Gimme Back My Fryinig Harmony Shazam

Foxy Shazam-S/T

Talk about a big sound. Probably one of the biggest out there with only one volume setting- 12. Big guitar, big vocals (occasionally too big), big choir, big beats…etc.. This is good and bad. The good is that you have no choice on most of the songs but to get engulfed and pulled in. The bad- there are moments where I felt I was in the audience of “Rock of Ages” or some other Broadway rock show- where the bombast can obliterate the lyrics, which is a shame because they were quite clever. That aside it’s hard to dislike. 3.5  Anyone hear Meatloaf  or Freddy Mercury…….

Brad Brooks- Harmony of Passing Light

Good songs, well done production though a bit soft. Definitely entrenched in adult contemporary rock, but at least he’s creative with a little edge that doesn’t sound like all he’s trying to do is sell records to the lowest common denominator, which he probably needs to do to make money because I have never heard of him. Highlight for me was “Spinner and the Spun”. (2.5)

White Hills-Frying on this Rock

Oh My. Going back to my ‘put in new ones I’ve never heard of or listened to prior’ I pulled White Hills from  Magnet magazine. Review said it was loud, noisy, fuzzed out guitar from a guy (Dave W) trying something a little new- expanding songs into a spaced rock form. Okay why not. What it didn’t tell me that expanded space rock defined is repeating the same noise for 723 bars. I lost years off my life due to this recording. One bright spot is “You Dream You See” which sounds like Witch with a kick ass Tommi Iommi like guitar solo. (2)

Lynyrd Skynyrd- Gimme Back My Bullets

The album that most influence Patterson Hood? Very well could be. I hear a lot of DBT in this, arguably the best, Skynyrd album.  The difference between DBT and Skynyrd is that Skynyrd always were the good ol’ boys. Don’t fuck with the south. DBT took pieces of Skynyrd’s sound and southern attitude and sang about the downtrodden and the not so glamorous (if there is such a thing) side of gritty southern life. “Gimme Back My Bullets” is hands down my favorite LS song and “Searchin’” is a pretty close second. At one time Skynyrd was one of my favorite bands, then I vilified them and now I re-appreciate them. Nice to get reacquainted. (3.5)

Topic

My inductee.

Would I want to be accepted into the club by an esteemed member or inducted by a peer.  Maybe a hipster or cult favorite or use as a means to get visibility for an artist who should have been inducted. There is also the thought of having an entertaining/inspiring induction. What to do. Thinking about this today I kept having one name pop in my head; John Hiatt. I tend to lean towards song writers so I would assume that I would be inducted in that mold so why not be inducted by a respected but underappreciated song writer with a large body of work. He is also quite entertaining as a speaker, has a cult following and should be considered for induction himself. He isn’t a hipster though.

2 hour talk? 

I am making an assumption that whoever I am allowed to sit with will be forthright and honest with me. Mine is obvious- Dylan (but there are probably 30 others I wouldn’t mind a sit down with). The problem is is 2 hours enough. What I would like to learn is; did the critical panning he took in the 80s really bother him? Did he feel that they didn’t cut him  any slack wanting every release to be “meaningful” instead of allowing him to have some fun (Ugliest Girl in the World). Was he serious with all his long prose or was he pulling everyone’s leg? Lastly, what were his absolute favorite/least favorite  releases and why. There is a lot more, and I could chat for weeks with the man.