Music Reviews: Rock

A buddy of mine sent me “Trinidad” when it leaked last summer. I should’ve loved it. There’s feedback, there are horns. And there’s this kid who sounds like a trombone waking up in the morning. Cameron Winter’s voice is a wiley, unpredictable instrument. Who – or what – is responsible for this? Having Television, Radiohead, and Ween on the same iPod as a thirteen-year-old? It’s either an instant turn-off or a temporary one. I tapped out after a minute-and-a-half.

Before getting to the music, here are the mysteries: the first is that though the insert shows the Ampex 499 master tape box in full sized glory with an orange sticker indicating it was baked on July 24th 2017 (as best as I can make the date out) and the 30IPS tapes are fully assembled side A and B reels, this reissue was cut from a high resolution digital file. Why? The Capitol "UDiscovermusic" website says that all records in the Vinylphyle series are cut... Read More

Ozzy Osbourne’s departure from Black Sabbath in 1979 was a catastrophic event for any metalhead. It was a long time coming, between his excessive drug/alcohol abuse and a growing disinterest in the group’s material. Ronnie James Dio, who had just fronted the first three albums of Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, became the next and second-highest-regarded vocalist for the godfathers of metal. Whereas Osbourne simply followed the melody of Tony Iommi’s guitar riffs, Dio’s... Read More

Hailing from the Great White Northern city of Toronto, Rush was one of those bands that never grandfathered themselves into one specific style. Whether it was the ‘Canadian Zeppelin’ aesthetic of their early years, crafting side-long progressive epics well into the ‘70s, or streamlining into the ‘80s with more commercial approaches, the group grew alongside their devoted audience. By 1984, the indicators of Rush’s musical evolution became more radical. Synthesizers... Read More

You license a title at 45rpm (because that's what's offered) and then the licensor releases it at 33 1/3 around the same time. These things happen. And they happen with greater frequency now. Now that vinyl has become a "thing". There was a time that the labels really didn't care much about the format and freely licensed titles to the reissue labels like Classic Records, Acoustic Sounds and the others. And they let the tapes out of the vaults.... Read More

If you'd told me my original Artisan Sound mastered Pitman pressing was up on Discogs for around $700, I'd not believe you until I looked to confirm. But it is. Not that anyone will ever buy it for such a price, but still! After listening to the new KG mastered Rhino High Fidelity reissue, I have to ask "why"? Why would you pay that much for a record that sounds distant and from the wide open spaces when you could have this for $40 bucks and with... Read More

If you’ve bought a Morrissey ticket anytime since 2012, there’s statistically a 30% chance he will cancel the show, often with little notice. This could be for any number of reasons: he’s sick or exhausted, or the venue didn’t meet his list of demands (such as removing all meat products from the premises), or he somehow has financial difficulties getting there (even when the show has sold well), or he just doesn’t feel like performing and would rather sit at the hotel... Read More

Don’t ask how because I don’t know how. But the day after Christmas, I came into possession of a piece of the Grande Ballroom.I'm afraid to touch this thing, for fear it will crumble any more. Honestly, I’m afraid to look at it. It sounds like woo-woo nonsense, but it’s got such intense energy that when I opened the box, I sat on the floor and cried. It felt like opening a tomb. Wrapped in plastic and packing tape like the body of a Lynchian sacrificial lamb was... Read More

Emerging from the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, Silversun Pickups were the ultimate 1990s throwback, embodying a sound that’s best described as ‘Smashing Pumpkins meets My Bloody Valentine.’ The alternative rock revival of the mid-2000s was perfect timing for their inception, where playing “Lazy Eye” on Guitar Hero or noticing “Little Lover’s So Polite” on the soundtrack of Jennifer’s Body turned unsuspecting teenagers into curious fans (myself included).... Read More

It’s funny to think of old, professor-type dudes in internet slop echo-chambers dictating what supposedly is and isn’t “rock-and-roll,” when age is antithetical to the “rock-and-roll” ideal itself. When Grace Slick retired from music, she declared, “All rock-and-rollers over the age of fifty look stupid and should retire.” Grace’s statement is faced with an immediate conundrum: the aging rock star. If these guys really look as dumb as she says they do on their... Read More

The scope of modern music is so vast that almost everything and anything is dubbed under a specific subgenre. In the case of Blackwater Holylight, the all-female trio are the queens of ‘doomgaze.’ Their sound is rooted in doom metal, drawing obvious influence from Monolord and Weedwater, yet interjects shoegaze overtones, akin to My Bloody Valentine and Cocteau Twins, providing many textural layers. Coupled with introspective lyrics about vulnerability and... Read More

"This looks like a fire drill at an assisted living center" I quipped to my wife as we exited the Mayo Performing Arts Center theater and into the lobby March 13th, 2024 following Peter Frampton's energized and most enjoyable "feel good, rock hard" performance. Sorry, but that's what the audience looked like half a century later. At least we still are alive. I could give you a long list of who's not as I'm sure can many reading... Read More

If you're old enough to have bought Axis: Bold As Love when it was first released in January of 1968, and you were a stoner, you'll not likely ever forget your first spin, especially in stereo, wearing Koss Pro 4A headphones. Eddie Kramer was never shy about using the pan pots and things flew around your head and shifted left to right to left, sometimes without purpose. But it was fun, it was a free-wheeling time and Jimi had as deft a sense of humor as he... Read More

Mick and Keith went shopping for a new guitarist after Mick Taylor exited the band. Why not conduct live auditions in the studio while tape rolled and let's produce an album out of that? The original Black and Blue release Spring 1976 was in many ways an anti-climactic affair. An unfocused set of tunes, some great, some less so. A middling quality gatefold jacket, no annotation of any kind, just an inner sleeve showing the "Glimmer Twins" as producers... Read More

Following the commercial flop of Astral Weeks, his moody, mystical, musically eclectic masterpiece, that years later found its commercial footing, to detach themselves from New York City chaos, Van Morrison and wife Janet (Rigsbee) Planet moved to the Catskill Mountains near the town of Woodstock, New York.Earlier, following the break up of his group Them, he'd signed a contract with Bert Berns's Bang Records and in March of 1967 entered famed A&R... Read More

David Bowie’s artistry and career are pinpointed by not just what genre he was exploring at a given point in time, but by the cities of the world in which he found himself. Glamorous London was the hub for Ziggy Stardust, Philadelphia’s soulful streets influenced Young Americans, debaucherous Los Angeles in 1976 gave birth to Station to Station and the Thin White Duke.The Thin White Duke was an extension of Thomas Newton, an extraterrestrial character that David Bowie... Read More

In 2000, Warning’s prominent acoustic guitars and more nuanced lyrical approach might’ve alienated Green Day's core fanbase, as it sold significantly less than their previous major label LPs and seems comparatively forgotten in the popular memory. Now, however, a lavish 25th anniversary 5LP or 4CD super deluxe box set presents Warning as the excellent power pop record it’s always been.

When people think of KISS without context, Gene Simmons, the fire-breathing, blood-spitting demon who convinced shocked parents that the group’s name was an acronym for ‘Knights in Satan’s Service’, first comes to mind. Nonetheless, the group’s biggest hit was sung not by Simmons, but by the group's drummer, Peter Criss. Criss played in numerous Brooklyn area bands before becoming the Catman in the world's hottest band. His jazz-rooted drumming (he was a... Read More