#363: The Art of the Mix CD

For more reading of this nature, I recommend the 1001 Albums in 10 Years site, by Geoff.  He is always posting interesting musical nerdiness like this so cheers to Geoff and his excellent site.

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RECORD STORE TALES MkII: Getting More Tale
#363: The Art of the Mix CD

We have come a long way from the mix tape. If you’re of a certain age, you probably made many mix tapes. I know I did. Dozens upon dozens, spending hours doing so. We had to make the tapes in real time. I would meticulously cue up the tapes so there wouldn’t be excessive gaps between songs, or awkward edits. I couldn’t have a song getting clipped at the start or finish. Mix tapes were a matter of pride and I sank a lot of time into making them, from the recording to the J-card. Sometimes the tapes were for me, but most often they were for someone else (usually a girl I was trying to woo).

Making a mix CD is much easier than making a mix tape. Still, for my level of perfectionism, it requires a lot of work and attention to detail. I have certain “rules” that I always adhere to, when making a mix CD. In the past, I have burned and then thrown away many CD copies that did not meet my exacting standards. I would not settle for a mix CD with an annoying flaw in it! My friends deserve better!

Here are my rules:

1. All songs must be more or less equal in volume.

Nothing worse than diving for the volume knob when a song that was mastered waaaay too loudly comes on! Nero has a built-in “normalize” function that analyzes and automatically equalizes the volume on all tracks. However it doesn’t always work well. It can create volume swells within an actual track that weren’t there before. I do not use this feature any longer. Now, I use Audacity to raise or lower a track’s volume manually, before adding it to my mix.  Painstaking, but you get better results.

GOB2. All live songs must have fade-ins and fade-outs.

I cannot stand the sound of crowd noise starting and stopping abrubtly. I add my own fade-ins and fade-outs. Sometimes this is tricky, because certain live albums may have the song breaks in odd locations. There may not be enough room at the start or end of a track. So, sometimes I have to manually add in enough crowd noise to enable a fadeout, a time consuming fix. I also enjoy doing the occasional cross-fade between songs, which used to be very hard on Nero but is easy as pie with Audacity.

3. CD must have a start, middle and ending.

All tracks are carefully selected for each one of my mix CDs, but usually there are several contenders for opening and closing songs. I try to create a flow, with slow parts and heavy parts, through the disc, with a dramatic climax. I don’t always succeed but my goal is to create a mix CD that works like an album. It has to have a direction.

4. Throw on a rare track.

It doesn’t matter who I’m making a mix CD for, I want an obscure song or two on there. I don’t want to make a mix CD entirely of songs you already know. I want to surprise you with something I know you’ve never heard before, but will probably like.

5. All songs must be properly labelled.

Don’t you hate getting a CD from somebody without having a clue what’s on it? Every CD I make for a friend comes with a computer generated cover, including full and accurate track list, down to every punctuation mark and detail. Sometimes I’ll even throw some pictures or logos on the cover for fun, if there is room. Nero also encodes the song and artist names onto the CD. So I have to make sure the file names are all done correctly too, because when you pop my mix CD into certain players (like my car deck) you’re going to see the titles come up automatically. This must always be done correctly. No spelling mistakes, or I’d junk it, and make a new one.

And finally, there is the optional not-rule:

6. Optional – Include short, funny bits between songs to surprise the listener.  

This only applies in certain circumstances.  The “Integrity Mix” CD shown here, with G.O.B. and Franklin Bluth on the cover, has such bits at strategic points.  One is the song “Big Yellow Joint” from the show Arrested Development, and the other is the appearance of the “Hot Cops” busting George Michael from the same episode.  You can see I wanted to keep those bits a surprise for whoever ends up with a copy, because I didn’t number the tracks and didn’t list the bits.  So in a sense they are “hidden” until the listener stumbles upon them.

Are you as picky as I am, or is your quality control as extreme as mine? What are you own techniques in the art of the mix CD?

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GUEST CONCERT REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac 2/04/2015

GUEST REVIEW by BOPPIN


FLEETWOOD MAC – Live, February 4 2015 at the Air Canada Center, Toronto

Before reviewing the concert I have to give a brief history of my introduction to Fleetwood Mac. In the early 90’s, one of my buddies took out whatever hair band CD was in the player and put in Fleetwood Mac Rumours. WTF is that crap? It sounded like the love child of ABBA and The Eagles! After a while the band grew on me. I wasn’t exactly going to cruise down main street with Fleetwood Mac blasting out the T-tops, but I did start to enjoy it. It became one of my guilty pleasures, and my wife loves them, so this is a bonus.

Fast forward to February 4 2015. My wife and I were early, so we got to our seats before the show started. The band was not on time, but only 20 minutes or so behind schedule. By Axl Rose standards, they were 2 hours early. This gave me time to Google the setlist as I always do before a concert. 24 songs and two encores. 24 songs? Holy crap. I also read reviews of many of the recent shows. All glowing love-fests proclaiming Fleetwood Mac as the next best thing since sliced bread, with nary a whisper of negativity. Well. We shall see about that.

The lights dim and we see the shadows of band members entering the stage. The crowd roars. When the music starts you get a feeling why this band has remained so popular. The rhythm section of this band is awesome. These guys are in their late 60’s, and they still sound incredible. John McVie is the guy that likes to stay in the background. I don’t think I ever saw any hint of showmanship from him, but he played his bass flawlessly, and that is all you can ask. Mick Fleetwood is a really underrated drummer. His talents are not shown off in the mostly pop rock songs that made the band famous, but over the years I have heard enough of his songs to know he has what it takes. And for his age, he still has it. Lindsey Buckingham is a guitarist that wasn’t on my radar: until I saw him live. He was not awesome, but a very unique guitar player. For starters, he does not play with a pick. I have seen many players play acoustic without a pick but not many electric players. His right thumb seems to act kind of like a pick, but his right hand fingers do this kind of spastic fingerpicking that is hard to describe. Kind of like, if he was trying to flick crumbs from all of his fingers at the same time. I can’t quite figure out how the guitar sounds so good when his thumb and all 4 fingers seem to be flicking at the strings at the same time. But it works.

Piano and accordion duties were handled by Christine McVie. Her strength however is her vocal prowess. All I can say is that anyone that saw this band in the last 16 years prior to this tour should ask for their money back. She left the band during that time due to an intense fear of flying. What an absolute loss that was. She completes this band, the way Van Halen was completed when David Lee Roth came back. They were great without him, but awesome with him. Her voice is so crisp and it reminds me of the first robin you hear in the spring. You can’t help but smile. For a 71 year old lady, she still looks and sounds beautiful. Kind of like an older Judith Light. She must have been a real force to deal with in her heyday.

The final member is the resident scarf twirler, tambourine banging, top hat wearing lady named Stevie Nicks — probably the most famous member of the band. She is the only member to have a productive solo career. Unfortunately life, and possibly hard partying have caught up to Stevie. Her voice is down at least 1 octave, and she can’t hit the high notes anymore. She still has a great stage presence and she is possibly better at her age than some singers in their prime.

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Now for the bad.

“Tusk”. The mere mention of this song turns me off. However, I did prefer the live version of this song to the original, but that is not saying much.

“Second Hand News” is my favourite song by this version of the band. This live rendition however was ruined by whatever annoying sound effect they had in place of the bass line that the original had. And the “bowm bowm bowm bowm bowm…” is a little off. It might be too fast paced for the elder statesmen.

Even though I commended Lindsey, he is not without fault. His voice progressively got worse as the night wore on. I was hoping they would actually mute his mike, and just let his guitar do the talking. When he did a vocal solo, his voice reminded me of a pre-pubescent mixed with The Hobbit. I was waiting for him to say “precious’. There were also times in the night that he yelled and screamed much louder than he needed to. And I won’t even mention the skinny jeans he borrowed from One Direction.

The song choices could have been better in my opinion. There were a few duds near the middle, and even one song from the Peter Green era would have been nice. Not many people realize the band did “Black Magic Woman” before Santana. Also, they could have done a cover of “Werewolves of London”. John and Mick were the rhythm section on the Warren Zevon song. These would have been good substitutions.

Stevie Nicks though a good stage presence, kind of reminds me of an old hippie cat lady from Woodstock, New York. She is about three puffs on a reefer away from being bat shit crazy. She was rambling a few times during the night. Something about Lindsey in high school and he knew her but she didn’t know him blah, blah. Next about the store that influenced the song “Gypsy”…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I told my wife to nudge when she stopped rambling.

I read in another interview how the giant screen behind the stage and the smaller screens near the front made the show so much better. Apparently this person was not sitting where I sat. The smaller screens blocked my view of members of the band. When Mick was doing a sweet solo, I wanted to watch his arms flailing. But instead I got to see a stupid screen in my way.

In conclusion, this was a concert worth seeing. I watched the Youtube clips of the show, and they don’t shed a good light on the band. The band does sound much better when you are seeing them in concert than what it looks and sounds like on a computer. Although I was much worse on them than any other reviewer I read, I still enjoyed the show. I can finally say I saw them, and I would recommend them to others.

I would rate them:

7.5/10
(3.75/5 stars on the LeBrain scale)

MACThanks Boppin for the awesome review once again! — LeBrain

 

REVIEW: Zero Option – Gates of Utopia (1991) #TBT

ZERO OPTION_0001ZERO OPTION – Gates of Utopia (1991 Fringe)

Here’s a blast from the past for your Throwback Thursday! Most readers will never have heard of Zero Option. Too bad! Zero Option blasted out Kitchener Ontario in the early 90’s with a fresh power metal sound. They released a debut album on indi label Fringe, a label best known for its punk rock roster including bands like Dayglo Abortions. Singer Phil Maddox was well known about town for his powerful pipes. Lead guitarist Rick VanDyk is probably best recognized for his later stint in another (more famous) Kitchener band — Helix.  The Helix connection must go way back to this album, because Greg “Fritz” Hinz is thanked in the liner notes, as is legendary vocal coach Ed Johnston from Fergus Ontario, who also coached Brian Vollmer in the technique of Bel canto.  (Johnston passed away in 2008.)

Zero Option sound nothing at all like Helix.  They present their metal with a bass-heavy Megadeth groove.  Maddox’s voice is nothing like Mustaine’s, but it too is a matter of taste.  He has a smooth singing voice, and the ability to belt it out, but lacks the range to hit some of the notes he’s going for.  Gates of Utopia is only a first album, and the guy probably would have grown as a singer had they made a second CD.  He already had a pretty unique voice, as I struggle to compare him to someone else.

Opener “State of Panic” occupies that Mega-groove (think “Symphony of Destruction”) and boasts some pretty wailing solos and a decent chorus.  “Face to Face” is a standout track, a thrash metal mash with a variety of cool elements: time changes, busy drums, guitar harmonies, and smoking riffage.  In 1991, Zero Option were going for a sound that was based equally in classic metal and thrash, and they were considered to be on the cutting edge with Gates of Utopia.  Listening back today I still get a feeling of “they were onto something cool”.  You can understand why people were raving about the CD back then.  The guitar work on “Face to Face” is top notch and the band were capable of tricky arrangements.

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Other tracks good enough to put the CD on your want list include “Lords of the New Church”, which has a memorable chorus and tasty guitar harmonies.  “Think Tank” thrashes pretty hard and has dualing guitar solos, a gimmick I always enjoy.  “Right Off the Face” is one of the slow, grindy catchy ones.  Gates of Utopia is less about the individual songs and more about the overall impact: there are lots of guitar and vocal hooks over the course of this solidly made album.  It’s hard to judge it fairly by 2015 standards.  In 1991, these guys were right on the cusp of something new.  Something that bands such as Megadeth and Metallica would master and exploit to sell multi-platinum albums in just a short while: a cross pollination of thrash metal heaviness with more mainstream metal sounds.  Gates of Utopia couldn’t have done what those mega-sellers did, but another record or two and who knows what Zero Option could have sounded like fully sharpened?

 

The serious weak link here is the lyrical department.  For example, from “Rise and Fall”:

When the universe was created,
Man was not around.
Centuries later,
Evidence was found.

Subject matter discussed on Gates of Utopia are standard fare: censorship, TV preachers, the dangers of drugs, insanity, pollution, and girls.  They are adequate, but pretty highschool.  Of course, these guys were barely out of highschool.

Rick VanDyk still plays music today, in a Metallica tribute act called Sandman with former Helix members Brent “Ned” Neimi and Paul Fonseca.  So there ya go!

3/5 stars

REVIEW: Ozzy Osbourne – Just Say Ozzy (1990 EP)

OZZY OSBOURNE – Just Say Ozzy (1990 Epic EP)

Nobody was shocked when Ozzy Osbourne, the man who said he hated live albums, put out his fourth (!) solo live release in 1990. (His other three live releases were the Mr. Crowley EP, Speak of the Devil, and Randy Rhoads Tribute. This does not include the Ultimate Live Ozzy EP which was…not live.) The liner note by Ozzy attempts to justify its release. “Firstly, ‘Shot in the Dark’,” begins Ozzy. “I am happier with this version than the original.” (Oooh, sick burn on Jake.) Ozzy continues, “Secondly, the Sabbath songs – To have recorded them one last time with Geezer Butler, Zakk and Randy says it all for me. It’s a chapter of my musical career I can now close.”

What the fuck did that mean?

Was Ozzy going to stop playing Sabbath songs?  Did anyone actually believe that?  The bitter liner notes accompany a front cover emblazoned with all four band members’ names, in the same sized font as Ozzy’s.  And on the front cover is not Ozzy Osbourne, but guitarist Zakk Wylde! (Albeit from behind so you can’t see his face, and he’s just in one corner of the cover.)  It all seems to deliver a message of “I am focused on the present, not my past.”  This quartet was fully expected to record the next Ozzy studio album together, athough ultimately that did not happen.  Geezer left in 1991 for a reunited Dio-era Black Sabbath.  So much for not looking back!

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Just Say Ozzy functioned as a stopgap.  Ozzy would take his time with the next LP (which at that time was tentatively titled No Dogs Allowed, then Don’t Blame Me), but No Rest for the Wicked was already two years past.  They had to release something, so here it is.  One careful listen will reveal a lot of studio trickery was employed afterwards. Indeed, if one focuses on the crowd noise you can hear edits everywhere. Billboard magazine revealed that the music for this album was re-recorded in the studio with audience noise overdubbed.

Having said that, if this kind of trickery doesn’t bother you (and if you own Kiss Alive! or Frampton Comes Alive then it shouldn’t too much) then this is a great EP. Just Say Ozzy‘s meager six songs feature the only recordings of the brief Osbourne/Wylde/Butler/Castillo lineup. I was always a fan of those particular guys and there’s something to be said when you have two original Black Sabbath members in the band, while Black Sabbath only had one.

Since this EP was from the No Rest tour, three of its heaviest songs were showcased: the single “Miracle Man”, “Tattooed Dancer”, and “Bloodbath in Paradise”. No ballads.  These three songs are nice to have, but are not even close to competing with the better known hits.

From The Ultimate Sin comes “Shot In The Dark”…yes, Ozzy’s so-called “preferred version”.  And it is indeed very good.  Zakk Wylde was a talented kid even then, and I love the youthful “go for it” attitude in his playing. “Shot in the Dark” features an extended solo that established Zakk’s place with his axe predecessors.  Then, a deuce of Sabbath: a smokin’ “Sweet Leaf” and probably the best live version of “War Pigs” that I have ever heard.

Yeah, that’s what I said.

This Zakk-infused version of “War Pigs” is, in this humble writer’s opinion, the best live version ever released. Zakk’s guitar digs deep into the strings with those nice wide vibratos. It’s just monstrous, plus with Geez on bass, it has that slink it needs.  Randy Castillo (RIP) was certainly no slouch, and his relentless fills here are solidly entertaining.

3/5 stars.  Shame about that crappy cover art though.

Tracklist:

  1. “Miracle Man”
  2. “Bloodbath in Paradise”
  3. “Shot in the Dark”
  4. “Tattooed Dancer”
  5. “Sweet Leaf”
  6. “War Pigs”

#362: Lávate las manos!

RECORD STORE TALES MkII: Getting More Tale
#362: Lávate las manos! (Wash your hands!)

What is the prime rule of retail? Some sources say it’s an employee’s presentation, from language to punctuality to appearance. A knowledgeable staff is absolutely important, and even trumps friendliness. Friendliness without knowledge in a retail environment doesn’t help the customer. Customer service is clearly important, as is leading by example, which I tried to do myself. Other sources say convenience is king. An online presence is a must, but in brick and mortar stores, what truly is the one prime, cardinal rule of retail?

I say it’s a simple one. Wash your hands!

Research suggests that in the United States, 22 million days of work are lost per year just by common illnesses spread in the conventional ways. When a sick employee does manage to make it into work, their productivity is reduced due to lack of energy and focus. They risk spreading the illness further, and also disgusting potential customers with their coughing and sneezing.

It’s easy enough to reduce the spread just by making sure your employees are washing their hands. According to the CDC, “Handwashing is like a ‘do-it-yourself’ vaccine—it involves five simple and effective steps (Wet, Lather, Scrub, Rinse, Dry) that you can take to reduce the spread of diarrheal and respiratory illness so you can stay healthy. Regular handwashing, particularly before and after certain activities, is one of the best ways to remove germs, avoid getting sick, and prevent the spread of germs to others.” By “certain activities”, I can tell you that buying used CDs off the public certainly qualified. At the Record Store, we had a bottle of hand sanitizer at the register, so I could quickly scrub up if there was no time to hit the washroom.

I have seen some gross, disgusting substances on CDs that I and my staff have handled. That doesn’t even include the invisible germs that were on a lot of them! Sticky CDs and CD cases were quite common. When I first started out, I caught hell from the boss because I didn’t want to buy a box of CDs from a guy who had very few discs without yucky, sticky CD cases! Most of the time, we couldn’t identify the goo, although we were fairly certain that some had been covered with semen before. (Needless to say, we passed on the semen CD, no complaints from bosses that time.)

The most disturbing health risk that I witnessed was covering the in-demand box set called Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of the Beach Boys. It was covered in blood – still wet, as the guy selling it to us was actually bleeding from his hands at that moment! The staff guy who was handling the set, Jason, quietly announced, “I have to go and wash my hands – they are covered with blood.” The customer then laughed and said, “Yah, that’s me. But don’t worry, I ain’t got AIDS or nothin’.”

With hindsight, I seemed to be sick all the time. Handling all that dirty money and those filthy CDs, it was almost impossible to keep my hands clean. All it takes is one itchy eye to rub without thinking, and BAM! You’ve got a virus! At the Record Store I suffered from all sorts of ailments, as did we all. I also felt a certain amount of pressure to show up for work even when I was under the weather, so I tended to work through it.

I would give the same advice to customers and staff alike: There is only one prime rule of retail. If you want to stop spreading all those filthy germs, lávate las fucking manos!

LAVATE

REVIEW: KISS – 40 (2015 single CD Japan Commemorative edition)

 

NEW RELEASE

KISS 40 2015_0001KISS – 40 (2015 Universal Japan single CD Commemorative edition)

Wait a minute, I’m confused — did I just buy Kiss 40, again?

Wait a minute, it’s 2015 now — shouldn’t this be Kiss 41, or something??

Wait a minute, what the hell is “Kiss vs. Momoiro Clover Z”???

Eager to buy anything new from Gene and Co., I got this new single CD version of Kiss 40 without really knowing what it was about.

Now that the CD has arrived at the door, I discovered that Momoiro Clover Z is a Japanese all-girl pop group with similar intentions as Kiss themselves.  They dreamed big dreams for themselves and aimed to entertain and bring a spectacle to the people.  They have colour coordinated members and characters, so perhaps a Kiss collaboration seemed like the next step for them.  I don’t know how the collaboration came to be, but the result was a brand new Kiss song written by Paul Stanley and producer Greg Collins.

This edition of Kiss 40 commences with a Kiss-heavy mix of the new collaboration, “Samurai Son”. There are other versions available on two singles and on iTunes, but reviews for those will wait until they arrive at LeBrain HQ.  The good news is that the “U.S.” mix of “Samurai Son” has no problem hanging out on a Kiss greatest hits CD.  Musically, it’s not too much of a departure of the direction from Kiss’ last album, Monster.  It’s just more produced, polished and embellished.  The girls from Momoiro Clover Z come in during the chorus, but it’s not the first time Kiss have had female backing vocals on their albums.  It’s the first time since 1989, but remember old classic tunes like “Tomorrow and Tonight” from Love Gun, and “Sweet Pain” from Destroyer?  Female backing vocals.  The new twists this time are the lines in Japanese, and the very slight J-pop slant.  It’s not too far of a departure.

Collector's card included inside Kiss 40

Collector’s card included inside Kiss 40

It may not be to your taste, but I love “Samurai Son”.  The lyrics address Kiss’ experience of hitting Japan for the first time back in 1976:

“I took a flight into Tokyo,
Into the Land of the Rising Son,
I heard my song on the radio,
Blowin’ my mind like a shot from a gun.”

Paul then proceeds to tear it up all over town, “Livin’ life with no regrets.”  The words suit one of those fast paced Kiss rockers that they’ve been doing of late — think “Hell or Hallelujah”.  There are some cool Thayer licks and you can tell that Gene Simmons showed up for the sessions, because you can hear him singing on the choruses.  The overall impression is that “Samurai Son” is one of those solid Kiss catalogue rockers.  It’s like the new material on side four of Kiss Alive II: pretty good but living in the shadow of the Kiss greats.

KISS 40 2015_0006From this point on, Kiss 40 (the 2015 abridged version) continues with the “best” hits from the full length 2 CD version…but not quite.  There have been some major tweaks to the tracklist, perhaps to maximize the listening pleasure of consumers who just need one CD of Kiss in their lives.  The classic live version of “Rock and Roll all Nite” has been replaced with the studio version from Dressed to Kill.  Same for “Shout it Out Loud” and “Detroit Rock City”, here in their original full Destroyer guises instead of live. I like the way the car crash ending of “Detroit” merges into “Calling Dr. Love”.  “Dr. Love” and “Love Gun” were thrown into the pile here, even though they weren’t on the original Kiss 40 in any form.  A little further down, a different song was plucked from Kiss Killers:  The superior “I’m a Legend Tonight” replaces “Down on Your Knees”.

Moving on from the makeup years to the non-makeup 1980’s, the original version of “Crazy Crazy Nights” replaces that unreleased live version from the double Kiss 40.  That sums up the song substitutions; the album still continues chronologically to the current era.  I’m pleased that even though early songs from the first two Kiss albums were axed, songs from the last two Kiss albums were not.  I think Sonic Boom and Monster are Kiss albums the band should be proud of, so you get “Modern Day Delilah” and “Hell or Hallelujah”, as it should be.  Other albums excluded from this compilation are The Elder, (surprisingly) Creatures of the Night, Hot in the Shade, the live records and the solo albums.

With all these tweaks and alterations, the overall listening experience is enhanced albeit at the cost of some deeper tracks. It’s a give and take, so the overall score for the new Kiss 40 remains:

4/5 stars

#361: LeBrain Goes to Toronto (Video)

RECORD STORE TALES MkII: Getting More Tale
#361: LeBrain Goes to Toronto

Went to Toronto yesterday to visit Mrs. LeBrain at the hospital, and also visited Sonic Boom music at 215 Spadina while I was in town.  I’m tired, so all I had the energy for was this quick & dirty 4 minute video.  Hope you like it.  You know I found music to buy…

Road tunes:

  1. Deep Purple – Slaves and Masters
  2. Ted Nugent – Shutup & Jam!
  3. Whitesnake – Snakebite
  4. Whitesnake – Saints An’ Sinners

REVIEW: Cry of Love – Brother (1993)

CRY OF LOVE BROTHER_0002

CRY OF LOVE – Brother (1993 Sony)

He wasn’t in the Black Crowes for their heyday, but fans unfamiliar with Cry of Love may remember Audley Freed as the Crowes’ second guitar player, from By Your Side to their first breakup. Upon hearing this CD, his debut album with Cry Of Love, you will understand why the Crowes tapped him to replace Marc Ford.  I loved this album so much that I place it on my “Most Unrightfully Ignored Albums of the 1990s” list, with the comment that “Audley Freed plays his Fenders like bluesy butter.”

In 1993, I fully hoped and partly expected Cry of Love and Brother Cane to end the domination of grunge rock, hand in hand!

Cry Of Love not only had the awesome, tubey guitar sounds of Freed but also (for this album, anyway) an excellent little known singer named Kelly Holland. Sounding like a cross between Chris Robinson and Joe Lynn Turner, Holland had pipes to spare and knew how to use them with soul.  What a powerful throat.  At the time I used to say, “If only I could sing like Kelly Holland or Joe Lynn Turner!”  I only discovered while writing this review that Holland died last year at age 52.  Hard living and alcohol took their toll on a singer who never achieved the fame that he had potential for.

Hopefully Mr. Holland was very proud of the one album he made with the band.  Every track on this album is a live-sounding standout, with very few audible overdubs. Production by John Custer (Corrosion of Conformity from their hometime of Raleigh, North Carolina) is spot on.  With a bluesy band like this, you want clear and crisp, yet with the illusion of a live rehearsal.  The album delivers on that, with the power one expects from a modern recording. The guitar tones in particular are stunning. With a chilly, round, and natural sound, Freed proved that in the 90’s you didn’t have to downtune.

There are a lot of favourites on Brother.  The first single “Peace Pipe” was killer.  I can’t get enough of that bopping bass line and irresistible chorus.  The second single “Bad Thing” wasn’t bad either, but the opener “Highway Jones” was really awesome.  It has a blurringly fast blues riff that just stuns.  On the mellow side of the blues, there is the soulful (and mournful) “Carnival”.  Excellent lyrics on that one too.  I saw them perform it acoustically on MuchMusic in the 1990’s.  Still have that on VHS tape, too.  Then there’s “Too Cold In The Winter”, which makes use of Freed’s chilly tone to full effect. You will have your own favourites, but I think “Peace Pipe” will grab you no matter who you are.

After this album, Holland departed to be replaced by Robert Mason (Lynch Mob, currently in Warrant) on the second album, Diamonds and Debris, which destroyed half of what made this band unique. While they still had Freed, it’s just rare to hear a singer of Holland’s caliber, and Mason is just a tad generic. At least at that phase of his career.  That album isn’t nearly as memorable as Brother.

So: Brother, an excellent lost gem of an album, may be relegated to the footnotes of the Black Crowes’ biography. It’s a shame, because I think it’s up there with some of the best albums the Crowes have never done. Of note: I also own two CD singles, for “Bad Thing” and “Peace Pipe”, which also had two non-album studio tracks on it.   Those, and some live cuts on “Bad Thing” are worth checking out if you crave more of the original Cry of Love.  I’ll review those another day.  Rest in Peace Kelly Holland.

4/5 stars

#360: CHYM FM – “96 minutes of continuous light rock…for your workday!”

GEORGE AND TARA AND LEBRAIN

RECORD STORE TALES MkII: Getting More Tale
#360: CHYM FM

In the beginning of my job at United Rentals, they had the radio set to local lite-rock station CHYM FM.  It is a horrible station, unless you enjoy old Daughtry and Taylor Swift ballads coupled with the biggest hits by the dulcet Lady Gaga.  Why, just the other day I was in my dentist’s office.  They have CHYM on the radio, and I was treated to some “Bad Romance” by Miss Gaga.  That’s dreadful enough, but the squeaky, bubbly on-air personalities are way too much for me to handle.  Apparently this was also the case nine years ago when I started at United, according to this 2006 journal entry.  We switched stations to Dave FM shortly thereafter.  Thank fuck!  CHYM TIME journal entry below.

Date: 2006/11/17 17:04

“96 minutes of continuous light rock…for your workday!”

That phrase, friends, is the sound of being welcomed into HELL!

Dear CHYM FM:   This is something that I’ve been wanting to tell you for a long time. Here it is. Sorry if I’m being rather harsh, but you had this coming.

#1. Nobody needs to hear three Kelly Clarkson songs in one day. Nor do we need three of Jann Arden, Chantal Kreviazuk, Celine Dion, or any other of these wonderful light-rock songstresses.

#2. Lionel Richie has a long, illustrious career. I’m pretty sure he has more than one song. Why then, do you insist on playing the same damn song of his every single day?

#3. Same goes with Elton John.

#4. Tara, from the morning George and Tara Show, is too fucking perky. She’s like a fucking toothpaste commercial!  I don’t need that shit at 8:30 am before my coffee.

And finally #5.  Why do you call your station “today’s light rock”?  Are you not aware that Jann Arden hasn’t had a hit in over a decade?

Yours truly, Mike

REVIEW: Beastie Boys – Aglio e Olio (1995)

BEASTIE AGLIOBEASTIE BOYS – Aglio e Olio (1995 Grand Royal EP)

The sticker on the front said it plainly:  “Only 8 songs. Only 11 minutes. Only cheap $.”  Retailers were known to jack up prices on CDs so the Beasties were proactive about making sure their fans didn’t get ripped off.  It’s kinda like how Metallica called their Garage Days the $5.98 EP.

This EP is one of the Beasties’ punk rock releases.  Apparently, while writing for Hello Nasty (1998), the group spontaneously just started jamming out old school punk style rockers.  There were too many to put on their next rap album, so they decided to release them quick n’ dirty on a special EP.  And that’s Aglio e Olio.

What I find cool about it is that even if you didn’t know who it was, it’s immediately obvious on opener “Brand New” that it’s the Beastie Boys.  It doesn’t sound musically much like their mainstream hits but their idiosyncratic voices make it instantly identifiable.  Then you notice things like the noisy guitar “solos” that take the place of record scratches and samples (similar to “Sabotage”)…it’s a different instrument but the same artists so there is a connectivity.

BEASTIE AGLIO BACK“Deal With It” is the second-longest song at a whopping almost-2 minutes!  It’s a freakin’ crusher of a song.  “I Can’t Think Straight” reminds me of early Suicidal Tendencies. The rest are a mash of screamin’ Beasties, heavy guitar riffs, crushing bass, and sloppyfast punk rock drums.  Throw in a few weird breaks and time changes and you have a varied and enjoyable way to kill 11 minutes of your day.  The bass hooks are relentless and the lyrics all but unintelligible!

Best track: the hooky closer “I Want Some” which I think is hit quality. Fucking great song on which to close a fucking great little EP.

But what exactly does Aglio e Olio mean?  Fortunately, I am Italian.  Aglio e olio is my favourite pasta dish, a simple spaghetti.  It is just the pasta in olive oil and garlic.  It is simple, delicious, and easy to prepare once you learn the trick of it.  Its appeal is the simplicity of just three ingredients: spaghetti, olive oil and garlic.  Three ingredients, right down to the basics.  Just like the Beastie Boys.

4/5 stars

  • MCA – Vocals, bass
  • Mike D – Vocals, drums
  • Ad-Rock – Vocals, guitars