The Few, the Proud, the People who actually post reviews

Lynyrd Skynyrd – Skynyrd’s become sort of a punch line over the past 20 years and they deserve better.  This was a damn fine rock and roll band, and there’s plenty of evidence here.  Very versatile tunes, not just the classic Southern Rock sound typically associated with them.  What caught me off-guard here was the quality of the lyrics.  Definitely road-weary throughout, it almost foreshadows the band’s end, notably on “Roll Gypsy Roll”.  “Bullets” has few of the FM staples, which made it all the more enjoyable.  4 stars

Brad Brooks – It probably didn’t help that I listened to this immediately after White Hills, but nothing on this disc grabbed me.  I went back a second time, and still didn’t connect with it.  Can’t say anything particularly was bad about it, but it just seemed kind of…there. 2 stars

White Hills – Now that Mongillo is gone, Ken has quickly picked up the slack in submitting “What the hell is this?” discs.  I loved the first two songs, incredibly mesmerizing. It went to crap pretty fast thereafter, bottoming out with the “hypnotic” nonsense in “Song of Everything”.  There’s some real talent here, and if they would use a little more traditional song structure and trim down the length, they’d really have something.  2.5 stars

Foxy Shazam – The songs sound so much like Queen that it’s hard to know where influence ends and ripping off begins.  If someone had played me the guitar solo in  “Count Me Out”, I’d have bet my house that it was Brian May.  Vocals and some of the theatrical keyboard flourishes clearly reminiscent of Freddie Mercury.  I’m gonna dock ‘em for lack of originality, but this is a pretty good cd.  3 stars

The Jam – How hard is it to get discs to people in time for the meeting, especially with Dropbox??  Oh, if only we had a website with a spreadsheet of who owes what for the whole year so people could prepare.  Just sayin’…..Oh yeah, the Jam were good, but not remotely as good as the Clash.  Looking forward to getting this in time for Christmas.

Discussion Question:

1) Easy – Bono.  Irishmen always give the best toasts and eulogies.

2)  Many choices, but I’ll go with Neil Young. Here’s what I want to know:

• The last 20 years, uh….WTF??
•  Is there a valid reason “Time Fades Away” and “Journey Through the Past” have never been released on CD or are you just being a dick?
• Who would you say is the most unnecessary backup singer in rock history: Linda McCartney, Patti Scialfa or your wife?

Most Important Question:

· In “Powderfinger” does the first shot hit the dock or the dog? I need to know.