Reviews

REVIEW: Foo Fighters – Sonic Highways 1 – Chicago “Something From Nothing”

Back in 2014, Uncle Meat asked me to sit down with him and write up Dave Grohl’s series / album Sonic Highways episode by episode, song by song.  Eight hour day at minimum.  I said OK.  I took meticulous notes.  Then we never finished it.  So I’m posting them all now, nine years late, as-is and unrefined.

FOO FIGHTERS – Sonic Highways 1 – Chicago “Something From Nothing”

Chicago.  20 years.  Time to do something special. Something they’d never done before.

The assumption is that the environment in which you record, affects the finished recording.  The history of each city resonates in the grooves.

Buddy Guy, Joe Walsh, Bonnie Raitt, Rick Neilson, Jimmie Vaughan, Billy Gibbons, and more are all on hand to talk about the Chicago blues.  It all started with Muddy Waters – “Muddy was the magnet.”  The blues clubs in Chicago grew into a phenomenon.  Buddy Guy came to Chicago “looking for a dime, but found a quarter”.  These blues roots later influenced the guitar work of Cheap Trick’s Rick Neilson.  Coming up, he played with all the greats before finding his own fame.

The Foo Fighters enter the Chicago studio of producer Steve Albini, a tenacious bastard of a producer clad in coveralls, to see what will happen.  Dave Grohl is a big fan of his drum sound, having worked with him before on In Utero, and he knows he will get a huge drum sound here.  Butch Vig is the producer for the sessions. Albini, though, was initially attracted to Chicago for its infant punk scene.  He was an “annoying kid” who hung out with the band Naked Raygun, who really kicked off the scene.  Even Dave Grohl’s Chicago cousin Tracey had a punk band called Verboten.  Punk was coming up in Chicago.  The record store Wax Trax was critical to the growing scene.  Grohl himself bought records there when visiting his cousins in town.

“Something From Nothing” begins to emerge from that funky “Holy Diver” riff.  Chris Shifflet lays down a noisy, fast guitar solo with the raving encouragement of his bandmates.  Rick Neilson lays down some thick chords, even though the Foo Fighters already have three guitarists!  Lyrically, a lot of the song comes from Buddy Guy’s own story coming up in Chicago.  The record company wanted him to change his name.  “Buddy Guy isn’t a stage name.”  How wrong they were!  Buddy Guy used to make rudimentary musical instruments with buttons and strings, and that made it into the lyrics.

The result is a powerful, epic song of massive proportions.  It snakes its way through multiple riffs and sections, but it’s that “Holy Diver” riff that first hooks you.  “Funky Diver”, maybe.  It’s a clear sonic assault.  This is, by far, Uncle Meat’s favourite Foo Fighters song.

Episode 4.5/5 stars

Song 5/5 stars

Landings Unboxed! Grace Scheele joins Grab A Stack of Rock to talk about her debut cassette EP!

A blast (-off) was had yesterday, taking a look at Landings, the debut EP by electroacoustic harpist Grace Scheele!  It’s a concept EP about the Apollo 11 mission.  If you like science fiction, space, the moon, chilling, or not chilling, this cassette is for you!  Chromed plastic, sleek packaging, bonus tracks, what more could you ask?  And a small quantity is still available if you’d like your own copy!  You can get it at Bandcamp, and I’m getting a second copy while I still can.  Why?

  • Supporting independent artists is important.
  • Each tape comes hand-sealed in silver foil, with a sticker on the seam.
  • Cassette-only bonus tracks on the B-side!
  • Sensational packaging; chromed cassette shell.
  • Music that is truly out of this world.

Grace joined me on an impromptu short episode of Grab A Stack of Rock on Sunday afternoon, where she explained the creative process, the art, and other details.  Why cassette?  You’ll love the answer.  Also, find out what to do with an ornamental electric harp thingy if you want to have some fun with hacking!  Seriously!

Great little mini-episode!  Thank you Grace for sharing your time with us!

Pick up Landings on Bandcamp!

 

REVIEW: Grace Scheele – landings (2023 – side one)

GRACE SCHEELE – landings (2023 EP – cassette side one, and download)

I’m a sucker for a pretty tape.  This has to be the prettiest tape I’ve ever seen! Limited to 75 copies, I was very happy to participate in a Kickstarter from electroacoustic harpist Grace Scheele.  It’s called landings and, well, I think Grace says it best on her bandcamp:

“landings” centres on the real and imagined experience of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon; wielding bowed harp, electronic fx, and sampling from speeches, newsreels, mission audio, and NASA’s own interviews with those present at the historic newscast.  Ranging from the ethereally ambient to grinding, jarring industrial noise, the seven tracks across this debut EP represents an imagined journey into the darkness of space.

I’d call it a concept EP, based on that alone.  It’s a real listening experience, with elements that remind me of Pink Floyd, Star Trek, and War of the Worlds.  Some of the speeches and dialogue will be familiar, others will be novel.  There are sounds that, in my limited experience, I didn’t know you could make with a harp.  At 22 minutes, landings is easy to digest in a single sitting, and the download comes with a “gapless version” that enables just that.  The layers of harp, samples, and electronic sound build paint a sonic picture.  You can feel the tension of the launch!  I bet this sounds great with headphones.

The track “pomposity” has been getting some exposure, so if you only check out one track, try “pomposity” for a taste of what this is like.

Of course, the cassette itself will be fun once I have it out of the box, and will include three bonus tracks.  You know me and bonus tracks — Can’t wait to hear those!

I can’t wait until I get this tape unboxed, for which I will be joined on a live stream by Grace herself.  We’ll talk about the music, the artwork, the Kickstarter and of course the cassette itself.

Music like this is hard to rate, because I think it’s art, and what’s the point of rating a piece of art?  It either resonates with you or it doesn’t.  I find landings to be an innovative listening experience, unlike anything else in my collection, and I am looking forward to checking it out in different listening environments.  Headphones next, and then this summer, on the front porch of the cottage at sunset.

4.5/5 stars

Youtubin’: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – “The Rascal King”

When I feel like crap, the Bosstones can fix it.

Today is a stressful day full of appointments and difficult 401 driving. Wish us luck.

REVIEW: Mystique – Black Rider – 30th Year Anniversary (2016)

MYSTIQUE – Black Rider – 30th Year Anniversary (2016 Eat Metal Records)

Hamilton Ontario’s Mystique might have been my favourite musical discovery of 2022, a steely classic progressive metal band, with a load of expensive past releases to seek.  This reissue covers the Black Rider EP with some demos and singles.  It’s an absolutely essential purchase for any serious metal head, despite the production values, simply because these songs all scorch with an impressive diversity ranging from Priest to Poison.

4.5/5 stars

REVIEW: Ghost – “Spillways” featuring Joe Elliott (2023)

GHOST – “Spillways” featuring Joe Elliott (2023 Loma Vista)

One of the best songs of 2022 gets a new life courtesy of Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott, who comes in on the second verse.  Ghost have evolved into quite the arena rock band, and Joe’s touch cements this even further.  The Leppard frontman chose Ghost’s Impera as his #1 album of 2022, so maybe you should check out what the man was so excited about?

5/5 stars

REVIEW: Triumph – Just A Game (1979)

*New format – the three-sentence review.

TRIUMPH – Just A Game (1979 MCA/2003 Round Hill Records remaster)

Landmark album, solid front to back, and a sign of growth for the Canadian trio.  Arguably their greatest song, “Lay It On the Line” has the biggest presence here, from soft intro to bangin’ chorus.  Highlights include the rocking opener “Movin’ On”, the blues “Young Enough to Cry”, the boogieing “American Girls”, the folksy power ballad “Hold On” and the progressive title track.

4/5 stars

REVIEW: Triumph – Thunder Seven (1985)

I was doing some online reading the other day, on Wikipedia as we often do.  I was curious about the book Moby Dick so I clicked the article and did a quick dive.  One thing in the article intrigued me immediately.  Someone wanted to determine when the first review of Moby Dick appeared in print, and their length criteria for “review” was “three lines or more”.

That got me thinking.

A lot of you want me to do reviews again, which I have been staunchly resistant to.  I’m tired of the extensive work that my type of review required.  However, would you be interested in a new kind of review that is only three sentences long?  Is that something you’d be interested in?

The key here is making the sentences count.  Let’s give it a try below.  I was recently given this album by good pal Tim Durling.

TRIUMPH – Thunder Seven (1985 MCA)

Far heavier than I expected, given Martin Popoff’s scathing 1/10 star review in Riff Kills Man.  Thunder Seven is fine mix of riffy rock, progressive experimentation, Bluesy licks, thundering songs, and even one choral exploration.  Highlights are “Time Goes By”, “Follow Your Heart”, “Spellbound”, “Killing Time”, and the beautiful acoustic instrumental “Midsummer’s Daydream”.

4/5 stars

Thoughts?

REVIEW: Ace Frehley – Origins Vol. 2 (2020)

ACE FREHLEY – Origins Vol. 2 (2020)

Three cheers for Matt Starr!  Ace Frehley’s drummer is the “starr” of the show on 11 of the 12 tracks on Origins Vol. 2.  This is evident immediately on the Zeppelin cover “Good Times Bad Times”.  There are plenty of guests on this album, but doing justice to John Bonham ain’t easy.  Starr nails it!  Fortunately the Ace Man himself is also able to tribute Jimmy Page ably on his solo.

In fact the weakest part of the album are the vocals.  As Ace ages, his voice has gotten lower.  Some of these songs are in a lower key than usual to accommodate.  It’s also, quite frankly, difficult to get excited about a second album of covers.  A lot of the same bands are covered, including the aforementioned Zeppelin, Kiss, Cream, Stones, Kinks, and Jimi Hendrix.

It’s an OK covers album.  It’s nice to get so much Ace-sounding rock.  Frehley makes Mountain sound like his own originals, as he does “Kicks” by Paul Revere and the Raiders.  He’s a bit heavy-handed on “We Gotta Get Out of this Place”.  But “Space Truckin'”?  Not necessary, or even wanted.  “Space-Ace truckin’!” he sings and it’s borderline cringe.  “Hey where’s Jendell?”  While it’s good to put your own twist on a song, dropping your own name in doesn’t cut it.  And Ace is no Ian Gillan.  (Ian Gillan is also no Ian Gillan, but that’s beside the point.)

Among the guests, John 5 rips solos on “I’m Down” (Beatles) and the thumpin’ “Politician” (Stones).  He executes both modern and traditional rock and roll guitar solos, but goes wild for the “I’m Down” outro, on which he shreds.  Lita Ford also appears, but not on guitar.  She sings on “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”.  While there’s no denying that’s a classic song that influenced Ace, how many people have covered “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”?  Lita’s voice has barely changed since the 80s and she is easily the charismatic highlight of this overplayed tune, and a highlight of the album as a whole.  One guy whose voice has changed a bit is Robin Zander of Cheap Trick, who sings on “30 Days in the Hole”.  He can still do it with power and range, but you can hear the years.  Speaking of voices, Ace doesn’t sing on the Kiss cover “She” but the vocals are split three ways among the backing musicians, and they capture a reasonable facsimile of that vintage Paul/Gene layered vibe.

The most interesting guest of the lot could be one of Ace’s replacements in Kiss, Mr. Bruce Kulick himself.  Of course, over the years Bruce and Ace have jammed a few times, and it’s sheer delight to hear them together.  Bruce has, arguably, the best guitar solo on the whole album, with “Manic Depression”.  The guy is greased lightning, extra greasy!  It’s warming to see Ace and Bruce put egos aside and just play some music.  Any time, guys, any time.

Giving credit to Ace for one more thing, “Lola” does sound like his kind of tune.  His vocal shortcomings are obvious here but don’t really get in the way.  Whether you like that song or not, Ace has a quirky side that “Lola” fits, just as sweet as Coca-Cola.

Bonus:  the album comes with nice liner notes by Kiss scribe Julian Gill.

Let’s hope Ace has the covers out of his system for now.  Another original album, hell even a live album would be cool, but no more covers Ace, please!

3/5 stars