familiar with any of these tracks (other than “Exit” and “Nonfiction”) and I’m pretty well versed in the Crowes so I’m digging this quite bit.

The last few tracks are in front of an audience in London at sessions labeled “Live at AIR Studios.” AIR Studios I believe was owned/started by producer George Martin of Beatles fame. It’s a brief but blistering jam on four of the tracks from amorica. It’s all really interesting stuff.

I’m a big enough person to admit, that some 30+ years on, this was an album I shouldn’t have blown off. It feels like a date I should have showed up for…or at least showed up sober for. This package is great if you already love this album but it’s perfect if you didn’t engage with it back when it dropped or haven’t heard it yet. The only hesitation I have in recommending this one is the price. $99 bucks for a 3 CD package is pretty steep, although I know it can be found cheaper than on the Crowes’ site. Other than the price thing, this is a great road trip back to the mid 90s. Makes me wanna drive out to Red Rocks and play hacky sack. Such good rock n roll.

I guess it’s just proof that sometimes your ears have to be ready to hear something. Never fear going back and listening to something you didn’t initially get into, even if it’s years or decades later. Maybe you weren’t in a good place when you first heard it. Maybe you’ve changed and now are ready for it. Drop the needle, take the ride.

Cheers & Happy Thanksgiving to all our supporters in the States this week!

Box Set Review: The Rolling Stones ‘Black And Blue Super Deluxe’ – Revisiting The LP With Outtakes, A Live Show From London ’76, BluRay

~ Kenneth Corsini ~ 6 Comments

Last week the Stones released a “super deluxe” version of their 1976 album Black And Blue. The box contains the original album – remixed by whizz Steve Wilson – a disc of outtakes, and a contemporary concert recorded in London’s Earls Court in 1976. There’s also a Bluray disc but I’m only commenting on the audio sections of this release.

I knew as soon as I saw the social media teasers for this super deluxe set that this was going to be interesting. At least they didn’t revive the original ad campaign which depicted a bound and clearly bruised woman… ah, the 70s. This is not a Stones album that is high on anybody’s list of “Best Stones Albums,” but it still has it’s charms. I don’t think the Stones have ever been this loose in the studio since. When I was in college I picked up my original vinyl copy of Black And Blue at a used record store and I liked it. Although, I had a friend in college ask me if Black And Blue was “worth checking out?” because I was known as a Stones fanatic. Despite my love of the Stones and the fact that I actually liked Black And Blue, I told my friend, “No, it’s not worth your time.” I apparently denied Black And Blue three times before the cock crowed…

You can’t really consider Black And Blue without factoring in the backdrop of what was happening with the Stones at the time. The Stones were in flux in 1976. For the second time in their storied career they had to replace their lead guitar player. Unlike original guitarist Brian Jones, who was fired by the band, lead guitarist Mick Taylor had bowed out in December of 1974 after It’s Only Rock N Roll. Mick Taylor, who’d gotten his start in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, was an amazing lead guitarist and his presence really allowed Keith Richards to shine on rhythm guitar and to become the “riff meister” that he was always meant to be. When asked why he quit Taylor said something about needing to get away from the Keith Richards’ lifestyle.

As a stopgap the Stones released the single-disc greatest hits package Made In The Shade in 1975 – yes, groups were expected to put out an album every year – but by 1976 the world needed a new Stones album and the Stones still needed a new lead guitarist. The Stones hung out in, I believe, the Netherlands and began auditioning guitar players. Ronnie Wood of the Faces had already joined them as a touring guitarist so I’d have thought the decision was made. Apparently not.

So many guitar hopefuls came to the continent and jammed with the band. Rory Gallagher, Peter Frampton, Jeff Beck and Steve Marriott (who Wood replaced in the Small Faces, who then became the Faces) all “auditioned.” Obviously Ronnie Wood was there as was Harvey Mandel (Canned Heat), and a few others. Jeff Beck famously said “In two hours I only got to play three chords…” The guy was always a curmudgeon. While several of the guitarist’s contributions made the final album, it was Ronnie Wood, Beck’s erstwhile bass player in the Jeff Beck Group who was chosen to join the Stones. I’ve always loved the Ron Wood era of the Stones so this being his first official album with the group, I have a soft spot for it.

Since the sessions for this album all revolved around jam sessions with these various guitar players, the album is loose and a bit jammy. The first tracks that jumped out at me were the ballads but that’s probably because they were the only songs that had to be thought out and arranged. “Fool To Cry” was the single and it’s not a favorite of Stones purists but I always liked it. I used to quote it to a woman I dated who lived in a sketchy part of town…”You know, I’ve got a woman, And she live in the poor part of town, And I go see her sometimes…” Well, at least I was amused. I even dig Mick’s falsetto on the song. The knockout track on this album for me has always been “Memory Motel.” It’s a broken heart story set on the road. “We spent a lonely night at the Memory Motel, It’s on the ocean, I guess you know it well…” Yeah, we’ve all been there. It’s one of those rare Jagger/Richards duets. I was delighted they revived it live on one of the myriad tours I’ve seen them on.

Beyond the ballads the album finds the Stones dabbling in all sorts of genres. We hear some reggae, some soul, even a touch of disco to go with the usual bloozy rock n roll. I will say the two straight up rock songs on the album, “Crazy Mama” and “Hand Of Fate” are underappreciated gems. Especially “Hand Of Fate.” “Hot Stuff” is a great opening track. “Cherry Oh Baby” is a great Stones reggae tune. I love bands who do reggae tunes. This isn’t Exile On Main Street, but it’s a solid album for a transitional period and the Stones were indeed in transition. Listening to Black And Blue now, all these years later, I’d amend my earlier statement to my college friend to, “Yes, check this one out.”

The disc of bonus material and outtakes is centered around the jams they recorded with the various guitar players. Mostly we get jams with Jeff Beck. I like those and they’ve been widely bootlegged, but I can’t imagine coming back to those a whole bunch. We do get two complete songs. The single that was released in the lead up to the box was a neo-soul disco thing called “Shame Shame Shame.” I did not like it on first listen but it’s growing on me. “I Love The Ladies” is the standout on disc 2, it gives me real Tattoo You, side 2 vibes.

The last two discs of the box set are from the Earls Court 1976 concert. This is usually where we find the gold in these boxes. Of course, the Stones have already documented this tour with the live album Love You Live. This live concert mirrors the setlist on that album except of course the El Mocambo side (side 3) which was taken from a completely different show… which has also been released as Live At The El Mocambo. 

I’ve always liked Love You Live. My friends and I were too young to experience the awesomeness of Get Your Ya Yas Out, the Stones best live album, so Love You Live was “our” Stones live album. I thought since I owned Love You Live this live concert recording would be superfluous but I was wrong. They cut most of the Black And Blue material from that live album. I love hearing the Stones tear through “Hand Of Fate,” “Hey Negrita” and “Fool To Cry.” We even get a few tracks from It’s Only Rock N Roll, including the title track and their Temptations’ cover “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg.” This was still when Jagger stayed on stage and sang along with Keith on “Happy” which is always worth hearing. It all makes for great listening.

I had forgotten that on this tour they took Billy Preston along to play keyboards. He was the only guy I know who jammed with both the Stones and the Beatles on Let It Be. He was the fifth guy with the Beatles on their famous rooftop concert. The Stones respect him enough to let him play two of his own tracks during the concert. I heard Keith told Billy at the time, “Hey man, this is the Stones featuring Billy Preston, not Billy Preston featuring the Stones.” I’ll admit the Preston tunes don’t scratch any itch for me, but it’s nice to have the concert in full.

Every Stones fan should check out this important archival release from the World’s Greatest Rock N Roll Band. The concert will thrill you even if you do own Love You Live. The outtakes are interesting and the jams might even tickle your fancy. And of course everyone should own the original album if just for “Memory Motel.”

This album will look good snug under my Xmas tree this year… hint hint if the Rock Chick is reading…

Cheers!

Review: Cheap Trick Release ‘All Washed Up’ – Proving They Are Far From It

~ Kenneth Corsini ~ 7 Comments

While I was down in Wichita this weekend, visiting my ol’ college roomie Drew and seeing Joe Walsh and friends rock out to raise money for Vets, venerable rock n roll band Cheap Trick released their 21st studio album (if you include their, gads, Xmas album) All Washed Up, and the title is obviously facetious as this music proves these guys are far from washed up.

I got back on the Cheap Trick bandwagon for 2017’s superb We’re All Alright! and that continued with the also great 2021 album In Another World. They are really on a late career hot streak. These are the kind of records I founded B&V to extol. It’s hard not to hear the influence of Big Star in the fabulous melodic or even pop rock these guys play. In 2025 I will always show up for a band with vocals/guitar/bass/drums.

Cheap Trick is still Rick Nielsen on lead/rhythm guitar, the intrepid Robin Zander on vocals/rhythm guitar, Tom Petersson on bass. All three of the founding members also receive production and songwriting credits, although songwriter Julian Raymond also receives credit for co-producing with Cheap Trick. Rick’s son Daxx is still on the drums, although not credited as a full member and while I miss Bun E. Carlos, if just for aesthetic reasons, Daxx does some righteous pounding.

These guys just keep coming up with great rock n roll. This is the most Cheap Tricky record that I’ve heard in a while and I mean that in a good way. Neilsen’s guitar work continues to be top shelf. The riffs and solo’s explode from the speakers. Robin Zander’s vocals haven’t lost a step but then he was never one for high notes. He has a way of putting raw emotion into a chorus that few singers still do. You get the feeling he’s well, feeling the lyrics. Petersson and Daxx provide a solid bedrock foundation for Rick and Robin to soar and soar they do. The record cover is set in a laundromat with each washing machine designed to highlight a different member… I thought it was funny but it’s a long cry from when the two handsome guys were always on the cover and the two… less handsome guys… were relegated to the back cover. While I’ve always aspired to be a “front cover” guy, at this point I think I might belong on the “back cover.”

The album starts immediately with a couple of patented Cheap Trick tunes, starting with the ferocious rocker in the title track. It’s a real strong start right out of the gates. That leads us to “All Wrong Long Gone” which is a track that should be blasting out of car windows on a warm, summer Saturday night while driving up and down the main drag of town. Zander’s vocals are the absolute star on “All Wrong Long Gone.”

The band then goes heavier on “The Riff That Wouldn’t Quit” and no, the riff doesn’t quit…”Gotta reach down inside your heart, If you wanna play the blues,” oh yes, so true! The guitar solo on that one is unhinged. “Bet It All” is probably the heaviest tune on the album. It’s got a thick riff that I dug. “Twelve Gates,” the first single is a song that just gets better with every listen and it’s pretty damn superb on first listen. Once again Zander gets kudos for a passionate vocal.

The ballads on the record are all pretty stunning and yes, as you would expect, over the top. “The Best Thing” is a song I wish I’d written for the Rock Chick… of course she’d say I was being a chick… One of us has to be a chick, honey, it might as well be me. “The Best Thing” is so over the top sweet that it would make a late period Aerosmith ballad blush but it just works. “Long Gone” is another great ballad, albeit a little more rock n roll centric. It’s got another huge chorus. How old is Zander and he’s still belting songs out?

“Bad Blood” is another track in the vein of “Twelve Gates,” not a ballad but not a full on rocker. It’s just a great Cheap Trick midtempo thing. All these songs are hook-laden and this one is no exception with great singing and choppy riffing. “Dancing With The Band” is another rocker that I immediately added to our Playlist: Songs About Dancing For All The Wallflowers.

“Long Road To Worcester” (a town in Massachusetts where I saw Boston, long ago) is another great midtempo track that is a total ear worm for me. It’s a great plea to a lover with another scorching guitar solo. “Wham Boom Bang,” which evokes the title of their 2016 album Bang Zoom Crazy…Hello, is a wacky left turn into old timey pop music of the kind that Paul McCartney was always fond of in the Beatles… think “Martha My Dear.” It’s funny but I’m not sure I’ll be cranking this one a whole lot. But hey, if they’re having fun, I’m having fun.

Cheap Trick is one of those bands who have always been consistently good and sometimes great, so much so that perhaps we overlook them occasionally. Much like the Black Keys who are always really good it’s easy to skip an album once in a while. One might even describe Tom Petty like that, although he was consistently good and occasionally excellent. I say all that to say, don’t take Cheap Trick for granted, they’re continuing to put out great rock n roll and these days we desperately need that!!

Turn this one up very loud and prepare to party like it’s 1978.

Cheers!

Box Set Review: The Jimi Hendrix Experience, ‘Bold As Love’ – I (Re)Discover A Masterpiece

~ Kenneth Corsini ~ 2 Comments

Last week while I was jamming on the newly released Who Are You (Super Deluxe), the folks down at the Jimi Hendrix vaults released a new box set of their own, entitled Bold As Love. The new box celebrates the Jimi Hendrix Experience (Jimi Hendrix, vocals/guitar; Mitch Mitchell, drums; Noel Redding bass/vocals) 1968 album (in America, late ’67 in the UK) Axis: Bold As Love, with the box having an admittedly truncated title. My relationship with this album has been a weird one but I think I’m justified in saying that Axis gets slightly overlooked since it’s sandwiched between two masterpieces: Are You Experienced? (Hendrix’s debut) and the spectacular old school double album Electric Ladyland. I don’t think this album would qualify for my list of groups/albums that fell victim to the “sophomore slump.” It’s a great album and I truly do love it now… but that wasn’t always the case.

I remember years ago sitting in a bar with my friend Stormin’ arguing about what I considered to be the list of “essential” rock albums in the world. When you’re drunk in Denver, you look for things to do… When we got to Hendrix, it was my contention that only the previously mentioned debut and the double album were essential. Stormin’ contended that Axis and really anything Hendrix played is essential, he’s that important. All these years later I have to admit, Stormin’ was right. I haven’t written much about Hendrix in these pages, mostly vault stuff, but I got the chance over the last week or so to revisit Axis: Bold As Love because of this box and I’m all the better for it. It’s past time to write about this key piece of the Hendrix canon.

I was introduced to Hendrix, like so much music from the 60s, through my younger (yes, younger) brother. He started collecting albums almost from the womb. He had either The Essential Jimi Hendrix from 1978, or The Essential Jimi Hendrix, Volume 2 from 1979, memory fails me. I think I might have owned the latter and he owned the former. Either way, he had a Hendrix compilation record that he played for me and eventually I committed to cassette tape which is how I got a lot of music in the early days… showing up at someone’s doorstep with a blank cassette and a charming smile…

It wasn’t until college, when my musical tastes exploded in all directions, that I started actually collecting Hendrix albums. I bought and loved his debut album (but then I love debut albums). Once I got started on somebody’s back catalog, I usually worked my way chronologically through it. Next up, naturally I bought Axis. This is where it gets weird. I never did buy Electric Ladyland on vinyl. I eventually bought it on CD and then later again on CD in a “super deluxe” version. That tells me that maybe, at the time, Axis might have left me a little cold. I listen to it now, in this box as both a stereo mix and a mono mix for you headphones people – listen to both and marvel at the difference – and I think it’s sensational. But clearly 20-something me wasn’t ready for Hendrix’s second album.

As I listened to the first two discs from Bold As Love, the aforementioned stereo and mono mixes of the original album, I do have flashes of memory from my first Jimi Hendrix experiences with the album. I remember being terribly smitten with the ballads. “Castles Made Of Sand” was on my brother’s comp and I love that classic. And who doesn’t love “Little Wing,” perhaps one of my top 3 Hendrix tunes. It’s been done by Derek & The Dominos, Sting and even Stevie Ray Vaughan, but nobody does this soulful ballad like Hendrix…”It’s alright she says, take anything you want from me….” I think I put this song on my Playlist: Songs About Flying because it makes my soul literally soar out of my body. And I’ve always loved the quasi title track, “Bold As Love.” It starts slow and builds to fabulous guitar crescendo. I’ve always been drawn to the sheer power of Hendrix’s guitar playing but the intricacy with which he plays on these tunes is spell binding.

But in my 20’s, I only wanted loud squalling guitar. I wanted melt-my-face-off rock n roll. If I’m being honest, the only rock song on this album I immediately connected with was, yes, “If 6 Was 9.” It was, as I recall, a favorite of my brother’s as well, but I digress. Hendrix’s music was exploding in so many directions. Not only rock n roll but of course psychedelic influences but we get a taste of blues and jazz and frankly music that no one else can play. I listen to this now and I’m just stunned at how spectacular this all is.

“Up From The Skies” is a jazzy vamp that I’ve come to really love. “Ain’t No Telling” is just blistering blues rock of the highest order. “You Got Me Floatin'” is one of my favorite riffs from Hendrix, let alone just this album. “Spanish Castle Magic” is well, magic. It rocks hard. I love Mitchell’s drumming. “Wait Until Tomorrow” is a jaunty tune and is quite funny if you listen to the lyrics. “Come on Dolly May…” “One Rainy Wish” should be on my Playlist: Songs About Rain. It’s back on the mellow end but it’s very trippy and simply wonderful, you can get lost in it. “Little Miss Lover,” again featuring great drumming from Mitchell, is wah wah wonderful.

Quite simply put, this album is a classic and I was out of my mind in college to let it put me off Hendrix for a few years. Sometimes your mind just has to be ready for rock n roll and clearly I was not ready. Images of me with a mullet in college saying, “I’m not worthy” are running through my mind. Of course the mullet may be evidence of my bad judgement in those days…

Disc 3 and 4 are all material recorded around the time of Axis. We get alternative versions, demos or early versions of tracks that ended up on this album and a couple that ended up on Electric Ladyland. Since Hendrix passed his people have gone through the tapes and released everything short of him sneezing on tape. Every concert, every performance is out there somewhere. Since 2010 he’s released a series of studio vault stuff: Valleys Of Neptune (2010), People, Hell and Angels (2013), and Both Sides Of The Sky (2018) that I just loved. Those releases stand along side many, many box sets and live releases.

There are many Hendrix-ologists who can tell you everything about each recording. What day, what studio, who was there and what Hendrix had for breakfast. I am not one of those. I see a lot of people getting that deep into Hendrix or the Beatles or Dylan and more power to them. Disc 3 and 4 of this box contain supposedly “unreleased” versions of the songs. I have seen some arguments on line about that “unreleased” claim. Sometimes they Frankenstein different parts from different, previously released songs into a new version of the song. I don’t know anything about that. I just dig the songs. As I’ve often said about Hendrix conspiracy theories, “There’s no second guitarist on the grassy knoll.”

Disc 3 is all alternate and demo versions of the songs on the album or that appeared on the next album. One novelty here is a couple of versions of a song called “The Stars That Play With Laughing Sam’s Dice” which sounds like a concept piece and it’s one I’ve never heard in any capacity and I own the box West Coast Seattle Boy. Depending on how deep you want to get into Hendrix, disc 3 will be a treasure trove, or one that you don’t return to very often.

For me disc 4 is actually where the gold is. Disc 3 has a lot of tracks without vocals, instrumental versions of songs, but disc 4 is more fully realized songs. The last 2/3 of disc 4 are all live stuff from around the time of Axis. We get a song from a performance in London, “Burning Of The Midnight Lamp” and it just reminds me that these guys were so good live, in front of an audience. We also get quite a few tunes recorded live in Stockholm, including Hendrix covering the Beatles’ “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” which I’ve always thought was cool. He dug the Beatles and Dylan. The last three tracks are live as well, one of which is from the BBC, which I would have thought would have been included on Hendrix’s previously released Live At the BBC album, one of my favorite Live At the BBC albums.

One of the things I love about these “Super Deluxe” or “Expanded” versions of these classic albums – beyond the myriad bonus material – is it gives me the chance to go back and rediscover an album I might not have spent time with in quite a while. The time I’ve spent this week listening to the master, Jimi Hendrix, playing guitar and really immersing myself in his second album has been an enjoyable rock n roll week.

I suggest you all turn this one up loud. The bonus material might not be enough here to entice the hard core listener, but to the casual Hendrix fan I think this is a fun journey. Regardless, everyone should hear Axis: Bold As Love in it’s glorious entirety.

Cheers! “Fly on, little wing!” Indeed.

Box Set Review: The Who, ‘Who Are You (Super Deluxe)’ – My Who Cup Runneth Over

~ Kenneth Corsini ~ 5 Comments

“I remember throwin’ punches aroundAnd preachin’ from my chair” – The Who, “Who Are You”

Venerable rock n roll band the Who have released Who Are You (Super Deluxe Edition), a sizable – 7 CDs, 1 BluRay disc – box set and I must say, they could have named this thing “All You Ever Wanted To Know About Who Are You But Were Afraid To Ask.” The sheer size of this thing and the amount of music reminds me of the Police’s box commemorating Synchronicity (Super Deluxe Edition). This thing is a real treasure trove. I have only streamed this so far and so have nothing to say about the BluRay.

Who Are You was the first big Who album that came out after I’d started collecting albums in late summer of 1978. I was slated to see them on this tour but fate intervened. This album got mixed reviews, mostly positive but people forget it was a tough time for the Who. They hadn’t released an album of new material since 1975‘s Who By Numbers, which has occasionally been described as their “singer/songwriter” album for reasons unclear to me. Three years between studio albums was a lifetime in the 70s, so I suppose this was sort of a comeback. Townshend had done a solo project with his pal & former Faces member Ronnie Lane, Rough Mix in 1977. Daltrey had dropped a solo album, also in 1977, One Of The Boys. I know Moon and Entwistle had both done solo albums back in 1975 as well. I’m not deep on Moon or Entwistle’s solo career and have no idea what those albums were like.

When they reconvened to record this album, they were a band with some problems. Pete Townshend (songwriter/singer/guitar/keyboards) and Keith Moon (drums) were both struggling with the demons of drugs and alcohol. Moon in particular was struggling to, as Keith Richards puts it when the Stones are going to tour, “put himself back together again.” While Moon boasted he was still the best “Keith Moon style drummer around,” he struggled mightily to play the drums. They didn’t even use his drumming on “The Music Must Change,” Townshend just tapped his foot.

The greatest evidence that Townshend was struggling to me is that they recorded three of bassist John Entwistle’s songs, which was a full third of the album. Luckily they were strong tunes. Singer Roger Daltrey was still in good shape, that guy is a rock. They started the album working with legendary producer Glyn Johns but ended up finishing the album with Jon Astley. When they first gathered to record the album Johns has said they were more interested in sitting around drinking and reminiscing than actually working. It was a slow process to mold this album into shape.

I remember the guys who were a little older than me in high school loving this record. We were too young for Who’s Next so this was “our” Who album. Although if I’m being honest Face Dances (1981) and It’s Hard (1982) are the Who albums that were most prominent when I was in high school. And yes, I realize that I’m the only one who likes the Kenny Jones on drums era of the Who. Regardless, Who Are You was a big record for us, in my high school.

Of course, this album marks the end of an era for the Who. Keith Moon, who is pictured on the cover of the album in a chair that says “Not To Be Taken Away,” was well, taken away three weeks after the album came out. He died of an overdose of drugs he was taking to prevent alcohol cravings. He was asked to sit backwards on the photo shoot because his beer gut was so distended it was unsightly. So this album marks the end of the Keith Moon era of the Who. There are many who suggest that this was the last “great” (if not very good) Who album. I really liked WHO from 2019 but I sort of started B&V for the purpose of extolling late career records from my rock n roll heroes. 

Disc one of this box is the original album. The title track is one of the Who’s greatest songs… certainly the guys in charge of the CSI TV franchise thought so. The line I quoted above, “I remember throwing punches around and preaching from my chair…” yeah, we’ve all been there. It was a reaction to punk rock and Pete’s “f” you and I love it. Pete was actually really struggling at this point with how the Who were relevant in light of punk and yes, disco. Rather than join the ranks of rock bands who incorporated disco on a rock song, Pete wrote “Sister Disco.” I don’t know if it was criticism or acknowledgement but I always liked the song. Pete’s insecurity about the Who’s place in rock are highlighted by two tracks specifically about his creativity, “Guitar And Pen” and “The Music Must Change.” I love the latter of those. “Love Is Coming Down” is a classic Who ballad. 

As I mentioned, John Entwistle contributed three songs to this record which might be a record for a Who album. “Had Enough” is a great rock song. The Who brought back the swirling strings and synthesizers for this album – it feels more like a direct successor to Who Are You than Who By Numbers. His other track, a rather awkward song about a prostitute (?) or maybe just hateful lyrics about a woman, I don’t know, but I’ve always liked “Trick Of The Light.” What a riff! It may be the heaviest track on the album. “905” a science fiction track about a clone is the only song that leaves me cold. 

Over all this is a great Who album that frankly every rock fan should have in their collection. 

Disc 2, we get the original Glyn Johns’ mix of the album. This mix earned him a punch in the face from Daltrey that knocked Glyn unconscious. I’m still not sure why something like that would happen, but then I’m a lover not a fighter. I thought it was a good mix and it’s interesting to have it here. We get a trove of rarities on disc 2. We get Pete’s lead vocal on “New Song.” We also get a version of “Had Enough” without the orchestra and it actually makes the tune better… a real highlight here. Every outtake you can imagine is here. 

Disc 3 should be called the Entwistle demo disc. There are a host of his demos that he presented to the band and they are all strong. I’ve never followed him but I hope he developed some of these tracks, not used by the Who, for his own solo career. It’s all good stuff. We also get a bunch of alternate versions of tracks from the album like the band’s take on “Empty Glass” which ended up the title track of Townshend’s next solo album. Good stuff! 

Disc 4 starts with a bootleg of the band playing “Who Are You” live with Keith still on the kit in Toronto. It sounds like it’d be a wonderful rare find but it’s almost unlistenable. The rest of this disc is rehearsals from Shepperton Studios for a small show in front of only 300 people that was filmed to be a part of the 1979 rockumentary The Kids Are Alright. It’s fun to hear the band, well, fucking around, on cuts like the Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There” or doing a reggae or blues on “Spoonful/Smokestack Lightning.” Although the audio quality is closer to side two of the Faces latest archival release,Early Steps. It’s interesting but it doesn’t sound perfect if you’re an audiophile. 

Disc 5 gives us the actual performance at Shepperton for the movie. It sounds like a bootleg but there are some spirited performances. The Daltrey banshee wail on “Won’t Get Fooled Again” is worth the price of admission. They do mix in a few more rehearsals as well. They completely capture the time period with everything they could get their hands on from studio stuff to these rehearsals to live stuff. It’s a deep set. 

Disc 6 and 7 is a live performance from 1979 – mostly from the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit but a few songs hail from the Spectrum in Philadelphia. The concerts were from December 7th and 10th of ’79 and I have to say this makes me even madder that I missed this show on this tour. The band, now augmented with drummer Kenny Jones is on top of it. They play a host of their biggest songs from the early stuff like “Substitute” or “I Can’t Explain” to songs from Quadrophenia to the new material. This live stuff is the gold in this box for me. Any live Who is going to be fantastic from Live At The Opal 1971 to Live At Shea Stadium 1982 the Who bring it live no matter what condition they’re in. And here so shortly after losing founding member and comrade in arms, Keith Moon. It was a fitting tribute to him that they carried on with such amazing gusto. Granted, Jones was nowhere near the style of drumming Keith Moon played.  

This is one you’re going to want to add to your collection, whether you’re a Who nut like me or just a fan of great music. This live stuff on the last two discs is absolute gold, but like I said, the Who were always killer live and this one proves it. You’ll want to crank this one up loud! 

While Pete sang that the music must change… lets hope it changes back…

“The music must change, It’s gets higher and higher, Smoldering like leaves in the sun, Then it bursts into fire, Its rhythm grows strong, It’s so new and so strange, Like bells in the clouds, then again, The music must change…” 

Cheers!