Just in time for the long weekend, some new tunes! Β I also ordered a book: Β Sean Kelly’s Metal On Ice, as reading material for next week’s Sausagefest! Β Seen below: Β Original Soundtrack to the movie Still Crazy (thank you The Earl of Swirl for reminding me about this great film) and the new Helix album, Bastard of the Blues.
QUEENSRYCHE β Dedicated to Chaos (2011 Roadrunner specialΒ edition)
Dedicated to Chaos will probably go down in history as the album that broke up Geoff Tate and Queensryche. The ironic thing was that Tate and the band hyped this album as a collaborative effort, with songwriting efforts from the whole band. Β It seemed from the early press releases that there was a conscious effort to have the original members contributing as equal members. Β Even Scott Rockenfield sounded genuinely psyched:
“It’s huge rock but with a great dance vibe to it, real modern dance. Itβs kind of like Rage through a time tunnel, bringing it into the now. There are a lot of electronic elements to it. Itβs a big rock thing that is going to have a lot of color to it β itβs good and really intense.β
Hearing that, I was excited. Not for the idea of βmodern danceβ, but for the Rage For Order vibe through a time tunnel. That could have been good. Unfortunately those are just words. Dedicated to Chaos may have elements from Rage and Promised Land (samples) but it is lightyears away from anything βrockββ¦certainly not βa big rock thingβ as Rockenfield claimed.
Is it progressive rock? Who cares. Itβs not good enough for a band of Queensrycheβs stature. Tateβs friends Kelly Gray, Randy Gane, and Jason Slater also collaborated, watering down the attempt at re-integrating the band members. The impact of Jackson, Wilton and Rockenfield can barely be felt, even on the songs they co-wrote.
So here we are with Dedicated To Chaos, supposedly a rebirth but actually a funeral. It could have been my favourite album since Promised Land, had they delivered what they promised. The guitar patterns are more drony than riffy. There are electronic effects, as indicated. There is a huge emphasis on rhythm, but not necessarily groove. To its credit, much like Promised Land and Rage, there are unfamiliar sounds coming from everywhere. Some are percussive, others are more musical, but this is another true headphones album from Queensryche. If you actually wanted to hear what they were up to. Which I do not, Iβve given it a chance. I listened intently when it came out, and initially gave the album a rough grade of a 4/5, assuming it would grow on me. It did the opposite, and I liked it less with each listen.
This layout annoys me to no end.
My biggest complaint with Queensryche was Geoff Tate’s aging voice. It seems to have lost so much range and power over the years to the point where I canβt listen to Take Cover at all. The voice isn’t getting any better. At least it was recorded better than Take Cover. He’s using more of his own voices too. This is done particularly well on “Got It Bad”.
The positives: “Get Started” which sounds almost Empire-lite. Β Melodically strong was “Around The World”, which also has a nice positive message. You’ll hear more of Tate’s sax on “Higher” which is a modern sounding song with just a pinch of funk, yet with dual guitar solos. Lyrically, we’re all over the map. “Retail Therapy” is just pissed off at the world. “Around The World” has a kum-bay-a peace and love message. We’ve even got some civil disobedience and the hint of a conspiracy theory in “At the Edge”: “Time to look at what’s behind closed doors, Got gasoline, ammunition, like 911, a controlled demolition.” It also happens to be one of the best and longest songs on the album.
The negatives: Β Most of the bulk of the album. Β It’s just forgettable. Β Go ahead — tell me how “Luvnu” goes. Β Can’t remember, can ya? Β This piece of crap was written by Tate with his buddies Randy Gane and Kelly Gray. Β Surprised?
The “special edition” had three bonus tracks. They are mellow and atmospheric, but worth having only to the fan and collector.
2.5/5 stars
This is an old review, but I thought it relevant to post, because of the way that the Sony Walkman changed my music listening habits.
SONY Walkman NWZ-E353
For years, I had avoided going digital. I had an old iPod. The little one with no screen. It was awful. Syncing with iTunes? Why can’t it be simpler? When I listen to a CD, I drop it in and push “play”. No syncing, no trying to understand iTunes. That kind of simplicity is what Iβm looking for. Then I had another iPod,Β a Mini, which was even worse; the battery was useless and it couldn’t power up. Plus iTunes is just awful, I don’t care what the Apple fanatics say. It’s not an intuitive program in the least. Why canβt it be easier?
I decided to pick this Sony Walkman up and I’m glad I did. It has revolutionized the way I listen to music. Before I had gotten to the point where I was only listening to music on CD in the car and occasionally at home when Mrs. LeBrainΒ was out shopping. Now, I can have music going almost anytime I want, morning noon and night.
And it’s easy! Drag and drop! How much simpler can you get? Because I’m a bit OCD, when I rip a CD I edit my ID3 tags to get the cover art going and make sure the tracks are in the right order and so on. But it’s so easy, and Iβd do anything to avoid having to use iTunes.
I donβt even care about the 4 meg size on this model. When the player gets full, I just delete some albums that I’ve played enough, and add some more from my computer. Β Drag and drop. Easy! I rip my CDs to the highest quality MP3 possible, so I really only get aboutΒ 25Β albums on here at a time. But that’s plenty — when am I going to be away from my computer long enough to listen to 25Β albums? It’s never happened. Iβd have to charge it first anyway. Maybe I’ll upgrade one day to a player with bigger storage, but I don’t see the point right now.
The only modification I did was to buy some better, more comfortable ear buds. Iβve been through a few different pairs. With that combination, I have the best quality portable music that I need. I also bought some portable speakers but they go largely unused. I prefer to plug my player into the AUX IN jack of a stereo, and Iβm off to the races.
The Walkman has some customization available, such as wallpaper, photo galleries, etc. It has this thing called “SensMe”…it’s supposed to pick music based on moods. I could care less, I don’t listen to random songs, I listen to albums. I prefer to listen to songs in the context in which they were meant to be listened to. There’s a fine sounding FM radio as well. Thereβs a video player but it seems to be quite finicky as to what type of files it will play, so I donβt use that feature. I had no desire to, anyway.
Battery life is excellent. It has battery saving software as well. I can listen to music all week, as often as I can squeeze it in, and only charge it once a week. It is charged with the included USB cable. Easy, easy, easy.
Whether I am listening to heavy rock, classical music, country, or jazz, I have had no issues at all with the sound quality. For example right now I am listening to Ryan Adams’ Demolition album. The bass frequencies are strong but the clarity of the acoustic guitar is stunning! The only music that suffers is live music. As you know with a live album you have the continual backdrop of crowd noise. An MP3 player places a split-second pause between every song, which goes unnoticed on studio albums. On live albums, it breaks up the crowd noise slightly and can be distracting. Not a huge deal, but I aim to be complete in my reviews.
So, enjoy this awesome MP3 player. Here are my 5 basic tips to the best listening experiences!
1. Rip your CDs to the highest possible quality. Don’t download.
2. Grab a free ID3 tag editor for maximum enjoyment — add cover art, correct spelling mistakes or track order.
3. Buy a good pair of comfortable earbuds to maximize the sound quality.
4. Use the battery saving software.
5. Throw out your iPod.
Enjoy!
5/5 stars
“Feet-ture” image:Β @heelsofmine
RECORD STORE TALES Part 301: A Nice Pair
I was working the afternoon shift, and another guy named Dave was working the morning. I arrived at work at about 1:30 in the afternoon, with a big box of used stock in my hands. Upon entering, I saw that Dave was already dealing with a big box of CDs. A customer was wandering around the store, as Dave picked through his big box of discs.
I saddled up to help Dave go through the discs. The customer, a male in his early 30βs, was just looking around while he waited. He liked to talk a lot, and would periodically pipe in with a comment. βThis here is a great CD, eh?β There were other customers in the store as well, including a well-dressed woman. The dude took a gander at the woman, who was wearing high heels.
When the woman was out of earshot, he said (to no one in particular):
βWoah. Thatβs a nice pair of feet.β
And that was something I never heard in public before. The end.
STEVE VAI – Naked Tracks (2008 Light Without Heat)
I’m not a guitar player so my review of this box set will be limited to non-player knowledge. Steve Vai designed this set for guitar players to improvise over. He removed the lead guitar from selected tracks from the following albums:
He encourages the players to improvise rather than learn the original solos, and make loops of songs in order to play away as long as they want.
As I said I’m not a real guitar player, just a wanna-be, but I love Steve’s music and I enjoyed hearing his songs deconstructed. You can hear a lot of keyboards and backing guitars that you can’t hear with the lead guitar mixed in up front. Some songs, as a listener, don’t work at all like this such as “The Audience Is Listening” as there’s not much backing music. Again though, this wasn’t really designed for listeners like me.
I had fun playing a few simple melodies over some of Steve’s slower songs. Β Some of these stripped-down tracks will also make good beds for voiceover recordings.
At this price, guitar players are getting a lot of music for their dollar. They might never play or use some of these tracks but you can’t argue with the value (about $20 Canadian).
For players, you’re going to get a lot of use from these CDs especially when you download the sheet music from Vai’s site. Vai writes arrangements that will give you a lot of challenges and fun options to play over. For the average listener such as myself, you will only play this occassionally. It will definitey give you insight to the songwriting and recording talents of Steve Vai, and maybe you can use the tunes to just chill out as background music at home. At this price maybe that is enough reason for non-players to buy it. Only a guitar player will truly get maximum use for this box set, and I think they will use it a lot.
3.5/5 stars
Note: Β Steve has available on iTunes two more discs from this series:
A MIGHTY WIND – The Album (2003 Sony Music Soundtrax)
It’s way too easy to dismiss this album as a novelty. After all, movie stars singing songs in a comedy movie rarely amounts to anything substantial. However, the Oscar nomination for “A Kiss At The End of The Rainbow” lends this album credibility. Not to mention, most of these people have been singing for years. Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara frequently had musical numbers on SCTV. Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Christopher Guest perform here as The Folksmen, but they are probably best knows as their alter egos, Spinal Tap.
I can’t say that every song is a winner. I’m not a huge fan of the stylings of The New Main Street Singers (Jane Lynch, John Michael Higgins, Parker Posey, et. al. in a “neuftet”). It”s just not to my taste. Β As Harry Shearer says in the movie itself, “Would you rather hear a toothpasteΒ commercial, or some music?” Β The New Main Street Singers are the toothpaste commercial. Β It works in the context of the movie. On theΒ album, well, I could live without!
The estranged couple Mitch & Mickey (Levy and O’Hara) sing a beautiful song called “When You’re Next To Me” on track 3. It’s pretty stockΒ until the second verse, when O’Hara comes in with her harmonies, and at that point I can believe that this is a real, serious folk duo. After all, they’ve been working together in various incarnations almost as long as their movie counterparts. Great song, and a great performance.
Finally, The Folksmen pull out their greatest hit(!), “Old Joe’s Place”, a fun novelty track that’sΒ instantly catchy and memorable. You won’t be able to stop singing, if you can keep up with the rapid fire lyrics. Even better is “Never Did No Wanderin'”, on which the three singers meld perfectly. Not to mention these guys canΒ really play their instruments, don’t underestimate them.
Lyrically, the jokes (when present) are sometimes a little subtle. For example, “Blood On The Coals”. Since there were so many folk songs about train accidents, and just as many folk songs about coal mine disasters, why not combine the two? So it’s a song about a train that crashes into a coal mine. Β Elsewhere, the jokes are more obvious. The Folksmen end their cover of “Start Me Up” faithfully to the Stones’ original, which sounds absurd. Β I like the absurd.
Although I cannot pick a favourite song, I think “A Kiss At The End Of The Rainbow” is as beautiful and perfect as music gets.
Lastly, the CD is enhanced with a bonus video: “When You’re Next to Me” by Mitch & Mickey live, which was deleted from the movie. Β This feature is only advertised inside the CD booklet. Β Β In the days of Youtube, this really isn’t much of a feature anymore, but I remember being quite excited to discover it back in 2003.
Don’t let the “comedy” tag scare you off. These are just great songs. It should hardly be a surprise — The Folksmen used to open for their alter egos Spinal Tap decades ago! These guys are all pros.
4/5 stars
Welcome to the semi-regular feature where I reveal stunningly weird search terms that led people to mikeladano.com Β For the last installment, Questions & Comments edition, click here. Alright, let’s dive in!
WTF SEARCH TERMS XXI: Β The Never-ending Search Terms
10. guess who am i (Give me a clue? Β Are you Leonard Nimoy?)
9. port elgin sucks (Harsh, dude. Β Harsh.)
8. timmy loved judas priest (That’s great!)
7. kunci gitar white lion till death do your fart (Fart to the death!)
6. 107.5 dave fm craig fee them song (It is by Glenn Murphy and can be downloaded from iTunes.)
5. showing true using penis pump (Told ya I’d be getting hits for this.)
4. are johnny lee johns and sid haig the same person (Johnny Lee Johns is a fictional character played by Sid Haig.)
3. bum bum bay (Bop bop boo.)
2. 48Ψ257Β ΩΩΨ―Ω Ψ³ΩΨ³ (How the fuck did this lead to me??)
1. fuaked (You said it, man.)
Do you own this?
RECORD STORE TALES Part 300: Manic Nirvana
T-Rev has always been talented at building things. He built for me my first two CD towers, not to mention my cassette storage shelves built into my closet doors. No design was too elaborate. I liked a simple CD tower myself, just some shelves and some stain. T-Rev was always pushing himself to build something cooler. One of the best towers he ever built had side doors for VHS compartments, and a big black light to illuminate the whole thing. Inside the doors were stickers from some of his favourite bands. The whole thing was painted gray, it was a masterpiece.
By coincidence, T-Rev also owned a semi-rare copy of Robert Plantβs 1990 solo album, Manic Nirvana. Both of us liked to collect βrareβ versions of albums. T-Rev had a red digipack copy, with symbols embossed on the cover. Itβs pretty hard to find, although we did see a couple copies float by in the Record Store. Thereβs werenβt any bonus tracks, but the rare packaging made it something desirable.
So whatβs the connection between the CD tower and Manic Nirvana?
T-Rev was checking out the Plant CD one day, and happened to take a look at it under his black light. Lo and behold, suddenly symbols appeared on the cover, previously hidden! The front cover showed what appeared to be a big βHβ. The back and inside covers had their own symbols that showed under black light.
It was a mystery! The symbols didnβt seem to have any meaning that we could discern. Maybe they were intentional, maybe not? Maybe they were just a byproduct of the manufacturing process. Other similar digipacks did not show anything special under a black light.
My questions regarding this CD are as follows:
1) Have you ever owned the red digipack version of Manic Nirvana?*
2) Have you ever looked at it under a black light?
3) WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
*Aaron discovered via the Discogs listing that this seems to be a promo release.
It gets hot in the valley. I’ll be in the valley in two weeks and I need to be prepared. This is the first step. Let’s rock!
BILLY CONNOLLY β Journey to the Edge of the World – A voyage through Canada’s Northwest Passage (2009 ITV Blu-ray)
I’ve always found Billy Connolly to have an incredibly warm sense of humour, and that is on full display in this wonderful TV series. Because of recentΒ decreases in Arctic sea ice, the Northwest Passage is now clearΒ for several weeks during the summer. One can now travel along the northern coast of Canada, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Connolly begins his journey in Halifax and travels north, and west. Along the way he sees sights that many of us will never have the chance to experience. It is all captured here on Blu-ray, in gorgeous 1080p. Towering icebergs are crisp blue and as detailed as you can imagine.
The isolation of these places is quite breathtaking. The real selling feature of this series is the hi-def glory of Earth’s nature in full 1080p. If you’ve ever romanticized about cold seas, towering icebergs, or glaciers without another human being in sight, then this disc will put you right there. It’s just awesome to behold. However there is a dark undertone here, as global warming is always just beneath the surface of the beauty. (For example, hearing the ice cracking with sounds like cannons.) By the time Billy finishes his journey in Vancouver, powerful images will be etched into your mind. This is not a discΒ to watch just once.
One of the charms of this series is that Billy genuinely seems to love people. Whether it’s the humble Newfoundland fisherman, or the smiling faces of Inuit throat singers, Billy loves them all. Billy has no problem getting wet, or trying dishes that are foreign to his palette. He’ll treat you to some folk music along the way, his banjo never far from his side. It is a joy to watch this film and learn about parts of myΒ geography and culture that many of us are ignorant. A lot of activity is crammed into each episode, meaning you’ll likely take it off the shelf for another spin periodically, whenever you get romantic for the snow and ice of the north. Β With summer here, why not?
5/5 stars
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