Blue October "Any Man In America"

I've been a fan of this band since their major label debut in 2000.  I put it on sale in our prime listening station, and when that didn't produce results, played it daily in-store for everyone to hear.  I couldn't get anyone to believe that Blue October would eventually become a successful domestic band.  Six years later, "Hate Me" resonated with the masses, making Blue October a platinum seller in North America.  Naturally, the followup album charted higher, leading to bigger tours and venues.  And now "Any Man..." is a Top 10 record, and it is well deserved. 

I've truly appreciated the growth and development of this band over the decade, and I'm so happy that others get it besides me.  Yeah, so it took most of you longer, but that's OK, you're on the proverbial bandwagon now.  Better strap in for the ride though, because I'm thinking frontman Justin Furstenfeld's head may explode any day now. 

Blue October hasn't ever been a pop band with lalala/sing-along songs, but there were hooks, albeit with some sharp barbs for lyrics.  I mean, really, "Hate Me?"  I know you sang along and many of you related, but it was the final song from '09's "Approaching Normal" that went WAAAYYY beyond "normal."  As "The End" concluded, I had to pick my chin off the floor and apply a band-aid to stop the bleeding.  Then I immediately played it again in order to make sure I heard what I thought I heard.  Go ahead and find it on your Internet cloud of choice if you haven't experienced it and come on back after your through....

That has to be one of the most vivid, violent songs I've ever heard, but it was only one song.  "Any Man..." is a complete album of piss and vinegar, one of the angriest records imaginable, and it could possibly appeal to Any Man In America. 

Subject:  Divorce.  Guys always seem to get the shaft and have to suck it up and crawl away.  Not Furstenfeld.  He has a forum to vent his frustrations, and whew, I wouldn't want to be his ex.  I'm going to link one of the tracks here that displays the lyrics, but this is one of the mild ones with some true, heartfelt emotion.  You'll see it's not a simple song.  I found one reviewer who said he didn't hear any hooks anymore.  That's probably from some young journalist wannabe who played the record once so he could hit his deadline.  As I've said, the hooks are there but with unconventional messages.  And they come in a wide range of musical jackets.  Along with the rock there's some angry boy white rap, a track that could feature Phil Collins vocalizing, and another that's a dead ringer for a Rob Thomas/Matchbox 20 tune.  Here is an acoustic version of "The Chills" as an example of how diversified they can be.  The studio version of this is an arena-filling, power rocker...

This is not a kid-friendly record as it's loaded with a minefield of four-letter words.  Hey, the guy is pissed off!  But I'd be willing to bet that any of you male readers of this post who've been through a messy break-up of any kind will connect to part, if not all, of "Any Man In America"

The Waterboys "An Appointment With Mr. Yeats"

Ladies and gentlemen, I present another candidate for Album of the Year, 2012 for North America, 2011 for Europe and the few other reviewers in the States who couldn't wait for the domestic release.  "Appointment..." is a trip back to the Big Music of the Waterboys' 80's heyday.  If you own and love a copy of "Fisherman's Blues", "A Pagan Place" or "This Is The Sea", allow me to insist that you seek out and purchase however possible.

 

Mr. Yeats is W. B. Yeats, one of Ireland's greatest poets/writers.  I've seen him referred as the Irish Shakespeare.  The book and movie title "No Country For Old Men" is from a famous Yeats poem, so whether or not you're consciously aware of him, you have been exposed to his work.  Mike Scott adapted a Yeats poem for "Fisherman's Blues" and again on "Dream Harder", so this isn't unprecedented.  To do an entire record is a bit whacky, but to perform it live one year earlier than the release date is a sign of sheer passion or plain crazy.  But that's what they did, played twenty new songs to audiences in 2010 and released the record just a couple of months ago.  


Scott was raised in a literary household and was exposed to Yeats works by age 11.  The name was spoken in reverent tones around his house and he has said he hears music when he reads the works.  Obviously, it transferred to his own writing style, full of visions and images.  So this record is not a reach or an effort, it's a labour of love.  Since the lyrics are pieced together, they unfold slowly within the Irish undertones of the music, and I do mean undertones.  In no way, shape or form is this your stereotypical Irish music.  Oh no, my friends, this is a big ol' rockin' Irish record full of fiery fiddle, bangin' piano and drums.  The young girl on vocals was a discovery Scott made barhopping in Dublin one night, happening upon her performance with her band in a small pub.  She's a perfect fit for this album and a star of the future in her own right.  

The above tune should be the single, if there ever is one.  There's the bluesy bent of the first video above, the album's second track made Cat "Yusef" Stevens smile, and if I played the closing track for you without any hints, I'd venture many of you would guess mid-70's Pink Floyd.  That would suggest that Scott sounds like Roger Waters at times, which he does, and damn if he doesn't look like the other guy I wrote down as a RIYL, Bob Geldof.  

  

If you're a lit major or an English teacher, you owe yourself a treat.  That goes for the rest of you, too, if you want to hear something miles above the mindless crap that's on the radio.  

Don Airey "All Out"

 

His may not be a name many of you recognize, but if you reside in the over-forty demographic, I'm willing to bet that the Mad Rockers among you have sent a paycheck his way once or twice.  I own approximately 25 recordings on which Mr. Airey played the keys, for example.  My first introduction to him was right around the time that the header picture for this blog was taken, and chances are I was sitting in that same chair when I first read his name.  It was either the "War Dance" album (really, an album) by Colosseum II or the "Andrew Lloyd Webber:  Variations" record in 1977.  A short list of major names he played with thereafter includes Gary Moore, Rainbow, Ozzy & Whitesnake.  Go ahead, take a look at the credits from some of those 80's recordings,

I'll wait......................................  See?  I told you you've paid for some trinkets around his abode.  But in his 40-year career as a professional musician, "All Out" is only his third solo release, and this one only came about due to the extended break for his current employer, Deep Purple.  

So now you have a point of reference according to several of the reviews I read whilst investigating this release.  I wasn't familiar with any of the assembled band members, but I'm certainly not as informed on the European rock music scene as my previous decades.  I saw plenty of Ian Gillan comparisons for the vocalist, but methinks that's false advertising or the simplistic ramblings of youthful reviewers, because there can only be one of the great Mr. Gillan.  I'm going to run with the stylings of Rainbow singers Joe Lynn Turner or Graham Bonnet, or for the opening track, the gone-too-soon David Byron of Uriah Heep.  Here's a link for you to judge for yourself.  There were other comparisons to Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and when track #2 played, it wasn't just eerily similar, it was copyright infringement worthy, straight off Brain Salad Surgery.  Turns out that the piece was written by the same Argentinian composer of "Toccata" from ELP's BSS.  There's another track from "All Out" that features the ELP vibe, but another listen or two found it leaning more toward Triumvirat than ELP.  There are Purple-ish tracks, of course, with one featuring the hardest working man in show business, Joe Bonamassa, but honestly, I had to cheat to find out which one.  Nothing noteworthy, for sure.  Same goes for the two Bernie Marsden (Coverdale's Whitesnake) six-string contributions.  On the last spin, I thought I might have heard an old Styx instrumental playing on a boom-box in the backyard. 

You've read where I said a record had a "60's influence" or a "70's feel", "All Out" sounds as if it was actually recorded in the 70's.  Depending upon your taste, that could be a good thing or an awful thing.

Johnny Winter "Roots"

Oh, man, did listening to this record make me sad.  Not disappointed, like this year's Gregg Allman release, just sad.  I saw Mr. Winter in concert a couple of times in the late-70's/early 80's, and the man was a 120-mph, guitar-burning dynamo.  Now, he's just a burned-out shell of what he used to be.

I'm happy he's made a paycheck with "Roots", and that's what it is, an album full of blues roots classics that everyone will know, complete with big-name guest appearances.  If that's what it takes to sell a few records, so be it.  I've seen a handful of rave reviews, but my guess is those reviewers are much younger than JW's forty-year career and don't have a clue of what he once was.

I kept one track.  Sad, so sad...

Tedeschi Trucks Band "Revelator"

Ladies and gentlemen, now that's a band. Count 'em...eleven members! And only two or three who are holdovers from Derek's previous ensemble. Husband Trucks and semi-cougar wife Susan Tedeschi (she nine years his senior and started dating him before he reached legal drinking age) have hit on a winning combination that didn't exist for me with their respective solo careers. In the Music 4 Less days, I gave their promos away to staffers, never keeping an entire record from either. Sure, there were a couple of keeper tracks, but the albums as a whole were too uneven for me. But that has all changed with "Revelator." 

I'll be honest...first spin found the "uneven" aspect still in play, with the record seemingly front and back heavy with a soft middle.  Great start with the opener coming out with a Little Feat vibe.  And then track #3 has to be the smoothest, sexiest tune in recent memory, suitable for airplay while doing your spouse, boy/girlfriend, right/left hand, whatever.  See if you agree...

(Well, you can't as the video has been deleted. Sorry. 1/9/14)

 Man, I can't stop that song...I get chills every time it plays.  Susan in all her Tina Fey-like hotness, that funky bass line, and of course, Derek's uncanny, emotional slide guitar.  Be sure to read some of the comments if you decide to watch on YouTube.  This could be a world-wide smash! The next three tracks were the soft middle I referred to, but after the third spin, they melted into the fabric of this album, seamlessly fitting in on spins 4 & 5 (yep, couldn't pull it from rotation...could've written this post weeks ago).  I had to sneak a peek at the author for track #7 because I would have sworn it was written by Warren Haynes of Gov't Mule.  Nope.  For the remainder of the record I jotted down 70's-era AWB and War as additional references.  There are a couple of segments which are most likely just snippets of studio jams, along the lines of what Frank Zappa would do on his albums, and these come off as fusion jazz, Billy Cobham-like pieces.  Amazing...

My buddy, Bob K., said it best; "This is the best Bonnie Raitt album in years, and she isn't on it."  I had this CD on low volume in a full automobile headed for the Frampton Comes Alive 35th Anniversary concert, when the girl in the back stops in mid-sentence and asks, "Is this Bonnie Raitt?"  This coming from a HUGE Raitt fan... 

Well, I can't admit to being a big follower of Bonnie's, but I have enjoyed the Brothers Allman and their expanded family tree for decades, and that's where this lovely piece of musical fruit falls for me.

Chickenfoot III

Don't bother looking for the second album.  There wasn't one.  Just all part of the Chickenfoot fun.  As a matter of conjecture, this record wasn't supposed to happen, either.  But damn, why not follow up a Top 5 album?  Here's the little blurb I did on the debut way back at the start of this blog: 

"Best Van Halen release this decade, hell, since OU812 in 1988. What, you say, there hasn't been a Van Halen album this century? Well, there is now, it just doesn't have the VH brothers on it."

And I still say this is Sammy's idea of Van Hagar II, especially giving Michael Anthony's inclusion with those signature yelping background vocals.  The Brothers VH have been ably replaced by Chad Smith (RHCP) on drums and Joe Satriani on guitar.  Since the Peppers have a new album, there won't be much in the way of touring support for "III", but here they are from last week on Jimmy Kimmel's show...



Sammy sounds great for a 64 year-old, doesn't he?  I've been a fan since that fateful day in the fall of '73 in the high school parking lot when Don Thompson summoned me over to his Jeep and dropped Montrose "Rock Candy" on me straight from the new 8-track.  Some say it's hard to take Hagar seriously, but why would you?  He's been living the proverbial rock and roll dream, having fun.  "Does anybody remember laughter?"  As for Satriani, some say he's dumbing down his talent for this band, but I don't believe it for a single minute.  I'll guarantee he's made the fattest paychecks in his life and had more fun doing it.  He can always go back to his core fans (the number of which will probably be greater thanks to CF) and fire up the frets as the frontman.

So let me check my notes for "III"... says here "not as earth-shattering as the debut and it's unbridled energy and enthusiasm".  Yep, I'm still going with that.  The first half of this record sounds contrived, planned, but it's still serviceable old school rock and roll.  Side Two is a fine extension of the debut and the barely "hidden" final track is so good that I truly hope there's gonna be a "V".

Ana Popovic "Unconditional"

Heard this girl for the first time on the Juke Joints record earlier this year.  Blues artists and aficionados in the States picked up on her a couple of years ago and that has transferred into some impressive sales on that niche chart for this release and the previous one as well.  I've seen her called a "triple threat" for her playing, singing, and writing.  I'll admit that she's a pretty good guitarist, better with a slide, though a few notes here and there on "Unconditional" sound off ever so slightly.  As a singer she's OK, better live than studio, but another post very soon will include what I consider to be a real singer.  For the writing, she contributed eight of the songs here and I will keep two, so not so much.  Here is the title track for you to judge for yourself...



Not many guitarists wear short dresses and high heels this well, huh?  But this is a strong example of the wrapping overshadowing the contents.  What surprised me about this "blues" record was the inclusion of classic soul, jazz, and rock (which is the style of one of the keeper tracks).  She's been known to cover dearly departed slingers like Hendrix and Vaughan, but really isn't worthy of doing so if you ask me.  And next album, have the engineer back off the some of that high-end range, would ya?  A couple of tracks had so much sssssssssstttttttt on them that I thought my tinnitus was acting up.  Downright obnoxious.  Can only imagine how annoying they were to someone with clear hearing. 

Regardless of all my bitch & moans, it's really not all that bad............................................for a girl.

Hard-Fi "Killer Sounds"

I thought these guys had given up because it had been four years since their last record.  I eagerly snapped it up and popped it in the player.  Hmmmm, "I wonder what's happened to them during this lengthy hiatus...", I thought to myself, "...'cause it doesn't sound quite the same."  As it turns out, nothing.  Same members, just older.  OK, let me give it three spins before dropping a full-fledged opinion... 

And here it is...it's a Styx title; "Too Much Time On My Hands."  I suppose when your first two records go to #1 in England and sell a couple mil worldwide, you can afford to take a break.  In this case, however, I think they've wasted the momentum.  The early albums were loose and fun, a real Clash-y, dance-y, Specials sort of mix.  "Killer Sounds" is too calculated, consolidated and commercial.  Why try to be radio-friendly when you've already captured your fan base?  That being said, if you haven't been exposed to Hard-Fi before, then this new release is aimed at you. 

This is a prime example of what the record sounds like, but to me, this just sort of lays there, if you know what I mean.  They did have the good sense to pick this track as the second single, one of only two I'm retaining for the library...



So that about says it all.  If you like these two tunes, then you'll enjoy "Killer Sounds."  If your musical palate is a bit more adventurous, then please investigate either of the other two LP's. 

The Vines "Future Primitive"

Always liked this band.  When everyone was jumping on the Strokes bandwagon, I was touting this Aussie export.  They had their fair share of domestic success, essentially riding the garage-rock-revival wave that the Strokes initiated.  The Strokes, however, have built upon their foundation while the Vines have undermined theirs.  The Vines leader basically imploded their momentum by yelling and screaming at fans, press, other bandmates, you name 'em.  He was eventually diagnosed with Asperger's, but the damage had been done. I, on the other hand, still enjoyed their records and was happy to see them featured prominently on the iPod commercial which helped introduce the new player, when was that...2005?  I always liked the melodies mixed with a psychedelic hand, allowing the songs to stand out from other similar sounding bands.  Though the songs were shorter in length than my usual comfort zone, there was always a lot going on within.  On "Future Primitive", the tracks are just short...

I gave this album the three requisite spins, and the hooks never set.  I was bummed.  There is a different vibe here, a very 60's/Beatles Red-era/Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs kinda thing, which is great if you love two-minute crunchy pop songs, i.e....

Tell me he doesn't sound like Scott Weiland.  What does that remind me of?  Anyway, I understand they are touring in support of the album, which is good since it didn't initially sell very well Down Under and at all here.  I believe there is an audience for it, but I've abandoned ship.  As much as I hate to say it, I'm keeping nothing, nada, not a single slice.  If the rumored subsequent album surfaces, I won't spring for it like I did this one.