Let the Music Be Your Master.
Music post. And the peasants rejoice.
*The list of inductees to the Rock and Roll of Fame in 2006 have been announced. And to two of the names on this, I tell the HoF committee "It's about damn time!" The inductees:
Black Sabbath
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Sex Pistols
Blondie
Miles Davis
Now that's a good list. I might have to book it down to Cleveland to watch the ceremony. But Black Sabbath and Lynyrd Skynyrd. For years they've been dogged by the HoF committee. And for that many years, fans and musicians alike just screamed "How can two of the most influential bands of their respective times be kept out of a hall especially designed for those who rock?" Ozzy even sent the Hall a letter in 1999, which some may remember (I know I do. 'Course I wasn't exactly a Sabbath fan at that age) saying "Just take our name off the list. Save the ink. Forget about us. The nomination is meaningless, because it's not voted on by the fans. It's voted on by the supposed elite for the industry and the media, who've never bought an album or concert ticket in their lives, so their vote is irrelevant to me." But they aren't being kept out anymore. And Skynyrd. All they did was write the State Anthem for Alabama (note: Not really, but it many think it either should be or already is). And not just that, "Gimme Three Steps", "Simple Man", "Call Me the Breeze", oh, and a little ballad known as "Free Bird". My god, how is it that it took seven years for these guys to make it in? Jeez!
The Sex Pistols have to be the only group to only release 1 album to ever get inducted. It's quite possible that their only album, Nevermind the Bullocks, could be the most influential album of all time. It just blew up a whole new direction in punk. A lot is said about the Sex Pistols and their one album. "Most overrated album", "Most underated album", "Best punk band ever", "Worst punk band ever". Whether they deserve a spot in the hall is debatable. Personally, I love the Sex Pistols. I love Nevermind the Bullocks. I think, yes, they are the best band to ever have a single album, though to be fair, I can only name about 6 bands that have only released one album.
Round out with Blondie and Miles Davis. Rock on. Miles Davis is a straight up beast on the trumpet. As an 11-year trumpeter myself, any fool who takes up a brass instrument will tell you that Miles may be the greatest of them all. Of course, by inducting Miles, they're realling stretching the term "Rock and roll", but Miles did release a rock-inspired jazz album later in his career. Either way, he still kicks ass. And Blondie, sans the whine-fest that is "Heart of Glass", Blondie was also a tight 80s pop-rock band. Hall-worthy? Yeah, I think so.
* Memo to Scott Stapp: Jump in a volcano, please. I should make a memo to have congress pass a bill which would make it illegal for Scott Stapp to breathe.
I hated Stapp since he used his bad Eddie Vedder impression of a voice in that pissant group Creed. I mean, I enjoyed some of their tracks: "What If" and "Bullets" to name them. But picking a fight with one of my favorite bands just brings him lower down the respect-o-meter. Getting trashed and insulting the band and their wives just ain't cool. I agree with SA who thinks he was just seeking attention. I think Scott Stapp has been a drunk ever since the demise of Creed because he knows he's utter shit without them. Then again, he was utter shit with them too.
*I've read up on some new material for a trio of bands that I'm slightly anticipating, yet dreading.
Metallica entered the studio to start rehearsing for a new album. ... Mixed feelings on this. St. Anger was a big discredit to all things Metallica. And I know a bunch of people are fearing another one. Reading on the Taborama forum, most users are looking for the expansive writing of their 90s stuff paired with the raw thrash power of their 80s stuff. Well, not in that wording, because people on the Taborama forum are not that smart. But that's the jist. And that does seem like it would be a worthwhile mix. But what're the odds of it happening? Probably not so good. One dumbass even went so far as to say "Maybe it'll be another Kill Em All". Yeah that'll happen, and George Bush was legitamitely voted in as president. I will probably end up getting it whenever it comes out, but I know it's more apt to be another Load before it's another Master of Puppets. Metallica is well past its prime.
AC/DC has told media they're going to release another album and go on another world tour. The world tour, I am stoked about. These guys apparently have not lost a step in their live show over the many years, so says many concert goers and magazines. So I am going to make a lot of effort to get to a show if they come close. The new album though? ... Mixed feelings. Their last AC/DC-esque hit was "Thunderstruck" on Razor's Edge in 1993. Admittedly, their last cd in 2000, Stiff Upper Lip, was pretty good. And they haven't lost their edge in one bit. I mean, I could've sworn songs like "All Screwed Up", "Safe in New York City", and the title track were from their mid-80s days. But I don't know if they'll be able to sustain the AC/DC way on a cd this late in their amazing career. I might get it. Might. But hell yeah, I'm all for the tour.
In a recent interview, Jerry Cantrell said that while there are no ready plans, he wouldn't put the idea of a new Alice in Chains cd with a guest vocalist down the road. I'm slightly uncomfortable with that. I love Sean and Mike and Jerry. But an Alice in Chains cd without Layne would be like ... a Metallica album without Kirk Hammett busting out a guitar solo (o wait!). It just wouldn't be right. I know for a fact that Jerry is friends with the singer from Damageplan, AiC have done some tracks with Ann Wilson from Heart. They did a song with Wes Scantlin from Puddle of Mudd (ew). So who knows how that would work out. If they ever followed through, I probably would get it. My curiosity would just be too great. And musically, AiC were beyond amazing. However, please, unless someone revives Layne, keep AiC in the mystique of the 90s.
*Speaking of Alice in Chains, with my re-acquiring of Nothing Safe, I now have the complete AiC library, sans their live album and the box set, both of which are on the list. I think that's a pretty good feat considering coming into this year, I had two cds: Greatest Hits and Unplugged. So that would make it 6 AiC albums I bought this year. What can I say, my love for the band just grew to enormous proportions.
*I'm telling you, Hypnotize better be brilliant. It's the most I spent on a single CD since the Vines' Winning Days at $18. I went down to the Village Book Store this afternoon to get the new S.o.a.D. album and was met with the outrageous price of $18.50. I debated to myself whether I should just fuck it and either wait until I'm in Concord where I know Best Buy would have it at least a couple bucks cheaper or to just wait and see if I get it for Christmas. But in the end, I didn't want to wait, so I sprung for it. I have not listened to it yet as it's on backlog behind the other new cds I've recently bought. But like I said, it better be at very least equally amazing as Mesmerize or else I got ripped.
*And in the Bang Your Head Hard Against the Keyboard Repeatedly portion of the segment ...
Paris Hilton's CD comes out in a couple weeks...
A.W.E.S.O.M.E.
I'm sure it'll be complete shit.
*Am I the only one who thinks that Queen reforming sans Freddie Mercury is just ludicrous? With all due respect to Brian May who is an amazing guitar player, Queen was defined by Freddie and his flamboyance and easily recognizable vocals. To try to ressurect a band without him is just plain wrong. I don't care how much the new guy (Paul Rodgers of Free, and Bad Company for all of you playing the home game) does, Queen and any hope of a reunion died when Freddie did. They paid homage to him wherever they played, which was very righteous. But still, I think this is all wrong.
... Somewhere, Freddie and Layne Staley are both looking onward and going "Dude, What the fuck?"...
*The list of inductees to the Rock and Roll of Fame in 2006 have been announced. And to two of the names on this, I tell the HoF committee "It's about damn time!" The inductees:
Black Sabbath
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Sex Pistols
Blondie
Miles Davis
Now that's a good list. I might have to book it down to Cleveland to watch the ceremony. But Black Sabbath and Lynyrd Skynyrd. For years they've been dogged by the HoF committee. And for that many years, fans and musicians alike just screamed "How can two of the most influential bands of their respective times be kept out of a hall especially designed for those who rock?" Ozzy even sent the Hall a letter in 1999, which some may remember (I know I do. 'Course I wasn't exactly a Sabbath fan at that age) saying "Just take our name off the list. Save the ink. Forget about us. The nomination is meaningless, because it's not voted on by the fans. It's voted on by the supposed elite for the industry and the media, who've never bought an album or concert ticket in their lives, so their vote is irrelevant to me." But they aren't being kept out anymore. And Skynyrd. All they did was write the State Anthem for Alabama (note: Not really, but it many think it either should be or already is). And not just that, "Gimme Three Steps", "Simple Man", "Call Me the Breeze", oh, and a little ballad known as "Free Bird". My god, how is it that it took seven years for these guys to make it in? Jeez!
The Sex Pistols have to be the only group to only release 1 album to ever get inducted. It's quite possible that their only album, Nevermind the Bullocks, could be the most influential album of all time. It just blew up a whole new direction in punk. A lot is said about the Sex Pistols and their one album. "Most overrated album", "Most underated album", "Best punk band ever", "Worst punk band ever". Whether they deserve a spot in the hall is debatable. Personally, I love the Sex Pistols. I love Nevermind the Bullocks. I think, yes, they are the best band to ever have a single album, though to be fair, I can only name about 6 bands that have only released one album.
Round out with Blondie and Miles Davis. Rock on. Miles Davis is a straight up beast on the trumpet. As an 11-year trumpeter myself, any fool who takes up a brass instrument will tell you that Miles may be the greatest of them all. Of course, by inducting Miles, they're realling stretching the term "Rock and roll", but Miles did release a rock-inspired jazz album later in his career. Either way, he still kicks ass. And Blondie, sans the whine-fest that is "Heart of Glass", Blondie was also a tight 80s pop-rock band. Hall-worthy? Yeah, I think so.
* Memo to Scott Stapp: Jump in a volcano, please. I should make a memo to have congress pass a bill which would make it illegal for Scott Stapp to breathe.
I hated Stapp since he used his bad Eddie Vedder impression of a voice in that pissant group Creed. I mean, I enjoyed some of their tracks: "What If" and "Bullets" to name them. But picking a fight with one of my favorite bands just brings him lower down the respect-o-meter. Getting trashed and insulting the band and their wives just ain't cool. I agree with SA who thinks he was just seeking attention. I think Scott Stapp has been a drunk ever since the demise of Creed because he knows he's utter shit without them. Then again, he was utter shit with them too.
*I've read up on some new material for a trio of bands that I'm slightly anticipating, yet dreading.
Metallica entered the studio to start rehearsing for a new album. ... Mixed feelings on this. St. Anger was a big discredit to all things Metallica. And I know a bunch of people are fearing another one. Reading on the Taborama forum, most users are looking for the expansive writing of their 90s stuff paired with the raw thrash power of their 80s stuff. Well, not in that wording, because people on the Taborama forum are not that smart. But that's the jist. And that does seem like it would be a worthwhile mix. But what're the odds of it happening? Probably not so good. One dumbass even went so far as to say "Maybe it'll be another Kill Em All". Yeah that'll happen, and George Bush was legitamitely voted in as president. I will probably end up getting it whenever it comes out, but I know it's more apt to be another Load before it's another Master of Puppets. Metallica is well past its prime.
AC/DC has told media they're going to release another album and go on another world tour. The world tour, I am stoked about. These guys apparently have not lost a step in their live show over the many years, so says many concert goers and magazines. So I am going to make a lot of effort to get to a show if they come close. The new album though? ... Mixed feelings. Their last AC/DC-esque hit was "Thunderstruck" on Razor's Edge in 1993. Admittedly, their last cd in 2000, Stiff Upper Lip, was pretty good. And they haven't lost their edge in one bit. I mean, I could've sworn songs like "All Screwed Up", "Safe in New York City", and the title track were from their mid-80s days. But I don't know if they'll be able to sustain the AC/DC way on a cd this late in their amazing career. I might get it. Might. But hell yeah, I'm all for the tour.
In a recent interview, Jerry Cantrell said that while there are no ready plans, he wouldn't put the idea of a new Alice in Chains cd with a guest vocalist down the road. I'm slightly uncomfortable with that. I love Sean and Mike and Jerry. But an Alice in Chains cd without Layne would be like ... a Metallica album without Kirk Hammett busting out a guitar solo (o wait!). It just wouldn't be right. I know for a fact that Jerry is friends with the singer from Damageplan, AiC have done some tracks with Ann Wilson from Heart. They did a song with Wes Scantlin from Puddle of Mudd (ew). So who knows how that would work out. If they ever followed through, I probably would get it. My curiosity would just be too great. And musically, AiC were beyond amazing. However, please, unless someone revives Layne, keep AiC in the mystique of the 90s.
*Speaking of Alice in Chains, with my re-acquiring of Nothing Safe, I now have the complete AiC library, sans their live album and the box set, both of which are on the list. I think that's a pretty good feat considering coming into this year, I had two cds: Greatest Hits and Unplugged. So that would make it 6 AiC albums I bought this year. What can I say, my love for the band just grew to enormous proportions.
*I'm telling you, Hypnotize better be brilliant. It's the most I spent on a single CD since the Vines' Winning Days at $18. I went down to the Village Book Store this afternoon to get the new S.o.a.D. album and was met with the outrageous price of $18.50. I debated to myself whether I should just fuck it and either wait until I'm in Concord where I know Best Buy would have it at least a couple bucks cheaper or to just wait and see if I get it for Christmas. But in the end, I didn't want to wait, so I sprung for it. I have not listened to it yet as it's on backlog behind the other new cds I've recently bought. But like I said, it better be at very least equally amazing as Mesmerize or else I got ripped.
*And in the Bang Your Head Hard Against the Keyboard Repeatedly portion of the segment ...
Paris Hilton's CD comes out in a couple weeks...
A.W.E.S.O.M.E.
I'm sure it'll be complete shit.
*Am I the only one who thinks that Queen reforming sans Freddie Mercury is just ludicrous? With all due respect to Brian May who is an amazing guitar player, Queen was defined by Freddie and his flamboyance and easily recognizable vocals. To try to ressurect a band without him is just plain wrong. I don't care how much the new guy (Paul Rodgers of Free, and Bad Company for all of you playing the home game) does, Queen and any hope of a reunion died when Freddie did. They paid homage to him wherever they played, which was very righteous. But still, I think this is all wrong.
... Somewhere, Freddie and Layne Staley are both looking onward and going "Dude, What the fuck?"...