Ronnie James Dio "This Is Your Life"

I had the very first album by Elf from late 1972.  Don't ask me how I came to own it because I don't recall for sure, but I think it was a gift from one of my friend's older sister.  Didn't have a clue who was in the band but I liked the boogie/blues rock...and that singer...wow!  That was the last I ever knew of Elf until one of my favorite rock bands then, and still, started to splinter.  When Ritchie Blackmore exited Deep Purple, he hired most of Elf to be in his new band, including that amazing voice, and the rest is Rock & Roll history.  Besides Rainbow, he sang on David Coverdale's first solo, Kerry Livgren's first solo, took Ozzy's place in Black Sabbath, then started his own namesake outfit.  His compositions have been covered by a litany of artists for decades.  When RJD passed away four years ago, it truly was a sad day for rock/metal.  This tribute album is loaded with heavyweights and the proceeds go to the cancer charity started in Dio's name.  What really stands out in this collection is the songwriting.  The performances are faithful.  Anthrax & Tenacious D prove that imitation is the highest form of flattery.  The women of Halestorm and Doro offer a different take on RJD's vocal style.  Killswitch Engage provide the only real adjustment to a track, minor that it is, and it comes over halfway through the record.  Finally a keeper in "Catch The Rainbow" with Glenn Hughes feeling the vocals in a way that I'm sure made Ronnie smile up above.......too bad the record's singular turd was dropped in the following track by Rob Halford.  While not a Metallica fan, they crushed a nine-minute medley to close out the guests portion of the record.  The final track is RJD himself from an album back in 1996, a very reflective tune which fittingly closes the tribute.

I'm glad I bought it and enjoyed the listens, but now I want to hear all these songs by the man himself...

Archives, here I come...

Sam Roberts Band "Lo-Fantasy"

My introduction to Mr. Roberts was nearly three years ago with his previous album, "Collider."  If you didn't bother to go back and read it, suffice it to say that I approved enough to purchase this sans sampling.  When its number in the queue finally came up, I was a tad surprised in the beginning but quickly fell under its spell.  Had this album been released...oh, say 35 years ago, it would have been multi-platinum with a minimum of four Top 10 hits.  For all you who are at least a half century old think happy Steve Miller Band or poppy Bryan Adams.  These songs drill into your brain and work their way out over the course of three or four days.  Example #1 is the album's opening track...



I dare you to listen to that three times and tell me it doesn't rattle around your brain for a week!  Spinning the knobs is versatile producer/remixer extraordinaire, Youth, who helmed records by The Orb, Bananarama, Crowded House and The Verve in the '90s and most recently new albums by Echo & The Bunnymen, David Gilmour and The Charlatans UK.  It's his inclusion which probably led to a Deluxe Version of essentially downtempo remixes (I added three to my copy) which one Canadian reviewer suggested were "...perfect for those who prefer their listening experiences with a fat spliff in hand."  Well, I can't confirm that hypothesis because this album required zero party favours for me to enjoy, but I may take a hint and experiment (oooh, a poet) before filing this into the Featured 500.  How about a live version...



"I'll give it a 9, Mr. Clark, because it's got a good beat and you can dance to it..."

Les Claypool's Duo De Twang "Four Foot Shack"

Ahhh, The Bass From Outer Space!  Always curious as to what he's doing even though the song usually remains the same.  My favorite Claypool contribution will always be Oysterhead, the one-off group with Trey Anastasio and Stewart Copeland...



Well, shit, now I have to grab their one CD from my Featured 500 and put it in the car...

Anyway, BKP sent this in a care package three months ago and admittedly I put it at the back of the queue because Les does his thing pretty much the same way record after record.  I have one Primus CD, the Oysterhead and nothing else......and that's plenty.  "Duo" is right for this album as it's only him and his like-minded guitarist friend of many years, Bryan Kehoe, who also joined LC on the Frog Brigade project.  Well, there is one other person credited for a mandolin and bg vocals somewhere, but it's 99% these two cats.  Half originals, half covers, all cornponed to the hilt.  I'll keep one original...



Obviously the guy behind the camera is a bass worshiper as he keeps focus on LC but finally realizes some of the geee-tar pickin' ain't too shabby and slightly pans out to show us.  The music quality was the best of the handful I could find.  I don't know why but this track puts a smile on my face..."Malted buttermilk pancakes all day long..."

Covers include a couple of reworked Primus songs (Jerry & Beaver......no no no, not Leave It To.....Racecar & Wynonna's), a couple that fit the mold (Pipeline & Battle of N.O.), one turd (Man In The Box), and two keepers (Amos Moses and a brilliant version of Stayin' Alive).  Click it...you HAVE to hear it.

He's always worth the listen, just doubt I would ever pull the whole disc to play...

The Flaming Lips "7 Skies H3" Record Store Day version

When I saw this hit the release page I had to look it up because I knew the next scheduled album will be a Sgt. Pepper's tribute (can't wait for that!).  I had not heard of the original version from 2011, a 24-hour long "song" of which there were only thirteen copies made available on a flash drive inside a skull and released on Halloween for a cool five grand..... that's $5000.  A quick sample proved interesting enough to purchase (couldn't say that about the previous two records) and I'm glad I did.  As a fan of pre-"Dark Side..." Pink Floyd (can you say "party favours"?) I really got into this...not enough to see if the website that looped the original was still functioning, but still, this is a worthy "condensed" item if I've ever heard one.....as if I've ever considered "condensed" as a "version" before!  You can click here to hear what is essentially the closing track and listen for yourself.  Some of the bips, boops and noises will test your stereo system much like that fuckin' fly on "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast."  You will also hear some passages which give heed to some of the Lips earlier works.  

Basically, if you were ever a fan of "ObscuredByAtomHeartMeddleGumma" or "MorethanASaucerfulAtTheGatesOfDawn," then this record is for you...

David Grissom "How It Feels To Fly"

I had to ask BKP who this guy was and now I'm embarrassed.  He was a member of a band that still has a CD residing in my Featured 500 in the office, Storyville.  After SRV died, Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton formed Arc Angels with Charlie Sexton (and apparently there is a current working version that I was unaware of...) and when that band flamed out, Storyville was born in '94.  Grissom got his start with Lou Ann Barton, played with Joe Ely and then spent a few years with JC Mellencamp before forming the band.  A couple of fine albums were well received in their native Texas but failed to break nationally.  A live album closed the door on the band but Grissom had become an in-demand session/touring player for a string of country and blues performers.  His songs were also finding their way on to records by Trisha Yearwood, Billy Bob Cyrus and Lee Ann Womack.  But I didn't f#&king know all this until I researched it.  Also didn't know this was his FOURTH solo release.  It also slipped past me that he contributed to Warren Haynes solo and the last release by Buddy Guy.  See?  Embarrassed...

The man can indubitably play a guitar (he has tons of "how to" videos across the web) and he's no slouch when it comes to songwriting.  The albatross is his vocals.  They aren't bad but the bar is set pretty high since everything else about the album is done so well.  The band around Grissom smokes, especially on the four live tracks at the end of the record.  The cover of "Jessica" is a wonderful ensemble event.  Grissom once filled in for the oft-absent Dickie Betts for a three-week stint in the ABB some twenty+ years ago and used to play other Allman songs in his pre-professional years.  Two more of the live tracks are earlier songs of his and really come off well in the live setting.  His cover of ZZ Top's "Nasty Dogs & Funky Kings" has everyone raving but the vocals bog it down for me (nope, didn't keep it).  Of the eight studio originals I'll retain two.  Here is a live version of the album's opener...



The studio track is superior as his vocals have the opportunity to get it right.  Here is the other keeper...



Notice anything missing?

Well, I won't sleep on this guy again and I'd like to be able to promise that my cluelessness won't happen anew but that's a guarantee in the world of music that's impossible to make...

The Jezabels "The Brink"

So I follow through on my promise to get this band's sophomore release.  In the post on the debut a couple of years ago, I tell my domestic readers to "remember you heard them here first..."  Nevermind...

This album finds the band settling into a pure 80's Aussie rock jacket.  Renee Geyer, Wendy & The Rocketts, etc., basically names Americans won't know.  I don't pull those discs out to play them now, I certainly don't need a new band doing the same musical style.  This was the pre-release single from a few months back...



Pretty obvious why the video wasn't shown in America and it's a boring song anyway.  On one track I thought the singer took on a Chrissie Hynde-like warble, not timbre, and about three of the tracks midway through could be a female fronted Killers, but not A-grade Killers.  Allow me to demonstrate...



Not that I was on the bandwagon (not sure there is one) but I'm deleting this entire album.  Bye bye...

Truckfighters "Universe"

Saw one of those twenty-five word blurbs on this and decided to sample.  Good enough to give a shot.  Had no clue who they were, from where, what label, "is this the debut?", nothing.  You have to believe me on this for a reason I'll get to shortly.  My player calls it "indie," it's definitely stoner rock.  The first track is a cross of QOTSA and Tame Impala with a dash of Alice In Chains...

 

So I've mentioned QOTSA and I later noted Kyuss on a track, so basically Josh Homme-fronted bands.  This is where you have to believe me.  I did not see this until today...



So I'm late to the party but I still got it right!  Now I know who they are, where they're from, the label (not a major as I was led to believe by the overall quality), and that this is long-player #4.  Other bands I heard in this were King Crimson, Tool, Soundgarden, Monster Magnet and STP.  Throw those into a blender with the previously mentioned three and hit "pulse," not "liquefy," so you get served up big chunks of each, not a smooth brew of it all together.   The final track is a thirteen-minute rock masterpiece.

My final notation on this record was, "this is pretty gotdamn impressive!" 

If I was going home for Bonnaroo '14...

...I'd start it all off Thursday with The Wild Feathers @ 3:15, then Taran Killam in the Comedy Theater @ 5 until ZZ Ward hits That Tent @ 6.  Monster Truck @ 8 PM in the New Music Lounge is the "must see" of the day.  I'd probably call it a night after that since nothing else screams at me to see/hear.

Friday the 13th would begin at Which Stage and Vintage Trouble @ 12:45.  I'd have a little break before making soiree uno to the main stage for Umphrey's McGee @ 3:30.  Andrew Bird starts @ 6 at This Tent...and now it gets dicey.  Depending on the quality of Mr. Bird's set, there's a chance I'd slip away to hear some of The Head And The Heart.  7:30 PM sees the first direct conflict as Vampire Weekend and Chvrches take opposite stages.  I don't own anything by either but I would certainly like to see a bit of both.  This is when I'd hope for cooler temps and dry conditions as I'd have my walking shoes working overtime...  Neutral Milk Hotel starts @ 8 and I'd certainly head that way after the previous two finish at 8:45.  At the end of their set I'd catch the last thirty minutes of Phoenix back on Which Stage and then head home.  No Kimye, Ice Cube or Mastodon for me.

Saturday will be a full day starting at the What Stage with Seasick Steve.  He gets main stage billing because the 70+ year-old California blues man is a huge name in the U.K. and abroad.  I've tried to "get it" but just don't, yet I'd join all the 2200 foreigners in attendance who've scheduled to be there.  I'd scoot over to Blackberry Smoke @ 2:15 for about thirty minutes and then plant myself at "must see" First Aid Kit at This Tent @ 3 PM.  Their new album comes out that week so it should be special.  Back over on the big stage finds Tedeschi Trucks though I'll bet Cake's overlapping set at Which has a big crowd.  Drive-By Truckers would be next followed by Damon Albarn on the What Stage.  I passed on his new solo record and wasn't thrilled with Gorillaz but his work with Blur forces my attention that way.  If he's boring as hell, Cage The Elephant is playing the second stage and according to the Bonnaroo site, five times more people are going there anyway.  I'd be at the Other Tent @ 7 for the John Butler Trio while the majority of the hordes attend Lionel Richie or Chromeo.  Not much of interest for a couple of hours until the night's headliner, Jack White, takes the main stage.  I'm not a huge fan though his Dead Weather set a few years ago will be difficult to beat.  It's the post-midnight lineup that has four solid performances and it will be only the most wasted who won't attend any of them.  I would HAVE to see what Wayne and The Lips are going to do.  I obtained their Record Store Day edit of 7 Skies H3 (look it up...it's par for their course), they have a Sgt. Pepper's tribute album scheduled for October (the DS of the M was pretty good) and they've been hanging around with Yoko and the Lennons.  The other option would be Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, who will certainly have the smallest crowd of the four.  Lots of people will go see Frank Ocean but the sight to behold will be the Superjam with Skrillex & Friends.  The EDM gets old quick for me but people-watching will be a blast!

Sunday's schedule is a piddling bunch that couldn't give me a musical hard-on with a fistful of Viagra.  I wouldn't venture out into the odoriferous masses until close to dinnertime, if then.  Would have a hard time catching the Carolina Chocolate Drops first thing and then nothing for hours.  The only mild interest would be Broken Bells @ 6:15.  No, I've never understood the draw of Fitz & The Tantrums and Amos Lee just doesn't work somehow.  I get that Arctic Monkeys and The Avett Brothers have their followers but there are other artists/bands who do the same thing much better.  My plan would be to plant my ass in the line to get into the main stage ASAP after the Avetts clear so I could watch them set up for Elton.  Last year, Sir Paul, this year, EJ......wow.......  Forty years ago at THS, if someone said these two would one day play a concert on a farm outside Manchester, they would have been accused of sampling said farm's fungi.  McCartney flew into the tiny Tullahoma airport and rode the sixteen miles with the limo window down waving at everybody along the way.  Think Elton will do that?

I heard all of you laughing out loud......