Metallica and Lou Reed tank it

The much-hyped collaboration between Metallica and Lou Reed hit shelves this week, and it’s pretty terrible. Both the heavy metal kings and the former Velvet Underground head have talked the project up like it was the second coming of chocolate and peanut butter. Unfortunately, it comes across more like sour cream and coffee.

Yes - it’s that bad.

Dubbed Lulu, the 10-song mish-mash has been getting skewered by critics and fans around the globe. And those who aren’t cutting it down are calling it some sort of artsy concept project in defense and that people just “don’t get it.” Traditionally, when something is pegged highbrow or has the artsy tag put on it, it’s just another way of saying that it stinks. 

Reed and Metallica first got the idea to do something when they performed together at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 25th Anniversary Concert in 2009, playing the Velvet Underground classics “Sweet Jane” and “White Light/White Heat.”

From the outset, Lulu seemed like an odd pairing, even more so when details started coming out about the subject matter, which is inspired by German expressionist Frank Wedekind’s early 20th century plays Earth Spirit and Pandora’s Box.

The result is basically the gravely voiced Reed ranting, rambling and spouting off spoken word nonsense while the Metalli-machine riffs off in the background, often at breakneck speeds that constantly outpace the dour vocals. The music is loose, never quite coming together to form a consistency, making it desirable or for that matter listenable. It’s like an album full of demos of songs that no rational human being could see going anywhere other than the garbage bin.

Metallica and Reed: Mismatch made in hell.

One Thirty BPM speculated in a review, “The whole thing comes off as either an expensive major label joke,” while The Quietus goes as far to say, “Not only is Lulu the worst thing any of the players have been involved in, it's quite possibly a candidate for one of the worst albums ever made.”

“I would say that it’s not for everyone,” Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett told Revolver magazine this week. “It definitely is not for everyone. If you can tune into it, I would say that that’s a great thing. But if you can’t really relate to it, that’s fine, too, because it really isn’t for everyone.”

Poor Hammett; stuck with the unenviable task of justifying the indefensible.

And it couldn’t come at a worse time for Metallica. The band released Death Magnetic in 2008, which was considered by many to be a return to its thrash metal roots of the past. At the very least it was a step forward in the right direction after years of confusing fans with differing musical styles, experimentation with a classic and beloved sound and alienating even the most hardcore fans.

Now, Metallica has take two giant steps back. The band has already begun the writing process for its next record, which probably won’t see the light of day until 2013 at the earliest, and there’s no telling where the sound will go - but hopefully it’s in no way influenced by the Lulu project.

Metallica’s prior stumbles
The total failure of Lulu is easily the biggest blunder in the career of Metallica. But there have been incidents in the past that have come to define the band in ways that are still talked about to this day.

Here are five of the worst:

1988: Where’s the bass?
Coming off the tragic loss of bassist Cliff Burton in a bus accident, Metallica brought in Jason Newsted. But listening to …And Justice for All, you would think that the band didn’t bother getting anyone to fill the bass slot, so low in the mix the instrument is turned down. Justice is a masterpiece, possibly the band’s finest moment, but the lack of bass still sticks in the craw of many.

1996: The Haircuts
It’s hard to imagine now how much superficial stock was once put in hairstyles, but one of the defining aspects of heavy-metal was the imagery, and having long hair was the lead characteristic. So when Metallica showed up with the release of “Load” in tailored suits, shorn locks while puffing on Cuban cigars, fans where aghast; and it didn’t help matters that the music was significantly less abrasive, taking on a more rock-oriented feel as opposed to the crushing riffage of the past.

2000: The Napster Controversy
The entire concept of file sharing turned the music industry on its collective ear. Suddenly songs were available for free to anyone who had a dial-up connection. The service Napster was leading the charge, and musicians didn’t know what to do. Metallica, more specifically drummer Lars Ulrich, became the face of the movement to take back what was rightfully theirs; the music.

There was no doubt that Ulrich and the other artists who decided to do something about such blatant theft were completely in the right. But when he delivered a list of some 300,000 names to the Napster offices of users who illegally downloaded Metallica songs, it quickly became the millionaires who were suing their fans.

2003: St. Anger
Metallica was in shambles at the turn of the century, the aforementioned Napster controversy, the departure of fan favorite bassist Jason Newsted and intra-band tensions coming to a boil resulted in a directionless attempt to reclaim the heavy-metal crown. St. Anger featured no guitar solos, a bottomless vat of riffs in each song that didn’t have any clear-cut beginning or end, out of tune vocals by singer James Hetfield and a horrid drum sound that reminded many of beating on pots and pans.

2004: Some Kind of Monster
To the average music fan, Some Kind of Monster is fascinating; the documentary is an in-depth look at a band coming apart at the scenes, going through group-therapy, trying to figure out how to function as a unit while having no bass player and a newly-sober frontman. But Metallica fans, some of the most hardcore on the planet, didn’t want to see their heroes talking about their feelings! They didn’t want to see the metal behemoths so exposed and raw - it was all too real.

Article first appeared in the November 4 Rock Music Menu in The Daily Times

Iceland Airwaves: A different kind of festival

Rock Music Menu has just returned from another road trip in search of exciting new musical experiences to share with readers.  This time travels took me to Reykjavík for Iceland Airwaves, a five day music event that takes place each fall, and one that single-handedly provides the reason for the very existence of destination music festivals.

Started as a single event in an airplane hangar in 1999, Airwaves has become one of the most respected and important festivals on the rock music scene.  This year, it drew thousands of fans from far and wide to see some 250 bands from the United States, Europe and of course Iceland, where it seems as if everyone who lives there is in some sort of musical outfit.

What makes Airwaves different from, say, a Lollapalooza, Sasquatch! or Coachella is you get the opportunity to see just as much music - if not more, but in a decidedly more intimate setting.  Any one of those multi-day events can top out with crowds of 100,000 per day, but Reykjavík itself is home to a population that is just about 200,000 with an additional few thousand or so traveling from out of the country for Airwaves, leaving the total amount of attendees at around 6,000.

Then there is the weather; most of the stateside events take place in the summer swelter, causing boozy brains to fight dehydration, clothing and the stink of the dude who decided to go through Bonnaroo without washing for a few days.  Airwaves is tailor-made for the indie-rock fans-of-fall set, those who want to dress up in layers, mill about the historic streets and pop in and out of venues at will.  This year, the temperatures hovered around 40 degrees, and while it got blustery and rainy at times, it would never last for a period past an hour or so.

A crowd surfer at Reykjavík Art Museum

Headliners were spread across ten main venues, where capacity can be anywhere from 100 to 900 people.  The settings tend to be unique; a church, art museum and historical theater all played host this year.  Then there are a dozen or so "off-venues," places where smaller artists play in a spot which can range from a pub to a trendy club to a quiet hostel.

Unlike any festival I've ever been to, where you plan out nearly every waking moment according to the schedule, it's completely futile to do it at Airwaves.  You can try - I definitely did, but then you start meeting people; locals, fellow travelers, artists on off-days, and everyone is in such an excited mood about the experience that it's easy to get swept away by new friendships or hot tips on an act where there may not be a long line waiting to get in.

Musically, the highlights came one after another.  It kicked off slowly Wednesday night with local indie-folk act Of Monsters and Men taking the reigns.  The six-piece were the talk of the festival, playing three high-profile shows and scores of smaller acoustic shows.  Locally, Philly’s 104.5 started to play the song "Little Talks" weeks ago, and the group is garnering positive comparisons to the likes of Arcade Fire, Mumford and Sons and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

Thursday night, Beach House, a dream pop act out of Baltimore, was captivating at a full and dimly lit Reykjavík Art Museum, which is set up like a half-sized Electric Factory.  Playing concurrently was Active Child, aka Los Angeles singer-songwriter Pat Grossi, who had filled up the nearby NASA with those curious to see him on harp, which he uses to create a haunting and chilly sound.

Yoko Ono

Late night saw Yoko Ono bring a configuration of the Plastic Ono Band to Harpa that included son Sean Lennon.  It also brought the police who came to shut down the show after she ran over curfew.  There's no confirmation to the rumors that locals cheered in unison when that went down.

Early Friday evening at Kex, a hostel which also plays host to a large bar and restaurant, John Grant played to a packed house  looking to catch a glimpse of the singer-songwriter, a Denver native now living in Sweden, who was performing as the final act the following night at Harpa. 

Following Grant's brief set, many moved onto the bigger shows, but missed an inspired set by New Jersey's own Caged Animals, who were on their third and final show of the festival.  Dressed in all white and now making its home in Brooklyn, NY, the quintet jittered through a set that only grew in intensity with each song.  Prediction: this band is going to be making some waves on these shores soon enough.

Sinéad O'Connor

But few could top Sinéad O'Connor, who delivered a spirited set in a Lutheran church called Frikirkjan.  Rocking a military buzz cut and doing a primarily acoustic show, the oft-maligned Irish voice gave such a powerful performance that it's easy to envision a major comeback next year when her new album is slated to come out. 

O'Connor was focused, funny and emotive in ways that seemed to come effortlessly.  She had such a commanding presence that the rapturous audience was respectfully silent but let out furious rounds of applause at the end of each song, something that left the bespectacled singer turning and bowing her head down bashfully with great frequency.

Saturday at Iceland Airwaves begins with what has quickly become a tradition, The Blue Lagoon Chill, commonly referred to as “The Hangover Party.”  Hundreds descended upon the world famous geothermal spa 40 minutes outside of Reykjavík, filling it by noon and taking in the spinning by local DJ Margeir and witnessing live performances by Daníel Ágúst of GusGus and the disco electro of Human Woman. 

It was surreal, with snowcapped mountains surrounding in the distance, a bar you can swim up to in the middle of the Blue Lagoon, an abundance of white silica mud to make facemasks that left silky smooth skin and a girl in a one-piece bathing suit double hula-hooping to the music.  Oh, and the hoops were on fire.  All of that before the Saturday shows officially kicked in made for a pretty solid appetizer in anticipation of the last full-night craziness. 

Bathed in bleak but danceable as heck was Austra, a band out of Canada that has been touted as being one of the best new acts of the year.  No disagreements here.  James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem fame retired his band earlier this year, but his DJ set at Faktory proved that he is still a major draw.  A line stretched around the block, and once you got into the venue, there was an additional wait to get upstairs into his set.

The night ended with yours truly donning a Ronald Reagan mask in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Reykjavík Summit and leading the full house at Dillon Rock Bar through standards by AC/DC, Rage Against the Machine and Nirvana.

It was complete madness I tell you.

Iceland Airwaves wound down on a quiet Sunday, there were a few more acts bouncing around a town that was beginning to thin out as foreigners sleepily made their way back to the airport to catch flights.  The country’s most famous musical export, Björk, closed things out at the stunning, just opened venue Harpa Silfurberg, promoting her new record Biophilia.

Rock Music Menu stuck around for several days afterward, absorbing a local music culture teeming with vibrancy even when a festival isn’t going on.  It’s sufficed to say that the scene there is like few others, in that it’s sustainable because the artists are so supportive of one another.  Nightly you can go to see an act playing with someone from another outfit joining them for a song or two before heading elsewhere.

Look for Iceland to be a force in the coming years, and in no small part will it be due to the continuing praise that Airwaves is receiving and unabashed love that the country has for music.

Article first appeared in the October 27 Rock Music Menu in The Daily Times

A Nirvana milestone: ‘Nevermind’ turns 20

Nirvana’s breakthrough album, Nevermind, turns 20 this weekend, and for most music fans and musicians, its release is a “Where were you when JFK got shot?” moment. The album would come to define grunge, was a complete changing of the guard and ushered bands like Pearl Jam and Soundgarden into the mainstream while effectively dispensing with the spandex clad hair metal purveyors of the time like Poison and Warrant.

“Let’s face it, once Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” hit, the whole scene was dead,” Kip Winger told the site Metal Sludge a few years ago.

Winger was just one of the dozens of bands pretty much obliterated by the impact of Nirvana. There are so many artists that were playing arenas and mid-tour had to downsize to clubs; that is if they weren’t pulled from the road by a record label that no longer saw a profit in keeping them out.

And while many are on the fence as to whether it changed the landscape for the better, there is little doubt that the impact of grunge is still felt to this day. It didn’t start with Nevermind, but that was certainly the watershed event for the movement.

A few weeks prior to its release, I was just a kid working at a record store in the Granite Run Mall and we got in the CD maxi single for “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Like the rest of the staff, I was somewhat familiar with the band’s debut, Bleach, a fuzzed out, decidedly low-fi album that was in the shuffle with the rest of the Sub Pop records catalog. But when we dropped that single into the in-store stereo after hours and blasted it near top volume - everything changed.

It was the absurdly abrasive and catchy “Teen Spirit,” a track that ripped off Boston’s “More Than a Feeling” and took its light/heavy cue from The Pixies, which swung wide the flood gates for the simmering Seattle Sound. The simple and sparse opening riff, supplanted by the ferociously powerful Dave Grohl drum drop at six seconds in, turns into a big spiral of fuzzed out guitar and shredding vocals that instantly blew everyone away.

Critics would deride the song for its mundane lyrics (“A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido” anyone?), but sometimes the most powerful songs don’t need to make sense; see “Stairway to Heaven” for instance; what exactly was the bustle in Robert Plant’s hedgerow? Propelled by the unexpected success of “Teen Spirit,” Nirvana rode the wave through the new year, when Nevermind knocked Michael Jackson’s Dangerous off the top of the Billboard charts.

It was also around that time when the band was appropriated by the jocks and the preps, leaving the artsy high school and college students to sulk back to their Fugazi EPs. It was ironic that they lost their band to a song featuring the line: “Our little group has always been/And always will until the end.” Kurt Cobain never left that mindset, despite being embraced by the establishment.

Still, it was a business, and there would have to be concessions made. March of 1992 saw “Come As You Are” released as a single, the second in a spate of carefully constructed moves engineered to keep the hype machine in motion. Mid-summer came “Lithium” and mid-fall “In Bloom” would be the fourth and final single from the record.

Deeper cuts didn’t really exist on Nevermind; it was one of those works that you could play the entire way through. From the distorted circular guitar attack of “Breed” to the punk rock of “Territorial Pissings,” there were no weak tracks. The pop-turned-rabid “Drain You” remains one of Nirvana’s greatest achievements - and for a bonus, see the version on the “Come As You Are” single to experience just how deadly the song could be live. “Something in the Way” closed out the album, a tender acoustic piece shocking in how stark of a contrast it was to the bombast and bluster that preceded it.

Expectedly, there are boatloads of cash to be made in commemoration of landmarks like Nevermind turning 20, and Universal Records has a multi-format package in a few different configurations ranging from a four CD/single DVD Super Deluxe edition to a standard digital remaster of the original album. The reissue, which hits shelves Tuesday, makes the most of the occasion, unearthing dozens of previously unreleased recordings, obscure B-sides, alternate mixes, radio sessions, studio rarities and live recordings including a Halloween 1991 concert at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre in its entirety.

The limited and numbered Super Deluxe edition, with just 10,000 copies made, more than lives up to its name as one of the most expansive and ambitious collections of its kind. In addition to the original remastered album and accompanying studio and live B-sides, it contains the first full official release of the pre-Nevermind demos recorded at producer Butch Vig’s Smart Studios, as well as boombox recordings of subsequent rehearsals where the songs beginning to take shape.

The Super Deluxe also offers an altogether new perspective on the finished Nevermind album in the form of the “Devonshire Mixes.” This is the long sought after version of the album as produced and mixed by Vig as opposed to the commercially released final version produced by Vig and mixed by Andy Wallace. Rounding out the set are a pair of previously unreleased BBC recordings and the aforementioned live show on a DVD that also features all four music videos from the record. Finally, there is a 90-page bound book full of rarely and never before seen photos, documents and various other visual artifacts of the Nevermind era.

If you don’t feel like dropping the $100 plus on the Super Deluxe, there is a more financially palatable two CD deluxe edition featuring the remastered album and B-sides, the Smart Studio sessions, boombox rehearsals and BBC sessions. And then there is a four LP 180-gram heavyweight vinyl edition featuring the same 40 tracks as the Deluxe Edition, a remastered CD of the original album, and digital versions of the standard and deluxe editions.

To many purists and hardcore Nirvana fans the follow-up to Nevermind, the much rawer In Utero, was a better representation of the band’s sound. There are a multitude of variables to consider in that argument, including the fact that it wasn’t as radio-friendly as its predecessor and therefore didn’t infiltrate the consciousness of listeners like the nonstop spins the tracks on Nevermind received.

Despite the incessant overkill from both radio and MTV, there is no denying the appeal, impact and near perfection that, as a whole, Nevermind delivered to the masses. A new generation needed a shift, a musical revolution, and Nirvana delivered the soundtrack to lead the charge.

Original article appeared in the September 23 Rock Music Menu in The Daily Times

Making the case for vinyl

Part 2: What you need

When it comes to collecting vinyl, the first question people tend to ask is, “Where do I start?” That’s an easy answer: with a record player. You just need to figure out in what manner you’re going to use it. Is this going to be a serious venture as a budding audiophile, or a phase of which you’ll soon tire?

Technics is the best known name when it comes to turntables, but they had cornered the market a bit by patenting the motor-driven platter design. That patent has run out after its 25 years, and now companies are not only able to use it, but improve upon it via today’s technology. For that reason, if you’re ready to jump into the deep end, Stanton is the way to go.

Dubbing its turntables as “no-nonsense,” the company prides itself on being the go to brand for both DJs and audiophiles. Stanton carries half a dozen different models, from the basic package in the belt-drive model T.52 ($120) to the all encompassing top of the line ST.150 and STR8.150 ($450). The engineering on this equipment goes back to what I was saying before about collecting vinyl being an art from. All of the Stanton products are designed with the vinyl enthusiast in mind, no matter how you play them.

The ST.150 series in particular has a bunch of serious features that are virtually unmatched in the field; durable construction, minimal feedback, an industry leading torque motor and an ultra-stable platter and tone arm. There’s a 50 percent pitch adjustment, Key Correction and reverse features and digital outputs that allow you to download the vinyl directly to your computer with all three speeds represented; 33, 45 and 78 rpms.

You can tell how serious the business is here by the weight of the unit; it runs nearly 40 pounds. That’s good news when it comes to minimizing vibrations, skipping etc., be it from the kids jumping up and down or the bass from the new Beastie Boys shaking the rest of the room. It’s not going to skip, the needle isn’t going to bounce around and you really won’t find better stability.
 
Now you’ve got the player, so go pick up come vinyl! You don’t have to go crazy, pick up something here and there, because for most people, they already have a music collection. Think about what some of your favorite recordings are and do some research, looking into what the best version on vinyl is floating around. For example, Physical Graffiti, arguably Led Zeppelin’s finest moment, came out in 2005 on 200 gram heavyweight vinyl. That’s no joke, and neither is the price, since it was a limited edition, it’s around $200 brand new. Excessive? Let your ears be the judge.

Sometimes you have to consider that your neighbor, dorm mate or people in the next town over don’t share your unfettered enthusiasm for blaring “Kashmir” at all hours of the night. That’s why you need a quality pair of headphones to settle into and get lost in the music, and rarely does something come along as good as the Red Wave headphones by Numark ($99).

I had planned on saving talking about these for an upcoming column on DJing, but they’re just too good to keep a secret until then. The first thing you notice about the Red Wave headphones is the look; it’s sleek, classy, like you mean business. And frankly, that’s what you want in headphones for cranking the vinyl; a pair of $20 Sony headphones just isn’t going to cut it.

Red Wave go over the ear, with the cups made of “protein leather,” designed to remain comfortable for long-term use. Personally, I had these on for a couple hours and completely forgot they were there; they’re light, not restrictive and adjust to a big or small melon so that you can just get lost in the music without having to constantly readjust and fidget to make it feel right.

The sound is impeccable, the noise-canceling cups will totally isolate you from the rest of the world, so be extremely careful when wearing them outside - you aren’t going to hear an 18-wheeler coming until you are under it and the headphones get knocked off. The Red Waves fold up and store nicely too, and the swivel cups are convenient for doing a one-sided listen between the ear and the shoulder for when you want to cue something up and then maybe let another person listen in - because you won’t want to keep this sound to yourself.

Finally, let’s mix in a little bit of portable fun. Remember those old-school players that were a suitcase you just popped open and there was a turntable inside, ready to go? Crosley is still making them, and they are just as sweet now as they were then - perhaps even more so. The CR49 Traveler Turntable ($100) is plug in and play.

It’s lightweight, sturdy and for what it’s worth, sounds great. Set up for all three speeds, it has speakers built in on the side and is about as simple to operate as they come — drop the needle and instant excitement. Try it out at the next party; while everyone else is whipping out their iPods, scrolling through a collection in the hundreds - if not more, you can go all Mad Men with the suitcase record player, and watch as eyes get wide and respect is instantly given.

That’s the power of vinyl.

Article first appeared in the September 10 Rock Music Menu in The Daily Times

Making the case for vinyl

Part One: Call it a comeback

A couple weeks ago, I walked into a local specialty music store that shall go unnamed. But you know the type; they sell guitars, amplifiers, snare drums, pedals, etc. I was looking for a dustcover for my new turntable, a Stanton STR8.150. Online, it had said this was one of the official dealers for accessories to the record players.

But when I asked for the dustcover, an older lady said that not only did they not have any record players let alone accessories, but informed me in a rather grandmotherly manner that, “Sweetie, vinyl has been on the way out for a longtime now … so you’re probably going to be out of luck wherever you look.”

Though the reaction was slightly better than the one I received at Best Buy when I asked where turntable accessories were located (“I’m sorry sir, but we don’t carry furniture.”), my senior citizen friend could not have been more wrong in her assertion that vinyl was near extinct.

The fact of the matter is vinyl has been on an upswing for years, as audiophiles have tired of MP3 compression and digital quality in other formats like CDs and streaming. It’s become something that is being embraced by bands and fans alike, a comeback that shows no signs of slowing down; especially as artists begin to dedicate more time and effort into vinyl, fans are paying more attention.

Information released this past January showed vinyl sales rising 14 percent from 2009 to 2010, according to the Nielsen Company and Billboard’s 2010 Music Industry Report. In 2009, 2.5 million vinyl albums were sold; while in 2010, that number rose to 2.8 million.

Across the pond, the UK-based trade organization Entertainment Retailers Association reported in August first half sales figures for this year that show a 55 percent resurgence in sales of vinyl LPs, with sales of 168,296 units in the first half of 2011 compared with 108,307 in the same period of 2010.

Neither number is enough to save a stale and starving industry crippled by peer-to-peer filesharing and single song downloads, but it’s impressive nonetheless, beyond a niche, and in a way that transcends music. Collecting vinyl is, to a degree, an art form. The focus on the cover, the lyrics, the whole process of taking the disc and placing it onto the record platter, making sure the tone arm is adjusted properly so the needle skims the surface at just the right angle when it’s dropped down.

Then, of course, there is the music, that warm analog sound that comes rushing out of the speakers like the ocean at high-tide is untouchable. These days you’re going to find bands putting out new recordings on what is called “virgin vinyl” which doesn’t use recycled material in its composition, and usually they are going to be on “heavyweight vinyl,” 180 to 200 grams, as opposed to the standard 120 or so grams from back in the day.

It also runs a bit higher in price, often between $20 and $35 a pop. But you have to factor in that many of the releases include a download code where you simply go to a website, type in a code and get a high quality download of the album. It’s the best of both worlds; you get something cool to handle and gloss over, and you get the portability of a digital copy for your computer and MP3 player.

Those are just some of the benefits. Did you start college this semester? Start a vinyl collection. First off, it’s going to be a conversation piece. When most of the campus population is going to have ear buds jammed into their heads with nothing to show for it, you can boast a 12” x 12” novelty coming back from a music shop or a show. That’s another point - check out the merchandise table at your favorite musician’s next show, and chances are they are going to be selling some vinyl; even better, go to the artist’s website and see if they have any rarities kicking about.

"Think You Can Wait" on clear vinyl

A few weeks ago I picked up a 7” single on The National website for the song “Think You Can Wait” that was featured in the film Win Win. The flipside contained another unreleased track, “Exile Vilify” from the new video game Portal 2. The 45, which was made available only in the online store came with a download code and it was on clear vinyl. Last year the band, who killed it with two dates at the Academy of Music this week, released it’s critically acclaimed High Violet album on a limited run of purple vinyl.

Colored vinyl is one of the more glorious elements to obtain. Most of them are limited edition and often cost more than the traditional black vinyl, but it is worth every penny. I picked up the Alice in Chains acoustic EPs, Sap and Jar of Flies for about $50. They came together in a double gate fold set with Sap on translucent blue vinyl, Jar of Flies on translucent orange vinyl, both are 180 gram, and limited to 2,000 copies. Sap has the AIC sun logo etched onto it as well.

...And Justice For All has been released on green vinyl

Rarer was Metallica re-releasing ... And Justice for All this summer. The Bay Area thrashers dropped the masterpiece’s nine tracks across four 45 rpm LPs, averaging out to about a song a side, and put it on green vinyl. Limited to just 1,000 copies and priced at a generous $75, the set sold out in 12 minutes with copies going for more than triple that within hours on sites like eBay.

Sometimes, a vinyl release will include some sort of bonus. The Beatles Abbey Road deluxe edition hit shelves and comes with a t-shirt and a 24” x 36” poster. Indie-record label Hi-Speed Soul recently put out the Afghan Whigs’ opus Gentlemen on 180-gram vinyl, complete with a 16” x 24” poster that features the album cover and lyrics.

And once people find out you are into vinyl, it becomes a no-brainer for a gift idea. This year, knowing that my collection is still in its infancy, a friend picked me up an original Meet the Beatles! record as a birthday present. It’s old, worn cover and insert with ads for other releases at the time, like The Beach Boys Surfin’ USA’ and The Kingston Trio #16, stands out as one of the more novel items amidst all the fresh and more current pieces. It’s in solid shape too, a testament to the durability of vinyl — basically, if you take care of it, it’s going to last a lifetime. Can the same said for the sketchy durability of compact discs? Not even close.

Be sure to check out Rock Music Menu Saturday as I’ll let you in on the best ways to listen to vinyl, how to enjoy it at full blast without bothering anyone else and how to make the format just as portable as your iPod.

Original article appeared in the September 9 Rock Music Menu in The Daily Times

Shaking up the soundtrack to a quake

Days after an earthquake struck the Northeast, those who say they felt it rattle in Delco are still talking about it. Thankfully, it wasn’t much more than a Twitter trend, a chance to unlock the “Epic Swarm” badge on Foursquare and an opportunity for watering holes throughout the land to come up with drink specials to mark the rumbling.

But something was missing, because like any other event that has folks talking at the water cooler, there was the need for some music. Leave it to Rock Music Menu then to come up with ten tracks for an “Earthquake Soundtrack” to pump on the jukebox at the Red Lantern or Stinger’s to go along with that shot of Aftershock you just downed.

Here are 10 songs that are an absolute must in the quaking where you stand playlist:

“Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On" - Jerry Lee Lewis

Many have tried but none could duplicate the original version of this song, complete with The Killer’s unabashed looseness bordering on out of control. It’s bound to kick off any earthquake party the right way.

“I Feel the Earth Move” - Carole King
Who knew we’d still be referencing Carole King songs 40 years after being a hit? It just goes to show that great songs can have a variety of uses, and a lot of people probably were feeling the earth move under their feet on Tuesday.
 
“Shake It Up” - The Cars

New Wave nostalgia has been riding high in recent years (pun sort of intended), and this one by Ric Ocasek and The Cars is a no-brainer. Also acceptable in this case, though slightly more sinister sounding, is the Fast Times at Ridgemont High favorite, “Moving in Stereo.”

“Housequake” - Prince

This gem was on arguably the last flawless album by the Purple One, Sign ‘O’ the Times, and he was definitely at the peak of his funkiness, making it the most pure party jam on the list. “Shock-a-lock-a boom” indeed.

“Shakermaker” - Oasis

Taking it’s melody from the Coca-Cola theme “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony),” it wouldn’t be surprising if the Brit brothers in Oasis simply thumbed their noses at any sort of calamity dished out by Mother Nature.

“Cum on Feel the Noize” - Quiet Riot

You don’t really hear an earthquake, but you “feel” it. Is that a stretch? Well it’s better than using the band’s other hit, “Bang Your Head” - ouch.

“Shake, Rattle and Roll” - Bill Haley

Haley’s is the preferred version of this Big Joe Turner classic, especially with his Delaware County and Chester ties, but feel free to seek out the Elvis Presley or Jerry Lee Lewis versions to draw people out onto the dancefloor.

“Body Movin’” - Beastie Boys

The most audacious and carefree wordsmiths from New York City know how to get it going with supreme beats either through this song, “Shake Your Rump” or “The Move.”

“Shake Me” - Cinderella

Nothing like these hometown favorites, that coincidentally just did a gig down in Atlantic City, to bring some mid-80s rock and roll to the party. Bonus: if it does get a little scary out there, try the much bluesier “Shelter Me” from the band’s underrated third album, ‘Heartbreak Station.’

“It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” - R.E.M.

Yeah, yeah, this has been the go to track for the Y2K scare, sitcoms going off the air etc., but a 5.9 magnitude earthquake on the east coast? There might not be a more appropriate song.

Original article appeared in the August 26 Rock Music Menu in The Daily Times

Warrant's Jani Lane: The Lost Interview

The music world lost another one of its own way too young last week when glam rock poster boy Jani Lane of Warrant fame was found dead in a Los Angeles Comfort Inn with a half-empty bottle of vodka and prescription pills found at the scene.  No cause of death has been determined pending a toxicology report, but an accidental overdose is suspected.  He was 47.

Jani Lane: 1964 - 2011

The singer had battled with numerous personal demons over the years, notably alcoholism, and appeared bloated and struggling emotionally in 2005 during the second season of the VH1 reality show “Celebrity Fit Club,” shocking many who remembered him as the lithe rocker who belted out tracks like "Down Boys," "Heaven" and the song he had an eternal love/hate relationship with during his prime in Warrant, "Cherry Pie."

He was in and out of the group during the mid-90s when hair bands were the scourge of the music industry that put grunge at the forefront, but returned to Warrant in 2008 for a reunion of the group's original lineup, back together again for the first time in nearly a decade and a half.  It was the beginning of the genre experiencing an upswing, with nostalgic fans and younger audiences coming out to see the likes of Poison and Ratt in droves.

Back then, I caught up with Lane, who was sober, kind and excited to be back with his band after watching them out on the road without him for many years.  The interview was extensive and covered a great deal of material - but it was never published.

Why?  Because after just a handful of dates that summer - mainly in secondary markets, Lane was back out of the group.  Videos that sprang up on YouTube from the performances ranged from below average to absolutely awful, as it was clear that old habits - especially bad ones, die hard, with the frontman forgetting the words, stumbling about and embarrassing the rest of the band. 

The reunion tour never made it to the Philadelphia region, the closest was Baltimore, Md. or Clearfield, Pa. - in the middle of the state at a county fair no less and neither were close enough to consider covering or previewing here.

In the wake of Lane's passing, it's only appropriate to revisit a time when he was back at a high point in his life.

Michael Christopher: Why reunite with Warrant and why now?

Jani Lane: “I can guarantee you that I didn’t choose it this time, it kind of just happened.  If you had asked me this question as early as last July, I would’ve said, “No way.  No way in hell.  Not gonna happen; not on the horizon, not ever.”  I was still walking around my house going, “Those bastards, they can kiss my ass,” you know?  I was pretty upset, I’ve been spending a lot of money on attorneys and fighting them on several different levels – and I knew they were spending a lot of money.”

And I happened to be on tour doing the solo thing in Florida and I was doing some shows – and this is probably August of ‘07, and I got a call from [guitarist] Erik Turner, and I was kind of shocked.

So I answered the phone, and we started talking and it wasn’t aggressive or mean, he was very mellow and we started discussing how all this feuding and going back and forth with attorneys was not just affecting us in a money sense, but kind of having an impact on our lives.  It was a waste of energy.  We decided that when I got back to L.A. we’d set up a time and sit down in a room and negotiate things contractually between us, without attorneys present and find a way that we could move forward; not necessarily together, but without the feuding, without the bickering back and forth.

It started out as simple as that. 

What happened at the meeting in L.A.?

It was a little, um…surprising.  I walked into the room and I felt very uncomfortable, I can tell you that.  I really didn’t know what to expect from them, kind of a guard up kind of a deal.  Everybody was nice and really easy to work with and we came up with an agreement, we had an attorney draw it up, we signed it, and that seemed to release the tension between everybody; just knowing that we had a way to move forward with all the back and forth.  

That was it.

Lane at the height of hair-metal

And we just started talking after that and I went over to Jerry’s house and heard a couple songs and some of the other guys showed up and we played a little bit and one phone call after another and we talked about maybe doing a show sometime, maybe a Rocklahoma kind of a thing and it just blossomed into let’s get together and do it again.

And now all the legal wrangling is over with?

Those are in the books.  Everybody got what they wanted which was, not to get into specifics, but Erik and Jerry were founders of the band and very interested in ownership of the name, I obviously wanted to control my catalog of songs and everybody had an interest in if we are to move forward, let’s all have equal input.  It came down to some what you might call nitpicky things, like if you’re going to e-mail somebody, cc all of us so we’re all in the loop, because that was a problem early on in Warrant was one person speaking for all five.  It was pretty simple at the end of the day.

What were those first rehearsals like?

That’s a funny one because I refer to that as having sex after back surgery: not very comfortable.  It was strange, it was weird to look around and… I didn’t know what they were thinking of me, or are they comparing me to this other singer they had and what’s going on – you know?  And I’m looking at them and it’s been years since I’ve been on stage with Joey [Allen] and Steven [Sweet] and a few years since I had been onstage with Erik and Jerry [Dixon] and it just was really weird.

I can say the end of the rehearsal I started getting into it a little bit and I was like, “Ok – let’s do this again.”  And the next rehearsal I walked into, it was like 14 years erased, everybody was on the same page, and it's been comfortable ever since."

How hard was it for you, as the face of the band to many people, see the other guys go out under the name Warrant without you and do all those songs you wrote?

I guess at first it might’ve been a little bit tough, but my whole thing was they’re doing their versions of the songs, I’m gonna go out and do my versions of the songs – and that’s what created the tension.  I don’t think the audience was every really happy with either version.  They were like, “If I can’t see all five of you live, the guys who did this, then I’d prefer to go home and listen to the CD.”

I don’t think we suffered so much as the audience did, just because they were like, what’s the problem – we just want to see Warrant play.

I talked to Stephen Pearcy from Ratt a couple months back, and he was saying that the music of the late 80s and early 90s never went away, but that it went underground.  And I’m paraphrasing here, but he said something to the effect that if you wanted the ride to last, you just had to keep working at it.  Do you think that’s a true statement?

I don’t know; that’s obviously his opinion.  I saw bands disappear for awhile, because they couldn’t play the size venues they wanted to, like Poison, who waited for a turnaround and then came back have done very well. 

Bands like Warrant, we weren’t quite that established, we followed them by a few years in getting signed.  We didn’t just get cut off by the label or dropped -  we were cut off financially, we were sued, a lot of things in having to buck up and deal with whatever the music climate was – which was really, really nasty in the early 90s.  We call those the dark years; if you didn’t have flannel on and come from the Pacific Northwest – you sucked.

 

Tell me about the point where you sent out an album to radio under the “mystery artist” tag and radio started to play it until they found out it was Warrant?

Yeah, that was Ultraphoic, which we did in ’95, and it was literally so bad at that point that anything you sent out that had “Warrant” on it, they were just gonna throw it in the trash.  So we said, let’s just leave it blank or put different name on there – I think we put the producer’s pseudonym on there, and it did get a little bit of play until people found out it was us…and then it went in the trash.

You’ve seen the resurgence though in the past couple of years in some of those bands and the success they’ve had.  Do you see it as a nostalgia trip, or is the music genuinely coming back?

Personally I don’t think it’s a nostalgia thing, I do think it’s coming back to a certain degree just because what preceded it was so dark and gloomy and let’s face it; the economy is spiraling down, we have a terrible president – it’s not great times.  We’re in a war that in my opinion we shouldn’t be in, and I think people want to get back to escapism which is, “Let me go have a good time.  Let me go hear something fun.”

Warrant in 2008

It’s not just an older generation or a nostalgic generation.  There’s a whole new generation of kids that want to come out and see and hear this type of music.  I think you’ll see a few newer bands coming out and sounding like that too – that’s usually the trend, though I’m not a hundred percent sure about that.  Also, this music is turning the corner to classic rock, which gives you a firm hold on, “Hey, we’re gonna be around for awhile.”

What do you remember most about the height of Warrant’s popularity, and how much of the advent of those dark years had to do with the original tensions and breaking up?

It’s just like any other relationship; if you and your wife both lose your job, there’s going to be a lot of tension at home – same thing with the band.  During the good years it was just fantastic because it was such a snowball.  It just completely got taken out of our hands and turned into this machine.  We were told where to be, when to be and when to play.  We kept control over the songs that went on the record – except for “Cherry Pie.”

How much do you think “Cherry Pie” has overshadowed some of your deeper songwriting, like “Blind Faith” and “I Saw Red?”

It’s certainly overshadowed it with the younger generation, they pretty much relate to Warrant as “The Cherry Pie band.”  The older group of fans that we have, you went and bought vinyl or a CD and you wanted to read the liner notes and see how this song tied into the next and maybe you could listen to the lyrics and find something personal that was going on in the guy’s life.”

“I still don’t mind [“Cherry Pie”] to this day.  I tried to explain this; people are like, “You hated that song,” no I didn’t hate the song.  It’s just that when I was young and full of angst and I wanted everyone to listen to my serious songs I was like, “How dare you define me by that kitschy, tongue in cheek sexual innuendo.”  Now in hindsight, I’m really pleased that I wrote something that seems to be standing the test of time – at least to this point.”

That song is such a touchstone for that type of music…

“Absolutely!  It’s probably in the top five defining songs of the period.”

What about the bands out there that aren’t doing the reunions people want to see, or playing with only some of the original members?

Lane in 2008 with Warrant

I think some of the all-original member reunions are genuinely because bands realize that this is what people want.  They don’t want the singer and the guitarist doing one version and the bassist and the drummer doing another version – and neither one of them sound right.  There’s something about to be said about chemistry.  I mean, when a band takes off and have an impact on a lot of people; I don’t care how controlled it is.  And you take that chemistry away and it’s just not the same.

There’s a finite window for any opportunity.  The bands that don't reestablish themselves while they have the chance to do it may never get the opportunity again. And I just look at it and go, "That's really sad, because I liked that band and I'd like to see the all original members," because it's not like somebody died in the band and had to be replaced. These guys live three miles across town from each other and just don't want to talk.

What was it like doing “Celebrity Fit Club” and having your personal life put out there for everyone to see?

On a personal level that was a very difficult time for me; my mother had just died, going through a divorce, a custody battle, being out of Warrant and dealing with that on a legal and personal end – it was a very bad time to have a camera put in your face.  But I survived it, and I’m back in the band.

To be a hundred percent honest, I didn’t really know what I was getting into when I did that, and will probably shy away from any opportunities with reality TV again.  Because you go into feeling like it’s going to be scripted and I’m going to be somewhat protected from this, and it’s really not.  It’s basically entertainment news casting.  It’s just not healthy.

What do you say to the people who saw you on that show and want to know how you are doing today?

I would say to those people: “I’m a single dad who gets up at 6:45 in the morning and I get my daughter to school, I make her breakfast, I take her to soccer practice and to piano lessons.  But when it comes time this summer to climb on that tour bus it’s going to be Jani Lane of Warrant so come out and see it because it’s gonna rock.” 

What are you looking forward to most with the reunion tour, and after it’s over, do you think it will be time to step back into the studio with the band?

I think it will be time to step back into the studio.  We intentionally didn’t slap together some piece of crap greatest hits with a few covers on it.  We dug up some old video footage and threw it on a DVD with some of the studio videos.  We didn’t want the audience to think they were going to come out this summer hear “Down Boys,” “Cherry Pie” and 10 songs they never heard before, so we said let’s go out and play all the hits from the major releases.  I’ll have all summer to write and we’ll sign a deal with a major label in the fall and take our time. 

It’s been 14 years since this lineup has been in the studio and we’ve never made a bad record and I don’t want to start now.

The abridged version of this interview appeared in the August 19 Rock Music Menu in The Daily Times