I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass...

Len Price 3 – Nice disc reminiscent of The Kinks, the Who and the Jam. Loved the Moon-ish drumming throughout, and the great Rickenbacker sound, particularly on “Keep Your Eyes on Me”. Yes its shallow, no there’s not a single original idea in the entire 30 minutes, but a great disc to crank with the windows open on a sunny afternoon. 3.5 stars

Slash –  Axl + Slash = great. Axl-Slash = suck. Slash-Axl=suck. It’s inconceivable they both don’t know this. At some point, the egos have to step aside for the greater good, right? Please? The disc: good guitar work, mostly crappy vocals, and mostly crappy songs. 1.5 stars

Taylor Hawkins – Parts of this work, notably the first 3 tracks. But most of it is over-inflated power pop that really wants to be Queen, and ends up being bloated classic rock. Case in point, “Don’t Have to Speak”, which starts off well enough, but then heads straight for Meatloaf/Bonnie Tyler territory. On the plus side, it made me dig out my vinyl copies of “Jazz” and “News of the World” and re-appreciate the work of Brian May. 2.5 stars

The Cure – The Cure tracks that get airplay are always the best songs on the disc, and almost every release has 2-3 killer pop ditties. Poobah perversely submits the one Cure disc without any. What’s here is the Cure in full blown shoe-gazing, black eyeliner, life sucks mode which works better in small doses. But from the opening line (“It doesn’t matter if we die”) to the bitter end, its one dark, depressing dirge desperately needing a “Just Like Heaven” or “Lovecats” to break up the tedium. While no doubt a favorite of outcast, purple-haired, heavily pierced Goth chicks everywhere, it mostly left me cold. 2.5 stars

Stevie Wonder – There’s a real juxtaposition going on here between the tightly written pop songs and the more free-form delicate ballads. For me, the pop songs connect, the others not so much. That said, those pop songs are as powerful musically and lyrically as any R&B recorded in that era. A disc that swings for the fences, hits grand slams when it connects and strikes out when it doesn’t. 3.5 stars

Cult – I’ve never been a big fan, but they certainly have had their moments through the years, particularly when they base their heavy riffing around an actual melody. “Nico”, “She Sells Sanctuary” and “Love Removal Machine” are good examples. More Cult than I’ll ever need, but it’s a keeper.


Discussion Question
AC/DC – Tough call. I’ll go with Brian Johnson.
Beatles – I think Paul had the better pipes of the 4, but not by much.
Chicago – Couldn’t tell you who sang what, liked the guy who sang “Saturday in the Park”
Journey – Hate em, but Perry’s voice suits the bombastic crap they churned out to a tee.
Santana – Didn’t matter.
Eagles – Henley
Rainbow – No idea.
Black Sabbath – Didn’t know anyone but Ozzie sang
Van Halen – Roth. Hagar is a poseur.
The Who – Daltrey is the better singer, but Pete’s voice matches the songs better.
Pink Floyd – Waters
Genesis – Gabriel
Kiss - Stanley
Stones – Keef
DBT – Cooley

Love Them Cocktails...er...Coattails!

Len Price 3 – Pictures

This is one of my favorite genres of music, so I listen to a lot of it. The best of this genre has subtleties mixed among the chord structures and instrumentation that make it richer, fuller and more interesting. I guess the best way I can describe it in musical terms is that it’s the difference between this CD and the first Jet CD. This is richer, lyrically and musically while maintaining its Kinks/Beatles parallels, but in an updated way. “If You Live Round Here” stands out and will probably be a ‘best of 2010’ song for me, though all of this will get repeated listens. 4 stars.

The Cure – Pornography

My life in the early ‘80’s was pretty good and I already had raccoon eyes from sleep apnea, so black eyeliner was not for me. I guess that’s why I didn’t get into The Cure…While I liked some of “Boys Don’t Cry”, by 1982 to me, they seemed like an angry, pissed off and alienated Duran Duran …Anyway, now that I’m listening to this CD for the first time, it sounds ‘80’s and dark, and there’s nothing really compelling about it for me now, just as it wasn’t compelling to me then. I can understand how you can be into it…it’s musically good, except for that miserable ‘80s snare drum, Robert Smith is OK vocally, though the echo is a bit much but at the end of the day, this CD is darker than I remember…I’d have to be on a shit load of peyote to get into this. 2 stars.

Slash – (Self Titled) UPGRADED
If you are too old – like me – to have really gotten into GNR, this is a real eye-opener. Slash is a great guitarist, both in style and sound…and this collection of songs and guest artists is really well thought out and fun to listen to. The songs vary enough to all be interesting…the vocal performances are all top-shelf – especially surprising is Fergie, in a good way - and the common element is the great lead work from Slash. The Kid Rock track, “I Hold On” should be a radio hit…and my favorite track was Iggy’s…Another thing I appreciated was how the songs were not 6 minute, over indulgent jams…just well crafted rock songs. Now I have to go back and listen to “Slash’s Snakepit”, and see if I like it as much as I like this. 3 1/2 stars.

Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders – Red Light Fever

This is good month for new music…If Taylor had the energy to play both sets, I’d like to see these guys open for the Foo Fighters…musically it’s a great blend of classic, prog and glam rock with a little pop thrown in for good measure. The vocals and guitar work is really good, which makes this an easy listen all the way through…I’m a sucker for Queen/Sweet vocals, like the harmonies on “Your Shoes”, though all the tracks were interesting and varied in their influences…and where the hell did “Don’t Have To Speak” come from? Very cool. This will make it into my recurrent I-tunes rock playlist. 4 stars.


Stevie Wonder – Innervisions

The big question for me was whether this would hold up for me 37+ years later. Right from the beginning of “Too High” it was apparent that this was still vital and interesting music…the sound was not as anachronistic as I feared, and “Living for the City” is still an incredible and relevant song. It’s also no wonder – pun intended – that “Higher Ground” has been covered by lots of rockers, including RHCP because…it rocks. It’s also easy to hear why Stevie’s music has been sampled by lots of rappers. If this is your first exposure to some of these songs, it may be too soft for you, but in my view, every song here (except Golden Lady) is a classic…this is one of the best albums to ever come out of Motown. 5 stars.

The Cult – Greatest Hits

Sorry, Greg…I didn’t get to it because by the time I popped it in the CD player, I learned that it wasn’t an audio disc, so I couldn’t listen on the way down to Hartford this morning.

Topic – Bands and their singers…in my view, there are relatively few exceptions where bands ever sounded better than they did with their original singer. So for me, this is an easy choice when it comes to bands that have or had, a “lead” singer. As for those bands that had multiple lead vocalists, like the Beatles where, depending on the song, Lennon could ace out McCartney and vice versa, it’s a little more of a discussion…For me, Don Henley is the Eagles, Roger Daltrey is the Who and Peter Gabriel is Genesis. Roger Waters is Pink Floyd and Gene Simmons is KISS.

Guess the Hater of the Month is Me!

The Mong
Music Group Commentary
May 2010

The Cure – Pornography – 2 Stars
The Cure is like your favorite T-shirt from ten years ago: now it’s a little too tight and a little too out-of-date. Some of their other material holds up now but this really doesn’t.

The Len Price 3 – Pictures – 2 Stars
So convincingly authentic that it sounds like the custom-made soundtrack to a parody about a British Power Pop band. But like any parody – even one as convincing as this – it just lacks the actual authenticity or spark to make it rise above what inspired it.

Slash – Slash – 1 Star
This is bad G&R with even worse star-studded vocals from a guitarist who is even more overrated than the overrated band that made him famous. This is, perhaps, proof-positive that “the riff” is not the heart of Rock & Roll.

Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders – “Red Light Fever” – 3.5 Stars
Some kick-ass channeling or Queen and ELO!

Stevie Wonder – Innervisions – 1.5 Stars
One of those classic, supposedly bullet-proof albums that does not even remotely stand the test of time. It instantly dates itself and is almost unlistenable except for nostalgia’s sake or for critical analysis. Yawn in the biggest fucking way!

G’Hits – The Cult
Bad mix. Good band.

From Last To First

Great meeting, it was awesome seeing the whole gang. It felt like old times. Brings a tear (that might have been from The Len Price 3). Monsta being here was a real treat. Anyway, I think that it was a pretty successful meeting, lots of high scores, some surprising too. Jay gets kudos for the review/bashing of the month for his Cult review. I deserved it. Hopefully it won't be another year before Mike's next visit. Maybe we can all do a DYN road trip. See you all next month.

Just to recap next month's meeting. Here are the assignments:
Old - Monsta (Dire Straights - Making Movies), Greg (Cheap Trick - Dream Police)
New - D'Arcy, Mike, Sandy
Host - Alan

Taylor Hawkins & the Coatail Riders – 4
This is an easy one. (Sorry about the following analogy, I thought they were Cocktail Riders) To make a Cocktail Rider, simply add two parts Queen, one dash of ELO and a pint of Queens of the Stone Age, if desired, you may a drop of Foo Fighters, but it isn’t necessary. I found this cd to be full of offbeat but predictable fun songs. I’m a huge Foo Fighters fan and I think that TH is a very Talented, but underrated drummer. This required some talent to put together. At first I didn’t care much for the vocals, but they grew on me and I think that they are perfect for the music. I loved it. Thanks to whoever submitted this disk. Greg’s pick of the month.
The Len Price 3 – Pictures 1.5
No human being should be allowed to have this much fun. Seriously, I felt like I was watching the beginning of Friends over and over and over. I will give them credit for not being original and for over repetitiveness and most annoying songs.
The Cure – Pornography 4
As bizzaro as Robert Smith is, and he only looks weirder being 50 and still dressing and being all made up as he is, he is awesome. One of the most unique voices in music, he’d fail miserably on American Idol, but he can write one seriously haunting song. I’m a huge fan of pornography, and this cd is great too. I’m not sure that it stands up to Kiss me Kiss me Kiss me, but some of the tracks certainly do. There wasn’t a song that I didn’t like. Great cd.
Slash – Slash 3.5
It must be Cult month, Ian Astbury even had a track on Slash’s disk. I’d buy this a hundred times before I’d buy anything with Axyl Rose on it. But Lemmy, Dave Grohl, and Adam Levine. Slash is like the hard rock Santana using all of these other great singers. Honestly, the only issue I have with Slash is that I feel like I need a shower after listening to him, he is one dirty looking guy.
Stevie Wonder –
A little late to review, but what I heard was just okay. I’m sure it would grow on me, but I’ll have to give it another listen or two.

AC/DC - Brian Johnson/Bon Scott Brian Johnson
Beatles - Paul/John/Ringo/George George Harrison
Chicago - Peter Cetera/Robert Lamb/Terry Kath Peter Cetera
Journey - Steve Perry/Gregg Rolie Steve Perry
Santana - Gregg Rolie/Alex Legertwood/Greg Walker Alex Ligertwood
Eagles - Joe Walsh/Glenn Frey/Don Henley/Don Felder/Timothy B Schmidt Don Henley
Rainbow - Joe Lynn Turner/Ronnie James Dio/Graham Bonnet Graham Bonnet
Black Sabbath - Dio/Ozzie Ozzie
Van Halen - David Lee Roth/Sammy Hagar/Gary Cherone DLR
The Who - Pete Townshend/John Entwhistle/Roger Daltry Roger Daltry
Pink Floyd - Roger Waters/David Gilmour/Syd Barrett David Gilmour
Genesis - Peter Gabriel/Phil Collins Peter Gabriel
Kiss - Ace Frehley/Peter Criss/Paul Stanley/Gene Simmons Paul Stanley

Greg's Super Late Posts

Raging Slab – Dynamite Monster – 2.5Refreshing and unique blend albeit not altogether original heavy raw classic riffs. Black Crows along with Hendrix style solos and strong bass tracks made this a pretty appealing cd. It might not be a super group, but it sounded like one, comprised of members of Black Sabbath, Jimmy Page among others. It did get a little more country than I like as the disk progressed. What started as a really strong cd dwindled and became a bit repetitive. It’s fun, but not so much so that I’ll find myself longing for it.

Pete Townshend Greatest Hits
He has such an awesome voice – nothing against Roger Daltry but Townshend has it all day over him. Weird lifestyle aside, he can sing a song, he can butcher one too. Take Teenage wasteland for instance, what the fuck? I haven’t heard a lot of these songs but most were really good. He’s a classic. Slit Skirts brought back very cool images of my teenage years. I don’t know what the song is about, but my imagination was working.

Field Music – Field Music – 4
From the song Field Music (the first I heard) I was hooked. Even with the weirdness in the song it was original. The band must be good, only good bands get to put minutes of silence in the middle of a song. How did they sell that? It’s art. The band is just interesting enough to keep me listening and not annoy me. Steely Dan, George Harrison and even a touch of 10cc were obvious influences that I caught. Great cd, my pick of the month. I wish I started listening earlier.

Yeasayer – 2
First impression was that this was better experienced with headsets on, there are too many sounds going on to truly appreciate without a real listen, all the noises did borderline on being obnoxious. They have an Indian or Asian flair. I’ll give them points for being original, some of the songs would have been perfect for the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack. Any one of these songs would be tolerable, but I’d give $50 to anyone who can listen to the entire disk straight through.

Ike Reilly – 3.5
Let me guess, this was Monsta’s pick, or maybe Ken’s? Good stuff I’ll say. Were these all Bob Dylan songs sung by an Irish Bob Dylan cover band? The sounded like Flogging Molly doing Dylan. I’m not saying that I didn’t like it, but it did make me feel like drinking. It might have been a subliminal ad for Guinness. Good stuff!

does where you stand mean its the right view

Raging Slab
This is the beginning of my effort to insure that the electric guitar is featured prominently in my submissions and not buried behind mandolins and production. Raging slab has the typical three-guitar wall of guitar that the classic southern rock bands all used. Whether it be the slide lead or the interchangeable dual leads theses Pennsylvanians keep the music moving. Even there slow song features an interesting banjo solo, words I never thought I would ever type. A fun cd from an overlooked band. 3.5

Vampire Weekend
So you have great expectations with you first cd. You produce an average somewhat unspectacular cd but critics give you a break. Your answer, mine your inner Paul Simon and bore me. 1.5

Yessayer
Obviously disciples of Vince Clarke, more his Yazoo period, but still some depeche mode, and erasure. What they missed was his ear and touch for catchy tunes. Although Rome comes really close. The rest forgettable synth pop. 2.0

Ike Reilly
Just a fun guitar cd. Something this group has been missing for a while. Great slice of observational lyrics. The riffs grab you, but the piano just grooves along. 3.0

Pete Townshend
After reading Mr Hopkins review of mr mongillos ghits I realized that I would have to review this with a different approach. Now I am not of said Townhends age in fact my mother is. Also my moms socially and economic background is closer to his than mine. Finally since he writes many a love song, and after reading his views on this subject, well maybe I do need to take heroin to understand. So after following the Hopkin rules I have no right to like these songs. Shame because when I judge these songs as just songs I find myself really liking most of the songs. Would have added Crashing By Design. Although did find that some of his music has not aged well, finding them a bit sedate, especially some of his later cds.