My long-winded nonsense for April

Bruce  - The inclusion of  “Land of Hope & Dreams” sums up “Wrecking Ball” nicely.  The version here drags, bloated by superfluous strings, programmed drumbeats and backup singers.  Conversely, the “Live in NYC” version is Bruce’s finest moment of the last 20 years.  The E-Street band just owns it, a great, powerful performance.  The contrast is obvious to everyone but Bruce.  Until he decides to pare down the band to a 5 piece and let Steve produce him, he’s won’t make a great album.  Yeah, there are a few good ones here, but overall its another frustrating Springsteen album hobbled by crappy production & bad decisions (like why include an inferior take of a song that was officially released 10+ years ago). 3 stars

Howler – Read a rave review of this and gave it a whirl.  While not quite rave worthy, this a solid batch of indie pop songs with some slick surf guitar licks.  Heard any number of different influences throughout, but it has a definite Strokes/Ramones vibe to it.  Like a lot of indie bands, they take the whole lo-fidelity thing too far; the mix is muddy and the vocals need punching up.  That stated, this is good stuff. 3.5 stars

The Sun – Another DYN oldie that left me wondering how I missed it when it was new.  Great sound throughout, with enough variety to keep things from getting stale.  I definitely preferred the more straightforward tracks like “Waiting on High” and “Must Be You” to some of the more hip-hop oriented numbers, but this is a solid album from start to finish.  Almost absolves Fearless Leader for the Atmosphere g-hits.  3.5 stars

Kansas – Missourians hate Kansas (a Civil War thing).  I’ve lived here 20+ years, so that must be why I hated this disc.  Not because it sounded like the bastard love child of Survivor and Loverboy.  Not because “All I Needed” belonged in a hokey 80’s movie starring Emelio Estevez and Molly Freaking Ringwald.  Not because the brutal lyrics that on “Secret Service” were laugh out loud bad.  And definitely not because Kansas couldn’t decide whether they were the band who made “Leftoverture” or an 80’s hair-metal band, so they tried to be both.  Nope, simply a geography thing.  1 star

Second Saturday – Amiable power pop that sounded a little like a Cars/Ben Folds mash up.  Catchy hooks and solid playing abound, and the lead guitarist is more than I expect from a pop band.  Well-written songs that breeze by.  A good spring driving with the windows down disc.  3.5 stars

Hothouse Flowers – Most of this was pretty good, particularly the “Home” tracks. D’Arcy wont see it as a compliment, but I thought the better material sounded like Bryan Ferry fronting the E-Street Band. Some of the “Songs From the Rain” stuff was a little too Spandau Ballet for me. An interesting collection of a band I had heard of, but not actually heard.

Discussion Question

1) Great question. Having seen it done only once, I say it’s not a good thing.  What I love most about a concert is hearing something unexpected.  Playing a disc in order and especially announcing it ahead of time, destroys spontaneity.

2) It’s a case-by-case thing, depending on the overall influence of who’s gone.  Pink Floyd without Roger Waters is not Pink Floyd and the Who without Moon & Entwistle is not the Who.  That said, as long as Mick, Keith & Charlie are onstage, the Stones are still the Stones.

3) Floyd, Skynyrd and The Who need to stop the charade.  If Pete & Roger want to tour, God bless ‘em, but don’t call it the Who.  Would love to see “Led Zep” tour with a different drummer. 

No More Saturdays

(New) Howler- America Give Up CD – 3.5
Great voice,
catchy guitar work and lots of oohing.
The songs were fun to listen to.
Howler could probably have been successful in any decade over the last
50 years. One of the easiest albums to listen
to. It felt a little like the Ramones
doing Beach Boys and Dick Dale covers.
A pretty cool concept as far as I’m concerned.
(New) Second Saturday 0
Did these guys just listen to the last two Green Day albums and write
their own vocals over Green Day’s music?
I seriously had to check to make sure that this wasn’t Weird Al’s latest
parody album. This guy’s nasally vocals,
bad guitar solos cheesy keyboards and lousy drumming made me want to “Run
Away”. I’m sorry, my son has a band and I really try
to be open minded, but these guys belong in an 1980’s sexually frustrated
teenage boy movie. I just couldn’t take
them seriously. I think I like Kansas better.
(Old)The Sun- Blame it on the Youth – 3.5
I don’t
know what would make me like this band and not bands like Second Saturday, but
I do. These guys had great energy, but
without being obnoxious like Sleeping in the Aviary. They stuck with their formula and it seems to
work pretty well. They do get stuck in
the all songs are pretty similar rut, but so do the Foo Fighters and I love
them.
Bruce Springsteen –Wrecking Ball – 3.5
Way to jump
on the whole Irish music craze Bruce. Kudos
for trying something new. You have to
give credit for now using the same old formula.
I don’t know who remembers Michael Anderson from the 80’s “Sound Alarm”,
but Easy Money was a little too close to that, not a good thing for me to
love. The cracking voice is not a good
plan. I can’t say anything really bad
about Bruce because, one I’ll be banned from the group, and two, he really is
an American icon and I’ll be booted from the country. I’m not saying that the cd is bad, but it’s
not my favorite Bruce record. I’ll keep
listening and I know it will grow on me.
Also, he clearly copied Tom Waits, just for the record.
(Old)Kansas- Power .5
Okay, I
thoroughly expect to get thrashed on this one.
I guess that in 1986 and me being 19 this seemed like a pretty sophisticated
album. In my defense, I literally
grabbed it blindly off the shelf and hoped for the best. I do like one or two songs but ultimately
maybe it’s best to save everyone time and give the disc a collective .5. Next time I think I’ll listen to it
first.
Ghits -Hothouse Flowers
It’s too bad that these guys couldn’t keep
their pace and continue making music.
They have a great sound, a little along the lines of The Waterboys that
D’Arcy loves so much. I’ve heard of
Hothouse Flowers for years, I actually assumed that they were a Jazz band on
Blue Note or something. I was really
impressed and will have to check out some of their full albums.

Are bands/artists touring under replaying a cd in its
entirety a good
thing. Are they pulling the emotional
heartstrings to get more people to
show up or showing now that interest has completely waned?
I have no problem if a band want
to tour and play a select album in its entirety, I just wish that they’d pick
an album other that the obvious choice.
Play Animals instead of Dark side of the Moon, or A Farewell to Kings
instead of Moving Pictures. I think that
the true fans will go and they should be the ones you are playing for anyway,
right?

Should bands be allowed to tour under their name if the lead singer has been
replaced? Does the rule only apply to
lead singers or if a figurehead of
the band is missing should they be allowed?
It’s my opinion that a band can tour
without the original members as long as they list any non-original
members. Several bands have had many
singers over time and one fan might prefer one singer to another, ex Rainbow or
Van Halen. I suppose that a true fan
should know who is in a band and who isn’t, but is it fair to see Kiss just to
find out that two of the four members are not original (but are wearing the
original member’s makeup)? Ultimately,
it’s up to the person buying the ticket to do their homework before shelling
out $100 to see a pseudo band.
Also what bands need to stop touring now that the change
has taken place,
and what bands should maybe try it?
Journey, although the new guys
does sound good, Little River Band, Guns and Roses, Foreigner,
Styx,