I'm Back....Cue the Laughtrack

The Men - Was wondering what the comparisons to Neil were all about and then I hit Saw Her Face.  Now I see it, but the comparison does not hold up for much of this generally interesting record.  What makes this record interesting is that, in reality, it really doesn't sound like anything else.  And, going against type, I really like the "quieter" songs better than the really loud ones like Brass.  3.5

Molly Hatchett  -  Never really got the Molly hatchett thing, and still don't, but it was marginally better than I thought it might be.  Some fun guitar work and if you want't boogie man, this is where it's at.  Unfortunately, I really don't want to boogie.  2.0

The Briefs  -  Simply one of the best post 1979 examples of the '76-'79 sound was all about.  I't nearly perfect in the same way that all the best stuff from that era was nearly perfect.  Tight playing, great hooks, funny lyrics....everything you would want.  so many tried and so many fialed to acheive the feel of that era, but they could have released this in 1977 and it would have sounded right at home next to the Ramones and Buzzcocks.  4.5

Cowboy Junkies  -  Some good, some not so good.  That's Pithy, huh?  I've got some of their stuff, but never really thought they hit it out of the park....ever.  Sweet Jane a bad cover I think.

Ramones Greatest hits by song number to follow.  So much of thier best music seems to come early in their records, so it was tough.

Band I hate and the songs I could stomach.

Journey- Any Way You Want it
Kansas - Carry on My Wayward Son
Styx  -  Come Sail Away

Posting in "Jay Time"...So I'll Keep it Brief.

The Men – New Moon (2013)

The little I thought I heard about this band was that they were trying to keep punk alive, and so my preconceived notion was that this would be ‘noise rock’…I was very pleasantly surprised by this CD…it’s kind of like a punk band grew up, but didn’t get slick about it. The songs are good and the production keeps it “garagey”, which fits the energy and the vocal style. It’s pretty interesting to hear acoustic guitars pound away like this...I’ll put this in rotation for more personal listening. 4


The Briefs – Sex Objects (2004)

Power punk…punk pop…pop punk…whatever, these guys are great at it. That guitar sound is right out of the late 70’s and perfect for their music. All the song titles are cool, but frankly I could care less, it’s the energy and the overall sound that is so good. The vocals are ‘punk’ enough, but they are also understandable and meaningful. It’s a 21st century recording of 20th century punk each song with neat little twists, like the riff in “Killed By Ants”…Between this CD and ‘Singles Only’, I have a lot of good 2 minute tracks to enjoy over and over again. 4

Foghat – Stone Blue (1978)

I’ve been having trouble describing what it is about this album that bothers me…then, I went to a local steakhouse over the weekend, and one of the people we were with ordered swordfish…and then it hit me…THAT’S what’s wrong with this album…why would you order swordfish at a steakhouse, and why would a blues-boogie band strive to sound like a pop act. There’s incongruity between the songs, the performances and the overall sound of the album. If I want Foghat, I’ll listen to Fool For the City or Slow Ride. 2


Cowboy Junkies – GH

Thanks for this discography…I never got into them, but on this listen, learned why I should have.


Discussion Topic: My band was The Who…since they released ALBUMS with TWO SIDES, that’s how my mirroring works…it’s a 3 sided album…







Side 1
1. Baba O Reilly – Who’s Next
2. Boris The Spider – A Quick One
3. Squeeze Box – The Who By Numbers
4. Dreaming From The Waist – The Who By Numbers
5. The Song is Over – Who’s Next
6. Eminence Front – It’s Hard
7. I Can See for Miles – The Who Sell Out




Side 2
1. The Kids are Alright – My Generation
2. Magic Bus – Live At Leeds
3. Behind Blue Eyes – Who’s Next
4. We Won’t Get Fooled Again – Who’s Next

Side 3
1. 5:15 – Quadrophenia
2. Long Live Rock – Who’s Last
3. Pinball Wizard – Tommy
4. Love Reign O’er Me – Quadrophenia

And the 3 best songs from my 3 least favorites…

Genesis – The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Kansas – Carry on My Wayward Son
Heart - Barracuda

I have returned to post because nobody was allowed to come out and play (updated)

Foghat

If there ever was a song that defined boogie rock it's Stone Blue.  This is Foghat at their best.  A great riff, a great chorus, and some brilliant playing, hell even the bridge is catchy.  Unfortunately as the rest of the album unfolds the following songs diminish compared to the title track.  It starts off great with the first few songs, and then gone is the boogie and it’s replaced by just average guitar rock.  Foghat is the perfect example of the greatest hits band because when they were on there was no one better at boogie rock then them.  Unfortunately it’s was one or 2 songs per album like this one.  3.0 But they are getting .5 for the hat.

The Briefs

Am I correct in that Jay submitted a cd that wasn’t the first release of a band discography?  And it’s funny because it’s really good.  I thought that was not possible.  At first I thought it was going to be just another blitz of 70’s type punk that’s been heard and done before.  But surprise these guys know how to put pop into their punk, leaving many a song stuck in the brain long after listening.  This type of music seems to be missing nowadays and it’s a shame.  Short catch guitar driven songs should never fade away. 3.0

The Men.

He whines, the sound gets muddled, and there are whole bunch faults to be found in this cd.  (Including my recording process.  Thanks Rhapsody) But the album is great.  Guitar noise, simple acoustic, all out rockers, and simple harmonies they are all here and they all work.  Just happened to stumble on to the first song, realized the rest was different and better for it.  Not a week track to be found and love the noise these guys can make with their instruments. 3.5

Cowboy Junkies.

Never cared for their cover of Sweet Jane, thought it missed the point of the song, so not too thrilled with so many more songs of that ilk.  I was surprised that I liked most of the songs here, but only in short doses.  Her voice does tend to put a snooze to things when listening to more than three at a time.

Queens Greatest as per song #:

1 One Vision

2 Killer Queen

3 Headlong

4 I Want It All

5 Liar

6 Somebody To Love

7 The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke

8 Sail Away Sweet Sister 

9 Is This the World We Created?

10 Its Late                        

11 Bohemian Rhapsody

12 Don’t Stop Me Now

Those I loathe:

Dylan, Young Sprinsteen

Maybe I won’t turn them off:

10^th avenue freeze out

Hurricane

Like a Hurricane         Because of the missions cover just rocks.

Surprising observations so far....

1. Foghat has not been butt punched like I thought it would be.
2. The topic albums are a hoot but I'm not sure I would buy any of them  if they were on the rack.
3. Jay hasn't posted still.
4. There is no 4

Losers are us

Foghat – Stone Blue - 4

I’ve never been a huge Foghat fan, but this was great, good tight straight forward rock and roll.  I’m not crazy about some of the whiney guitar solos and they just aren’t necessary.  The songs work well without them and I feel that they were necessary.  So many bands sounded like these guys, Heart, April Wine and Foreigner, I think that Foghat just got lost.  The band was much more complex and much tighter than I thought they were, not being familiar with many of these songs.  I was impressed.

Cowboy Junkies – GH

Sexy stuff. 

The Men – New Moon - 4.5

I guess it turned out to be a pretty good month music wise.  I didn’t expect to like these guys either, but was pleasantly surprised.  Each song couldn’t be different than the previous.  I’m not sure when I’d put this on, nice quiet breakfast, driving 100 down the road, or going line dancing.  It switched gears do fast my head spun.  The Brass was one kick ass song.   

The Breifs – Sex Objects - 1

I’m glad that I got this one late so I didn’t have to listen to it very much.  It’s all been done before.   Obnoxious and just not fun to listen to.  It did look a little strange having a file on my desktop at work called Sex Objects.  I kept wanting to open it and see if there was something cool in it.  There wasn’t.  Just not what I was in the mood for this month.  

Pink Floyd

1 One of These Days – MEDDLE

2 Learning to Fly - A MOMENTARY LAPSE OF REASON

3 Set The Controls For The Heart of The Sun - A SAUCERFUL OF SECTETS

4 Pigs On The Wing (Part 2) – ANIMALS

5 Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2 – THE WALL

6 Money – DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

7 Free Four - OBSCURED BY CLOUDS

8 Main Theme - SOUNDTRACK FROM THE FILM MORE

9 The Final Cut – THE FINAL CUT

As for my hated band, Lou Reed, if I hate him then why would I listen to him to know what I hate.  The guy’s voice is like scratching a chalkboard, so when I hear it the channel changes.

I did hear one song in the car called “perfection” or something along those lines that was actually okay.

Ultimate Stones? It's a bitch, alright....

The Briefs – Shame on me for doubting Zune, but I googled this to make sure the release date was correct.  This sounds straight out of 1979, and I mean that as a complement.  Speaking of compliments, the songs lived up to their titles. Glad they’re willing to take on important social issues like “Killed By Ants”.  FWIW, I passed a copy to Nose for Beer, who gave it 1 more star than I did.  4 stars

The Men – I didn’t get to listen to this enough. Made no impression on me until about the 3^rd time through, and “I Saw Her Face” got my attention.  Definitely an edge to the album, but the pedal steel and Springsteen/Crazy Horse-ness to it makes it a lot more intriguing.  Like the 2^nd half more than the first, but I’m giving it a tentative rating and reserving the right to increase it down the road. 3.5 stars

Foghat – Ok, it wasn’t as bad as I thought.  Nothing as terrible as “Slow Ride”, and for most of the disc they do a more than adequate job playing white boy boogie.  The rub is having heard these songs done by others.  When I compare Clapton’s version of “It Hurts Me Too” or “Sweet Home Chicago” to the ones found here, its no contest.   Nothing I’d go back to, but not the train wreck I anticipated. 2.5 stars

Cowboy Junkies – In the past, my g-hits have been artists I loved and thought were overlooked.  For this one, I knew I liked some of the CJ’s stuff, so I went through all their discs and cherry-picked the songs I liked best.  This collection will be all the Junkies I ever need, but it’s a helluva disc.  Margo Timms’ voice is fantastic, and while this will be a “in the mood” type-disc, I love the slow-cooked slacker pace their songs roll with.  They also do a great job as interpreters of other’s songs, which is why 1/3 of the disc wound up being covers.

Discussion Question

Rolling Stones Ultimate LP- Well it sounded like a good idea, but it was a bitch (pun intended).  Here’s what I came up with:

1)       Rocks Off (Exile on Main Street)

2)       She Was Hot (Undercover)

3)       Its Only Rock and Roll (Same)

4)       Under My Thumb (Aftermath)

5)       Let It Bleed (Same)

6)       She’s A Rainbow (Satanic Majesty’s Request)

7)       Get Off My Cloud (December’s Children)

8)       Before They Make Me Run (Some Girls)

9)       Dead Flowers (Sticky Fingers)

10)    Salt of the Earth (Beggars Banquet)

11)    Waiting on a Friend (Tattoo You)

12)    I’m Free (Out of Our Heads)

13)    Jumping Jack Flash (Hot Rocks)

Yes I know Hot Rocks is a greatest hits album, but JJF was never officially released on a studio album

Part II

This was almost as hard

Journey – “Separate Ways”

REO Meatwagon– “Roll With the Changes”

Black Sabbath – “Paranoid”

Cowboy Men Foghat Briefs

MUSIC COMMENTARY by The Mong

NEW

The Men – “New Moon” = 2.5
Competent and seemingly genuine, The Men sure are trying hard to do something special but, alas, “New Moon” is nearly indistinguishable from most other bands doing the Garage Rock Alt-whatever thing. If more songs were as strong as “I Saw Her Face” this could have been a great album.


OLD

The Briefs – “Sex Objects” = 4.0
A perfect fusion of British Punk meets LA Punk (as observed before reading their overview at AllMusic, although it is pretty obvious) on this nearly-perfect Pop/Punk album. I mean, if anthems like “Destroy the U.S.A.” and “No More Presidents” don’t at least make you tap your toes and crack a smile, well, there really may be something wrong with you.

Foghat – “Stone Blue” = 4.0
A blistering guitar-driven Arena Rock romp with some perfect slower moments for perfect pace; apparently this is the Foghat album to own.


G’HITS

Cowboy Junkies – G’Hits
A good collection and a very strong mix. Not a “go to” band for me but this sampling helps me understand why so many people love Cowboy Junkies. From what I’ve heard here and what I've heard before, this seems to be their best of the best so no need to dig any deeper. Thanks, Ken.


TOPIC

Part 1 - Your task is to create the "ultimate album" of one the artists you love. They were picked at random based on what spot your e-mail came into me. This is not a greatest hits per se, but an album you are creating using the following handcuffs:
- You cannot use more than 1 song from a given album
- Tracks on your album must coincide with track # from the album you are taking it from.  Ex: your first song must be the first song on the album it appears on, your 2nd song must be the 2nd song on the album it came from, etc.
- You cannot use greatest hits or live albums as a way around parameters listed above.
- Your album must be between 10-15 songs long


Assignments:
Mike M - The Beatles

1. “A Hard Day’s Night” – A Hard Day’s Night

2. “I’m a Loser” – Beatles ’65

3. “You’ve got to Hide Your Love Away” – Help!

4. “Bad Boy” – Beatles IV

5. “Boys” – Please Please Me

6. “I am the Walrus” – Magical Mystery Tour

7. “She Said She Said” – Revolver 

8. “Happiness is a Warm Gun” – White Album

9. “Girl” – Rubber Soul

10. “Lovely Rita” – Sgt. Pepper’s

11. “Every Little Thing” – Beatles for Sale

12. “Get Back” – Let it Be

And after twelve tracks the system breaks down. I know a lot of early-Beatles had UK and American releases but if it was counted by AllMusic.com as an official release, I counted it among the albums I could choose from. Oddly, I couldn't find a way to include anything from “Abby Road” since so much of it is songs that require consecutive play to make the whole. Still, a pretty good mix after all.


Part 2 - Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then.  List the best song by each of the artists/bands you put on your hate list.


Bob Seger: I admit I will not jump to change the station when “Hollywood Nights” pops up on the radio. Otherwise, Seger is just so powerfully overrated, compounded by the unforgivable whining of “Turn the Page,” that really all that’s left to “say” is, suck it, Seger, suck it.

Dave Matthews Band: Sorry, not one. All his/their songs suck. Yes, all of them.

Billy Joel: “Captain Jack” is alright for a sappy, “second person,” nostalgic, self-indulgent, generationally-defensive anthem. Wait, that’s why I hate Billy Joel’s crap to begin with so, yeah, scratch “Captain Jack,” too.

It was a very good month.....

June 2013 Music Club

The Men- New Moon

I love loose, cacophonous music that still holds its structure and melody and they pull it off on both slow and fast songs. I hear Yuck, early Lemonheads, NY and Crazy Horse, Sleeping in the Aviary, Trail of the Dead among others. New Moon has thought but feels like they just rattled these songs off in the studio one time. Indie music at is best.  (4.0)

Foghat-Stone Blue

Foghat’s catalogue isn’t perfect and they fell into a problem where radio stations thought they only recorded 4, but I think they get an overall bad rap. In my opinion, I think when they were on, like on Stone Blue, Foghat was a pretty good, bluesy, hard rocking band. Stone Blue shows that they were capable of tearing through hard rock, blues, arena anthems and power ballads. I’ll probably get boned for this one but I stand behind it. Stone Blue is an excellent release and I think most of Foghat’s output should be listened to more (except maybe Slow Ride). (4.5)

The Briefs-Sex Objects

When I first got this from Jay I thought it was a 25-30 year old remastered recording. Wrong. This is homage to all the punk bands of the 70s. The Briefs are better musicians but Sex Pistols, refined Ramones, Undertones, Buzzcocks are heard within the confines of each of their two and half minute spurts. They can change the pace, be melodic without losing their edge. Good attitude and plain good in your face punk. (3.5)

Cowboy Junkies

Some don’t take the Cowboy Junkies seriously because of their waaaaaay laid back approach. I think they actually rock in that waaaaay laid back approach. The songs all have grit and edge and they definitely have a groove, no matter how subtle it may be.

Topic

Bob Dylan Ultimate Album

1. Tangled Up In Blue (Blood on the Tracks)
2. Isis (Desire)
3. Maggie’s Farm (Bringing It All Back Home)
4. From a Buick 6 (Highway 61 Revisited)
5. Is Your Love In Vain (Street Legal)
6. Ugliest Girl in the World (Down in the Groove)
7. Don’t Think Twice Its Alright (Freewheeling Bob Dylan)
8. Cold Irons Bound (Time Out of Mind)
9. Most Likely You’ll Go Your Way And I’ll Go Mine (Blonde on Blonde)
10. Every Grain of Sand (Shot of  Love)
11. It Ain’t Me Babe (Another Side of Bob Dylan)
12. I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight (John Wesley Harding)

Best Song By my Hates

• Bob Seger- Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man
• Jimmy Buffet- Come Monday
• Celine Dion- Beauty and the Beast