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.