Jerry Douglas: Best Kept Secret

Well the album's name might be the Best Kept Secret, but it's no secret that Jerry Douglas is one of the finest musicians alive today.

A member of Alison Krauss' Union Station group, Douglas routinely writes blazing bluegrass instrumentals for their albums. Here, he shows he's at home playing rock ("She makes me want to sing"), Funk ("Back in Love" with Alison Krauss providing vocals), Bluegrass (with Bela Fleck playing Banjo), and Blues (with John Fogarty supplying vocals).

It's a tour de force album that might annoy some bluegrass die-hards but should delight everyone else.

Nice Soul Coughing Video

Soul Coughing is an awesome band, and this old cartoon fits so perfectly with the song.

Hope you enjoy as much as I did.

Napster's free site

BTW, I've been including Napster links for a lot of the tunes I've been reviewing of late because I think it helps if you can actually, you know, hear the music rather than just read what I think about it.

For those wondering how this works, you do need to register at the site but it's totally free. You can listen to any track 5 times without paying for it. It's a pretty neat set-up all in all.

Chuck

Pickin and Grinnin? Not. Nickel Creek

Beauty And The Mess

Bluegrass is probably my second favorite genre of music, for all the same reasons I like a lot of rock and punk. I like intricate music that makes me marvel at the skill of those playing it, whether it's Union Station or Primus.

Nickel Creek, a bluegrass band whose sound is so complex and unusual that it defies easy genre-slotting, blends folk, country, blues and bluegrass, along with a healthy dollop of classical influences into a sound as unique as it is arresting.

Track of the day: Pearl Jam "Worldwide Suicide"

Best album from Pearl Jam in a decade. Which is saying a lot, because Pearl Jam is the greatest rock band of my generation. Period.

And since seeing is believing...

Matisyahu performing "King without a Crown" from Live at Stubbs

Matisyahu: Live at Stubbs

Ok, when I first heard of Matisyahu, I thought it was a gag act. Nothing wrong with that. Heck some artists, like Ray Stevens and Weird Al have made a career out of it.

For the uninitiated, Matisyahu is a Hasidic Jew who sings about spirituality and philosophy in front of a Reggae band.

And he stage dives.

And performs in front of large enthusiastic crowds.

And has a major label record deal.

Did I mention he's totally serious and extremely talented?

All I can say is, listen to this CD that shows him interacting and feeding off a large crowd and marvel at his voice and how tight and excellent his backing band is.

It's rare to come across something different let alone unique. Matisyahu isn't a gimmick. He's the real deal. If you listen to this CD you won't be sorry.

Check out Matisyahu's official site, where you can hear the title track from his new CD, Youth.

Track Highlights

Track 2, "Chop 'em down" a song that meanders through several different emotions, starting softly and building in energy and fire. This song showcases all the strengths of Matisyahu: his amazing voice, his sincere and effective Marley-esque reggae delivery and his amazing band.

Track 5, "King without a crown" the first single off the album. This song has a TON of energy. It makes you want to move, even if only to tap your foot. Most reggae is too mellow for me, but this works. Live this number is close to frenetic and the audience loves it. Count me in.

Conclusion and Grade

It isn't often I listen to a new band and am totally hooked from the first song. This is one of those times.

A+

The Loop: Fall Out Boy "Of all the gin joints in all the world"

Of All The Gin Joints In All The World

Occasionally a track really gets its hooks into me (no pun intended) and I want to listen to it over and over again. Right now the track of choice is "Of all the gin joints in all the world" by Fall Out Boy.

Yes: 90125

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

You like that? I came up with it. Just now.

Ok not really, but just as that phrase by Dickens sums up just about every moment of human existence, so does it sum up this album, which showcases the best of 80's rock: its epic scope, it's willingness to try new types of songwriting and new technology. It also showcases the willingness to overproduce albums to death, hiding the actual music beneath layers of synths and echo vocals.

Even truly great bands like Rush succumbed to this technology, probably since it was just plain cool and as we all know any new technology is irresistable to men.

Since this flashy new production technology was a way to show you were hip, other bands from the 70's making comeback albums that wanted to make a splash and attract some attention also used this method, including the Blue Oyster Cult and Yes.

90125 took Yes from a band that made incredibly dense songs that featured virtuoso muscianship and lyrics that might make sense to you if you were very, very stoned and repackaged them as a radio friendly band perfectly situated for heavy rotation on MTV.

After a 3 year hiatus, longtime Yes members Jon Anderson (vocals), Chris Squire (bass guitar) and Alan White (drums) were joined by Trevor Rabin (guitar) and Tony Kaye, a member of the band in the late 60's and early 70's (keyboards). This album was given a slick production by former Yes vocalist Trevor Horn and sold over 6 million copies, making it Yes' most financially successful album.

With five of its 8 tracks receiving significant radio and/or MTV radio play, 90125 stayed on the charts for 53 weeks.

A further side note to illustrate how much electronics affected this album is the fact that its cover was generated on an Apple II.

Track Highlights

Track 1, "Owner of a Lonely Heart", one of the most sampled rock tracks ever recorded, an enormous radio and MTV hit, this song introduced Yes to a whole new generation of fans. This track is Yes' only #1 single to date and was even a hit on the R&B charts.

Track 3 "It can happen" another big hit from this album, this track is all about Jon Anderson's vocals.

Track 5, "Cinema" this incredibly complex instrumental, which was recorded live in the studio and won the Grammy for best rock instrumental proved that this new, slightly different Yes lineup could play with the virtuosity that had made their earlier incarnations famous.

Track 6 "Leave It" Another hit off this album which features one of the most stirring vocal tracks on any single.

Track 7 "Our Town" my personal favortie from this album, this track features some of the best synthesizer work you're ever going to hear.

Conclusion

A great album that still succeeds today despite how dated its electronics sound today (they were state of the art in 1983). In fact, today this album almost succeeds in spite of its production which seems to do everything possible to overshadow the music at times. Still, this is a great "classic" rock album (hard for me to think of it as classic since it hit the charts when I was in high school) that does hold up today.

Grade: A-

Top 5 Live Bands: #2

This one has to go to Tori Amos, who I saw at the Tampa theater. Tori is something else in concert, especially at a small venue (what she plays the majority of the time).

It's like meeting a stranger on a plane and being told an interesting story. When you leave you know you made a connection, but that you're not sure you will ever see the person again.

I think the #1 recommendation for any live act is "would you go see them again". In Tori's case the answer is definitely yes (though I'm not one of those people who follows anyone around on tour and watches them night after night).

Chuck

Elvis Presley

It's the 50th anniversary of Elvis' first album. To honor that event I thought I'd take a trip down memory lane and review one of the most celebrated albums in rock history. In fact you might just say that rock history begins at this exact moment.

And if you did, you'd be right.

When we think of history, we tend to think the way things turned out was a forgone conclusion. Since the Allies won WWII we downplay all the near misses and lucky breaks that made the war go the way it did.

While not exactly on the scale of a world war, the career of Elvis is often seen in the same light. How could anyone not see he was destined to be the best-selling recording artist of all time?

Well things were not quite so clear in 1956. Elvis, skillfully managed by Colonel Tom Parker and gaining a growing following from a rigorous tour schedule, especially in the south, was looking to leave the small record label where he had been recording singles, Sun Records, for a larger studio and eventually landed a deal with RCA.

Parker was a ruthless negotiator and the deal was a great one for his client, and other studio executives felt that RCA owner Steve Shole had committed a blunder in signing the relatively unknown singer to such a deal. The secretly referred to Elvis as "Sholes' folley".

Even more controversial was Sholes' decision to place Presley in the studio to record a full length album. The teenagers his style of rock appealed to didn't buy albums, they bought 45s.

That album, titled, Elvis Presley, started off with a little track called "Heartbreak Hotel", the song that would also be the first single off the album. This track started slowly but by the end of the year, following a series of appearances booked by the tireless Colonel Parker on TV variety shows, the album began to move up the pop charts.

Following a string of successful appearances on the Dorsey shows, Elvis was booked to a performance on the Milton Berle show in which his hip gyrations caused a storm of controversy. Controversy is always good, especially a sexy one and multiple singles began climbing the charts from Presley's debut album.

Very shortly, "Heartbreak Hotel" was the #1 song on the charts, the first of Presley's 100+ #1 singles. The album that was considered such a risk was the first Rock album to reach #1 on the chart's and RCA's first ever album to generate more than $1 million dollars in earnings (something it has since done many, many times over).

The rest, as they say, is history.

Track Highlights

Track 1, "Heartbreak Hotel", it's impossible not to like to this song. Even today it sounds like nothing else, with sparse instrumentation, Elvis has nowhere to hide. Fortunately hiding wasn't his style and he carries the track brilliantly with a delivery we take for granted today but which was unheard of in 1956.

Track 3, "Blue Suede Shoes", another legendary track and another song we take somewhat for granted today because it sounds like so much of the classic 50's rock we've heard everywhere from period films to the Happy Days tv show. Of course all those songs we've been listening to for 50 years by Roy Orbison and thousands of other performers were likely imitating this track.

Track 9, "Tutti Frutti", one of the things that set Elvis apart early in his career was his willingness to sing the songs of African-American performers and his ability to do them right. Here we see Presley doing a great rendition of the Little Richard classic. Many white radio stations in the south refused to play this track and others like it at first, thinking from his voice that the performer was black.

Track 10, "Tryin' to get to you", among Elvis' many strengths, as touched on above, was his ability to perform so many styles and impart his trademark style onto them. Blues, Soul, Pop, Rock, Country and Gospel were just a few of the genres he had chart-topping hits with. It added to his appeal and made his albums infinitely listenable since they encompassed such a wide range of music. This track is a great country number and one of the tracks from this album to receive wide play on country radio at the same time tracks like "Heartbreak Hotel" were dominating the rock radio airwaves.

Track 14, "Blue Moon" another standard from this debut album, this Rogers and Hart ballad showed yet another side of Evlis' range and foreshadowed the numerous hits he would have singing ballads and torch songs later in his career.

Track 15, "Shake, rattle and roll", this Charlie Calhoun classic was considered far to sexually charged for radio or television of the 50's with lines like "the devil in nylon hose", "you make me roll my eyes, baby make me grit my teeth", and "you wear those dresses, the sun comes shining through" was turned into a hit by Bill Haley and the Comets, using a santitized version of the lyrics and a less bluesy more pop-rock arrangement.

Elvis uses Haley's radio-friendly arrangement but his single uses the original, bawdy lyrics.

Conclusion

The original 12 track album is an amazing accomplishment, one of the greatest first albums ever recorded. The version issued by RCA today is even more stellar, with DSD remastering that sounds like it was digitally recorded in 56 and 6 tracks that were only released as singles in 1956 and not included on the original album.

Grade: A+

Top 5 Live Bands: #3

This can only go to one band and as I think about it, I realize I really have to catch him again next time he's in town: George Thorogood.

One of the best days of my life, I got a pass to the Riverside waterpark here in New England, which was a day and also got you into the show for free. I hadn't even planned to go to the concert, didn't know who it was. When I heard it was the Destroyers, I decided to stay an extra couple of hours to see the show and man was it worth it.

George and the boys put on a great show, for over 4 hours. He would not stop playing until the park officials turned the lights out on him. An amazing show.

If MTV could make videos like this...

I'd watch.

The most notable thing about this video is that its better than the actual video on MTV (plus its hilarious).

Top 5 Live Bands: #4

I saw Live at an outdoor music festical in Florida called Livestock, where you went and camped next to a prison in this farmer's field and listened to music acts all weekend.

It was sort of surreal.

Live was one of the three headliners who played last, along with Bush and Hootie and the Blowfish and were touring in support of their second album (and I believe best selling album) Throwing Copper.

It was clear that they were beat, my guess would be with the unexpected success of the album they had added tour dates like crazy.

They arrived very shortly before their set and came out with very little in the way of a sound check and just hit it.

It was a very raw, very emotional performance.

Top 5 Live Bands

My personal selection of course, but I thought I'd take you through the best live shows I've ever seen and why.

Number 5: Candlebox

It's really, really hard to be an opening act. When you're opening for a band that a strong following, its even harder. When you're opening for a band *known* for the devotion of its fans, well that's a real trick.

I saw Candlebox open for Rush in 94 and they were clearly a young band. Not many showed up for the opening act (one of the reasons its harder to open for a band with such a strong following) and Candelbox was doing some of the things hair bands do. It was tough to watch for a few minutes, people were laughing at them. I'd be surprised if they could hear it- but they clearly knew they were losing the audience in a big way.

What happened then impressed me tremendously. They stopped flipping their hair around, started playing and singing with a new intensity, and after seeing them I went and put down money for my first Candlebox album.

Not one of my favorite bands of all time or anything, but a live performance in which a band seemed to grow up before my eyes, made an impression (a good one) and won over a crowd.

Alanis Morisette: Jagged Little Pill (Acoustic)

Its rare to see an artist revisit their work soon after release. When it does happen, especially with someone in the mainstream, one usually smells the aroma of money in the air.

And sometimes, as I suspect was true in this case, its because that artist wants to see how far she's come as a musician, and treats the rest of us to come along for the ride.

Track Highlights

Track 2, "You Oughta Know", this track, a monster hit in its "plugged" incarnation, replaces the energy and rock drive of the original for pure, unbridled pain that would be hard to listen to if it wasn't so compelling. Alanis knows from pain but this track really lets that shine through. And with less noise to hide behind the expressiveness of her voice and the pain it carries is palpable.

Track 7, "You Learn", another hit off JLP, this track is an excellent show of musicianship, especially of Alanis' voice. She carries this tune and with a spartan production its even prettier.

Conclusion

Jagged Little Pill (Acoustic) accomplishes something I never thought it would: it's better than the original. How many remakes can you say that about? Alanis has made great strides as a singer and a musician, and revisiting her break through hits show that in a much more drastic way than comparing different albums ever could.

Grade: A+

Junior Brown's Greatest Hits

Junior Brown is one of the unsung heroes of Country music today.

Why is he unsung? Well he actually makes country music and he doesn't do faux patriotic screeds to fire up the drunk rednecks.

Most country radio today is dominated by pop acts who wear cowboy boots, throw in the occasional fiddle and steel guitar and record in Nashville.

Johnny Cash isn't hip enough to be played on country radio. Just everywhere else.

Anyway, rant over, we're here to talk about Junior Brown and "Blackfoot Rag", a track from his Greatest Hits album that is a great introduction to the coolness that is Junior. He is a straight up honky tonk guitar player who can outpick and outgrin just about anyone.

He also ventures into other styles of music closely related to honky tonk including boogie woogie and 60's beach instrumentals. For spice he throws in the occasional soulful country ballad.

Track Highlights

Track 3, "Sugarfoot Rag" Great instrumental, shows off Junior's honky-tonk skills nicely.

Track 8, "Semi Crazy" great and funny song about a trucker. Now that's what country music should be.

Track 9, "Venom Wearing Denim" Song about a bad girl. Another country classic.

Track 10, "Joe the Singing Janitor" Really shows off Junior's baritone voice.

Conclusion

If you're in the mood for real country, this is the album (and maybe the artist) for you.

Grade: A

Desert Island Discs

This site rocks. People post their top 10 discs they couldn't live without if they were on a desert island.

Desert Island Discs

I highly recommend this. Great way to see what other people love. Not like, love.

Chuck

Green Day: Kerplunk

Before they were making political punk taking aim at the Bush administration, even before they stars with a mainstream breakthrough album on a major label, Green Day was just a punk band.

But as Kerplunk proves, they were a damn good one.

Green Day is a band I always associate with energy. When I'm sluggish or depressed I can slap in a disc and "Basket Case" or "Burnout" will pick me right up.

It's also a truism that young bands are filled with energy.

So when you think of a young Green Day, you'd expect an album brimming with energy and that's exactly what you're going to get. Frenetic, raw, unbridled punk energy.

Sometimes the riffs aren't as clean as they are on Dookie or American Idiot but for all that, this album ranks as one of their best.

Track Highlights

Track 1, "2000 Light Years Away" a Green Day punk-romance and its not even about a hooker. Awww how sweet.

Track 3, "Welcome to Paradise", a track that landed on their major label debut Dookie here we have a raw version that, quite simply, crushes the clean track like a grape. And this from a guy who would rate "Welcome to Paradise" as one of his favorite Green Day songs before he heard this version.

Track 6, "Dominated Love Slave", a hilarious track that has a country western vibe to it.

Track 12, "Words I might have ate", the classic Green Day punk played with acoustic guitars. The vocals are especially raw, but who cares. Hard driving acoustic music is awesome and something more bands should do more of.

Track 16, "My Generation" terrific cover of the Who classic.

Conclusion

A great look at a band just getting started, this first album with the full Green Day lineup (they produced one album before this with a different drummer) shows why they will become international stars and sell out arenas. It might be just me, but I prefer the young rough cuts on this album to many of their slicker, later numbers.

Grade: A+

Unchained: Johnny Cash

One of the best CDs recorded anytime, anywhere, Unchained takes Johnny Cash, backs him up with Tom Petty and the freaking Heartbreakers, and then sets him loose to perform covers and original songs (many written for him by Tom Petty).

As you can imagine with a lineup like this, it's pretty damn good.

Track Highlights

"Rusty Cage", a Soundgarden cover. Rarely is a cover better than the original. Even more rare does a cover completely destroy the original and make you never want to hear it again, preferring the cover.

I'm not sure if this says something about Soundgarden, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and conclude that it's just that Johnny Cash is that good.

"I've Been Everywhere", the Bob Dylan classic. In this case I again have to conclude that the cover is better than the original. Here the Heartbreakers really show why they are legendary band, and Cash's baritone is never more full of life than on this track.

Grade: A+