Greg's September / October

The A’s – The A’s - 3

It seems to me that for the times and the similar style and sounding bands of that period these guys were just as good as anyone else out at the time. Maybe it was just the luck of the draw that these guys didn’t make it and the others did. To me they sounded a lot like Elvis Costello and Thin Lizzy, the Clash and twenty other bands. They were certainly talented and creative enough to make it. Also, great use of Beatles riffs.

Hayes Carll – KMOA YOYO - 2

You guys know how I feel about country, and it doesn’t get much more country than this. With that said, Another like you is a really cool play on Baby it’s Cold Outside. What a refreshing song, as country as it was, I like it. The lyrics are all that helped me through the rest of this cd, but there are a lot better lyricists out there that I actually like listening to. I was able to tolerate it more than I thought I would but it won’t likely ever be played again.

Keith Top of the Pops - Fuck you I’m Keith Top of the Pops – 2.5

Not sure what’s up with this guy’s name. I had to look him up to find out what his deal was. Initially because of the “Celebrity” reference I expected to see Ray Davies in the credits but I didn’t recognize any of the “Celebrities” they all seemed to be singing Nick Lowe songs though. I did like several of the songs which surprised me. I loved “Two of the Beatles are Dead”

Ladyhawk – Shots - .5

The music and the vocals didn’t seem to fit. The music and the voice felt disconnected. The singer kind of has a Bob Mould feel which is normally a plus, but, why would these guys clearly get high or drunk then record an album and who in their right mind would sign them knowing that they have substance abuse issues? I could tolerate these guys for one or two songs then I had to ask why am I wasting my time, and for me to say that knowing what I listen to that’s not a good thing. I’m sure you all will give it a 5, but I’m thinking more in the .5 range.

Sleeping in the Aviary – You and me, Ghost – 2.5

I had to give these guys a real shot because I bashed the crap out of them last time Mike submitted them. I’m still not sure why someone would choose to listen to these guys. If they happen to come on I might listen to one or two of the songs, but I’m not sure I’d say, hey let’s throw on SITA. It wasn’t all bad, but it wasn’t all good either.

Drummers

This isn’t the best collection of songs by these drummers, but some of my personal favorites and a pretty good representation of these guy’s abilities, some more than others. I chose not to put a bunch of drum solos on in this collection because more than a drummer’s ability to be fast etc, is their ability to be creative and fit in with his fellow mucisians. A lot to artists have talent but don’t make it because of the group they play with. Being a drummer, it might be easier for me to appreciate the difficulty of their efforts. Danny Carey from Tool and Neil Peart are my personal favorites, I inadvertently left Dave Grohl off this list, that wasn’t intentional. You also get a sense of how drumming has changed over the decades. I also tried to include as many genres as possible to represent different styles of drumming. Hope you enjoyed it. Also, non-drum related but for the record, I heard by Lou Reed and Metallic, WTF, it is pretty much exactly what I expected, it sucked.

Question of the month- I actually thought that this was a stupid question (Point finger at Mike and Ken to shut up) but I had fun doing this.

We all have our favorite artists. Of the entire library of your true favorite artist not including greatest hits or live albums, what is your favorite album and what is your least favorite album?

Favorite - Rush – Moving Pictures

First exposure to Rush and best overall collection of Rush songs, a greatest hits album all by itself. Last “classic” Rush album.

Least Favorite – Rush – Vapor Trails

With the exception of One Little Victory (the first single which gave me great hope for the rest of the cd) nothing else on the disk flows. The songs are all boring and felt forced together with the lyrics. I know that Neil Peart is the “worst” lyricist but even I agree that these seemed an afterthought to the music. The music was even bland and after many listens it still didn’t settle in as anything close to, not even a classic, but just a song that will endear.

Just for ha ha’s, you can pick one song from the worst cd and swap it with one you don’t like from the favorite. What songs were they?

One little Victory would replace Camera Eye and that is only because I love the other songs more