Weekly Album Of The Week #11

This weeks Weekly Album Of The Week is actually two releases and 6 CD's. The Roots of Rock 'n' Roll as well as its companion The Golden Era of Rock 'n' Roll are fantastic complilations that anyone who considers themselves to be a devotee of history/rock needs to listen to. There are people on here that I had never even heard of that are absolutely great!

Some Standouts from the Roots collection:

The original version of Hound Dog by Big Mama Thornton is greater than Elvis' version. Little Richard's Boogie is such a raw anbd energetic recording. Work With Me Annie on disk 3 is such a great recording. Check these out at the Roots link above.

Standouts from the Golden Era collection:

This has the typical stuff you would expect (Buddy Holly, Bill Haley and Comets, Big Bopper etc...) but the rare stuff is to die for. Mr. Lee on disc 2 (for some reason amazon.com has the track listed simply as "4") is both angry and sexy; great performance. The Coaster's There Goes My Baby. The Venture's Walk Don't Run. I'll Come Running Back To You by Sam Cooke is great.

Sorry to say not many listenable links at amaon on this one. But check it out at your library or buy it and NO MATTER WHAT MUSIC YOU ARE INTO I GUARANTEE THIS IS ONE PURCHASE YOU WILL NOT REGRET.

Weekly Album of the Week #10

Is it any wonder that the monkey's confused?

I don't usually like preachy political albums ... (ok well maybe I do have a soft spot for them) but this week Roger Waters' Album AMUSED TO DEATH has been on constant rotation in my car stereo. Released in 1994, this album's production, song writing, and performance is closer to the Pink Floyd sound than that same years Floyd (David Gilmour and a host of studio musicians parading as the real thing with token $$$ appearences by Rick Wright and Nick Mason) release the dismally boring The Division Bell.

Although this album is a-wash in Waters' political ideaology, it is so genuine and sincere that it still gets through to me. This album is a classic alone for the line "And the Germans killed the Jews and Jews killed the Arabs and the Arabs killed the hostages and that is the news. Is it any wonder that the monkey's confused?" This album is a classic IMHO and you should give it a listen here. Contrast this with the Division Bell link above and let me know what YOU think...

UPDATE ON WEEKLY ALBUM

Blogger is having problems uploading images right now. So check back later and I should have the Weekly Album of the Week #10 blogged.

Weekly Album Of The Week #9

So much has been written or said about this album recently that I felt I had to weigh in on what the truth is.

First Off: THIS IS NOT PAUL'S BEST ALBUM SINCE "MCCARTNEY"! The album as whole is stronger than what the majority of his solo albums have tended to prove (i.e. alot of filler and one or two memorable songs). The songs are interesting and each have individual characteristics which are memorable. Paul even sings like he (GASP!) means what he is singing and gives heart-felt performances (Jenny Wren sounds like its from the White Album and Follow Me which is receivably optimistic are the standouts) and with an easiness which actually seems alot less forced than he has in the past.

Second: Paul coudn't have gone wrong with Nigel Godrich(Radiohead's "OK Computer" and Beck's "Sea Change") as producer. Nigel is generally more interested in making an album which is cohesive and faithful to what the songs say than making a million dollars.

Lastly: This is Paul's best album since "Band on the Run". However "McCartney" still beats it by some and it is far and away from even touching "Band on the Run." Check it out here.

BOTTOM LINE: Macca's still got it.

Dammit Kid Stop Bothering Me!

"No more autographs, even after you've fixed those power converters."

The family of Phil Brown (the man who played Uncle Owen in the original Star Wars) has requested that fans no longer bother the aging 89 year old actor for his autograph. I thought he had died 10+ years ago! Check out this little blurb from TFN.

Weekly Album Of The Week #8

In 1603 Maria de Medici married Henry IV King of France. To celebrate the occasion, a local composer named Peri wrote the first (surviving) opera L'Euridice. The story is about a man named Orfeo who is going to marry his love, Euridice (yer-ee-dee-chae) and she is tragically bit by a snake the morning of their wedding and dies. So he travels to the underworld to bring her back. Peri's version had a happy ending with Orfeo finding her and bringing her back to the land of the living and "happily ever after" etc.... Meanwhile in Mantua, Claudio Monteverdi believed he could write an opera based on the same material (basically) and do it better. He changed the ending to better refelect the original Greek drama and had Orfeo agreeing with Hades that he could only bring her back if he didn't speak to her or look at her. He is unable to resist the temptation and when he looks at her she is taken back to the underworld and he dies.

The result of Monteverdi's hubris is what most educated people agree is the first operatic MASTERPIECE ever written: ORFEO. This is such a cool piece of music I couldn't even begin to gush about how awesome it is to listen to. How smartly this guy composed this piece has sent ripples into the opera world and can still be heard rumbling past us today. Check it out at a local library (like I did after studying it in my music literature class) or buy it on DVD (it is a faithful rendition of the premiere and gives you a pretty good into the past, if you're into that sort of thing). Either way it is time and money well spent.

Weekly Album of the Week #7

Nelly Nelly Nelly Nelly. Unfortunately the name conjures up a young rap artist with a band aid and gold teeth. But I am talking about the awesome singer, Nelly Furtado, from Canada who deserves to be bigger than she is. Her ablum Folklore is an awesome mix of hip-hop, rock, and a couple other things so that each track has a unique and distinctive personality. My personal favorites are Forca and Childhood Dreams. This album blew her debut album completely out of the water (her debut included her big hit singles Turn Out The Light and I'm Like A Bird)! Check it out here at amazon and buy the album. It is definately a worthy addition to any ecclectic CD collection.

Michael Sheard's Passing

I would just like to post a memorandum on the passing of Michael Sheard. Probably best known as Admiral Ozzel from The Empire Strikes Back. I believe he is the first person we actually see killed by a force choke in the star wars universe. He was also on Doctor Who quite a bit (he played Mergreave in Castrovalva).

Rest in peace Michael Sheard, you have failed me for the last time Admiral.