When you hear the voice of a band on it’s own, it really shows the vulnerability and strength of just what that person has to offer. Jeremy Enigk of Sunny Day Real Estate came into town on Sunday night and lit the crowd on fire. He was in top notch form and delivered the goods. His set was only a little over an hour long but it could have gone on all night. The Troubadour was the perfect setting for his return to the stage after 5 years. The new songs he sang sounded massive with just him playing. They were signature Jeremy, but had so much more to offer from a mature stand point. The classics he sang were beautiful and really went over well with the audience, not that they wouldn’t. One of the biggest highlights was his cover of The Police song “King Of Pain.” I personally can’t stand The Police (mainly because I can’t stand Sting as a person). This cover was tremendous and really stood out to me. As much as I and a lot of people would love a new Sunny Day Real Estate album, these new songs that Jeremy sang will for sure wet the appetite of those wanting just that. Speaking of his new album, Jeremy has launched a pledgemusic campaign to get his new album to all.
One of the most intriguing things about music is when you are listening to a band and a guest vocalist sings on a song and their vocal performance leaves a lasting impression on you. This happens to me a lot. One of the most memorable of these moments happened when Cold released their album 13 Ways To Bleed On Stage and I heard Sierra Swan sing on the songs “No One” and “Witch.” Her voice stayed with me and I wanted more and her contribution on the next Cold album on the song “Suffocate” further cemented my love for her voice. Fast forward years later when she released her album Ladyland, I immediately scooped that up. Early on in her career, Swan got together with Graham Edwards and formed the band Dollshead. The band was signed and eventually dropped from MCA records. Sierra was also a member of The Black Eyed Peas early on. She has worked with Linda Perry (she produced Ladyland), and most recently worked with Billy Corgan on her 2014 album The Good Soldier. Sierra’s voice is whimsical and takes you on quite a journey through her songs. She has one of the most pure voices in all of rock music. And her guest contributions really take those songs up a notch.
The 1990’s were truly a great time for music. One of the best things about that time were the soundtracks that came out. Even if the movie wasn’t that good, most of the time the soundtrack was great. As is the case with the terrible sequel to the masterpiece that is The Crow. The soundtrack far surpassed the film. The inclusion of songs from Hole, White Zombie, Bush, Deftones and Filter all made this worth while. The Hole song was a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Gold Dust Woman.” This could actually be the best song that Hole ever put out. White Zombie’s version of KC and the Sunshine Band’s “I’m Your Boogie Man,” was a fun song that had a great video to accompany it. Bush’s contribution was a really solemn cover of Joy Division’s “In A Lonely Place.” They really did a great arrangement with that song. Deftones song “Teething” is classic Deftones. They also appear in the film. Filter’s song “Jurrasitol” is another classic Filter song, that has become a fan favorite and a must play at live shows. Other bands and artists that appear on the soundtrack are Korn, PJ Harvey, Iggy Pop, Toadies and a few others. Sadly the movie doesn’t hold a candle to what the first movie was, but the soundtrack makes up for that. Even though the soundtrack to the first film is way better than this one!
The past few days I’ve been on a huge Metallica kick. So I thought it would only be fitting that I do an album rank of Metallica’s albums. So here they are from not their best to the best. This is also my personal opinion!
The amazing Failure debuted a brand new song at South By Southwest in Austin, TX this past weekend. As Ken Andrews said in the introduction this is the opening track from their forthcoming new album.
Failure- Hot Traveler
Alice In Chains is one of my favorite bands of all time. I’ve heard a few covers of Nutshell over the years and thought these two guys have been the closest to nailing it. What one do you think is better, Aaron Lewis or Corey Taylor?
Today the very talented Wild Throne released a new song entitled “War Is A Romance,” and have announced their debut album will be titled Harvest Of Darkness to be released August 18th from Roadrunner Records. This song is great. Loud heavy rock with a great sense of melody but not in the commercial way.
Take a listen and you’ll hear just why these guys are sooooooo good!
Last week I did a top 10 ranking of Nine Inch Nails. It was quite fun to read what you all thought. Today I thought why not rank another of my favorite bands videos. Here are the top 10 Deftones videos!
A bands second album is usually met with such high expectations if their first is filled with lots of praise that a lot of bands fail. Though sometimes the second album is beyond what you would expect. At the start of 1994, Radiohead began working on song arrangements for The Bends. The band nearly broke up due to the pressure of sudden success of Pablo Honey, as the tour extended into its second year. The band chose John Leckie to produce their new album. Leckie had been the producer on George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, and The Stone Roses debut. The engineer Nigel Godrich would later go on to become Radiohead’s go to producer for all albums to come. The band found the first two months of work on the album difficult. The band’s record label, EMI, had set an October 1994 release date for the record, which later proved unrealistic. EMI also suggested Radiohead should record the album’s lead single first. No one could agree on what the lead single should be, so the band worked on four tracks they considered candidates: “Sulk”, “The Bends”, “Just”, and “Nice Dream”. This proved to be counter productive and slowed things down. Jonny Greenwood would also add to the slow down by experimenting with several rented guitars and amplifiers in order to discover “a really special sound” for his instrument, despite Leckie’s belief that Greenwood already had one. Also during this time tensions were coming to a boil between Thom Yorke and the rest of the band. So John Leckie suggested to Thom that he record some songs by himself on guitar. During this time the band had taken a short break to do a small tour and recharge. The break for the tour proved to be just what they needed. Radiohead completed recording the album at Abbey Road Studios in London, where Leckie also mixed some of the songs. The Bends marked the start of a gradual turn in Thom Yorke’s songwriting approach from personal angst to the more cryptic lyrics and social and global themes that would come to dominate the band’s later work.This would also be the last Radiohead album to me predominantly “raw” and without any electronic elements.
The Bends has long been my favorite album of Radiohead. Don’t get me wrong I love OK Computer and Kid A, but this album a a whole is fantastic. The songs, the way they were written and then the track listing make this a perfect album. From the first note of “Planet Telex,”to the swooning “High and Dry, the more upbeat almost rocking, “Just,” and the perfect closer in “Street Spirit (Fade Out),” The Bends is a masterpiece and after 20 years still holds just as though it were released today.
