Friday, September 26, 2003
ROBERT PALMER, REST IN PEACE!
Sad news friends, the great Robert Palmer passed away today. Read the story at
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,98384,00.html
Those of you that have never heard him live, I urge you to pick up ROBERT PALMER: LIVE AT THE APOLLO. It is a great live album, and a great perfomance of the man and band at the top of their game.
There are also a large number of "Greatest Hits" packages; splurge and get the 2 CD set. He sang and produced alot more than power-pop in the 80s. In fact DRIVE his last CD although painfully short in length (not even 40 minutes), is intimate and passionate and as real as it gets.
"To sing the blues, you've got to live the dues, and carry on."
Stephen Stills
With a tear shed,
Zeph out
Sad news friends, the great Robert Palmer passed away today. Read the story at
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,98384,00.html
Those of you that have never heard him live, I urge you to pick up ROBERT PALMER: LIVE AT THE APOLLO. It is a great live album, and a great perfomance of the man and band at the top of their game.
There are also a large number of "Greatest Hits" packages; splurge and get the 2 CD set. He sang and produced alot more than power-pop in the 80s. In fact DRIVE his last CD although painfully short in length (not even 40 minutes), is intimate and passionate and as real as it gets.
"To sing the blues, you've got to live the dues, and carry on."
Stephen Stills
With a tear shed,
Zeph out
Sunday, September 21, 2003
Peter Frampton NOW
Very Best of The Grateful Dead
Very Best of The Steve Miller Band "Young Hearts"
Well, friends it's something new and two-things old. Let's do Frampton first.
Peter Frampton NOW, just out last week is a BUY. Now it helps if you like PF, even in his later years of a rare album of new material, followed by perversely repititious live albums that never quite hit the high mark set by "Frampton Comes Alive." Althought I really like the audio version of PF's "Live in Detroit" and it's Grammy nomination for rock instrumental (that sadly didn't win).
NOW is back to basics largely with fat sounding heavily chorded rock guitar. Stand-outs are "Verge of a Thing" which would be Peter's best studio song ever, IF he had better lyrics. I mean I know what "a thing" is, in the song, but couldn't you have been just a tad more clever? Even better is "I'm Back" which carries the line "like Arnold in Terminator" ... OK he sings the California (pronounced Cal-E-forn-E-ah) candidate's last name ('cause it rhymes) but I can't spell it off the top of my head. But it's a cool song, sharp rhythm, and nicely sung too. I have read a trashing of the lyrics of this one; I think you just have to see the fun in such a composition and get over yourself.
NOW also includes the late great George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Wheeps" originally of course recorded by the Beatle's lead guitarist with a man named Clapton. And again, I have read this edition called "note-4-note" or some such; it is hardly that. Yup, it starts somewhat like the original, but the solo and last half of the cut are positively soaring. Frampton has been doing this one in concert now and again (a slimmed down version of PF doing "wheeps" is on the Ringo's All Starr Band 3 disc set). So it's hardly new ground, and really rocks.
PF couldn't resist a little song tribute to his very adorable daughter (I saw her picture on the NBC TODAY Show some weeks ago) Mia Rose. It's drippingly sweet, and it works. Mia has a special Dad, and undoubtedly a special Mom who let's Dad rock-on-tour once in a while.
So on the 1-5 scale Peter Frampton NOW rates a solid 4 stars. No classic, but mighty good! Album runs about 47 or so minutes long; acceptable.
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ONTO THE OLDIES:
YOUNG HEARTS: The Steve Miller Band is the just-out complete greatest hits (the insert booklet makes a big deal out of "Abracadabra" is FINALLY on a hit's collection) of one of the absolutely unintentional pioneers of "Classic Rock." The first 12 songs on this collection ARE classic, bar none. It makes the 2nd half of the CD (total of 22 tracks, but 2 of them are spacy instrumental intros to songs you know by heart anyway if you are over 20). The second-half is lesser, but popular (what used to be called "album rock" or some such nonsense on FM radio when THAT mattered) songs, that are all very very good, but for one clinker. Get the disc and decide for yourself. HINT: throughout all of Miller's music, you hear very distant (and rarely nearby) echoes of other songs. Example? OK, Free's "All Right Now" vrs. "Rockin' Me" (baby). I could go on (and on) and on. Well on just one cut the Mill-meister rips HIMSELF off; it's blatant.
Nevertheless you cannot do better than this collection for being complete and downright fun, and a nice long 76 or so minutes too!
YOUNG HEARTS: COMPLETE GREATEST HITS of the Steve Miller Band gets 5 Stars!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE VERY BEST OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD also out last week is 77 minutes of special-taste DEAD for the casual listener or fan. All the biggies are here (Truckin' , Touch of Grey, Sugar Magnolia, Uncle John's band, Hell in a Bucket), but also are the semi-obscure nuggets that if you are a classic rocker (ugh!) or liked rock radio in the 70s and 80s you heard, but didn't go wild over. Of course now I assume you are NOT a Dead-Head. As you well know the Dead-Heads own every CD and that includes loads of live performances put out under the moniker "Dick's Picks" and there are loads of those. Nevermind the zillions of legal tapes fans were allowed to make and trade during the band's hey-days.
So, in a word a wonderful collection for someone who want's a taste but not a meal of the Grateful Dead's brand of mainly (for lack of better words) "country" rock. This is not your CD if you want anything more than a side-dish. If so, look for the insert with the CD where they list loads of super recordings (and other assorted stuff) you can preview or purchase from these wonderful musicians.
VERY BEST OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD gets 5 stars for casual listeners and 3.5 stars for real fans (since it's limited to one long lovely disc).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, before I sign off dear music nutz, I read we can look forward to Greatest Hits collections before the holidays by Bruce Hornsby, Bonnie Raitt, and Sheryl Crow, AND a stripped down re-release of the BEATLES: ABBEY ROAD (without the Phil Spector strings and production). STAY TUNED!
Zeph, out.
Very Best of The Grateful Dead
Very Best of The Steve Miller Band "Young Hearts"
Well, friends it's something new and two-things old. Let's do Frampton first.
Peter Frampton NOW, just out last week is a BUY. Now it helps if you like PF, even in his later years of a rare album of new material, followed by perversely repititious live albums that never quite hit the high mark set by "Frampton Comes Alive." Althought I really like the audio version of PF's "Live in Detroit" and it's Grammy nomination for rock instrumental (that sadly didn't win).
NOW is back to basics largely with fat sounding heavily chorded rock guitar. Stand-outs are "Verge of a Thing" which would be Peter's best studio song ever, IF he had better lyrics. I mean I know what "a thing" is, in the song, but couldn't you have been just a tad more clever? Even better is "I'm Back" which carries the line "like Arnold in Terminator" ... OK he sings the California (pronounced Cal-E-forn-E-ah) candidate's last name ('cause it rhymes) but I can't spell it off the top of my head. But it's a cool song, sharp rhythm, and nicely sung too. I have read a trashing of the lyrics of this one; I think you just have to see the fun in such a composition and get over yourself.
NOW also includes the late great George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Wheeps" originally of course recorded by the Beatle's lead guitarist with a man named Clapton. And again, I have read this edition called "note-4-note" or some such; it is hardly that. Yup, it starts somewhat like the original, but the solo and last half of the cut are positively soaring. Frampton has been doing this one in concert now and again (a slimmed down version of PF doing "wheeps" is on the Ringo's All Starr Band 3 disc set). So it's hardly new ground, and really rocks.
PF couldn't resist a little song tribute to his very adorable daughter (I saw her picture on the NBC TODAY Show some weeks ago) Mia Rose. It's drippingly sweet, and it works. Mia has a special Dad, and undoubtedly a special Mom who let's Dad rock-on-tour once in a while.
So on the 1-5 scale Peter Frampton NOW rates a solid 4 stars. No classic, but mighty good! Album runs about 47 or so minutes long; acceptable.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ONTO THE OLDIES:
YOUNG HEARTS: The Steve Miller Band is the just-out complete greatest hits (the insert booklet makes a big deal out of "Abracadabra" is FINALLY on a hit's collection) of one of the absolutely unintentional pioneers of "Classic Rock." The first 12 songs on this collection ARE classic, bar none. It makes the 2nd half of the CD (total of 22 tracks, but 2 of them are spacy instrumental intros to songs you know by heart anyway if you are over 20). The second-half is lesser, but popular (what used to be called "album rock" or some such nonsense on FM radio when THAT mattered) songs, that are all very very good, but for one clinker. Get the disc and decide for yourself. HINT: throughout all of Miller's music, you hear very distant (and rarely nearby) echoes of other songs. Example? OK, Free's "All Right Now" vrs. "Rockin' Me" (baby). I could go on (and on) and on. Well on just one cut the Mill-meister rips HIMSELF off; it's blatant.
Nevertheless you cannot do better than this collection for being complete and downright fun, and a nice long 76 or so minutes too!
YOUNG HEARTS: COMPLETE GREATEST HITS of the Steve Miller Band gets 5 Stars!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE VERY BEST OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD also out last week is 77 minutes of special-taste DEAD for the casual listener or fan. All the biggies are here (Truckin' , Touch of Grey, Sugar Magnolia, Uncle John's band, Hell in a Bucket), but also are the semi-obscure nuggets that if you are a classic rocker (ugh!) or liked rock radio in the 70s and 80s you heard, but didn't go wild over. Of course now I assume you are NOT a Dead-Head. As you well know the Dead-Heads own every CD and that includes loads of live performances put out under the moniker "Dick's Picks" and there are loads of those. Nevermind the zillions of legal tapes fans were allowed to make and trade during the band's hey-days.
So, in a word a wonderful collection for someone who want's a taste but not a meal of the Grateful Dead's brand of mainly (for lack of better words) "country" rock. This is not your CD if you want anything more than a side-dish. If so, look for the insert with the CD where they list loads of super recordings (and other assorted stuff) you can preview or purchase from these wonderful musicians.
VERY BEST OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD gets 5 stars for casual listeners and 3.5 stars for real fans (since it's limited to one long lovely disc).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, before I sign off dear music nutz, I read we can look forward to Greatest Hits collections before the holidays by Bruce Hornsby, Bonnie Raitt, and Sheryl Crow, AND a stripped down re-release of the BEATLES: ABBEY ROAD (without the Phil Spector strings and production). STAY TUNED!
Zeph, out.
