CD Review: Lucky Dube - The Best of Lucky Dube

Over the years, I have been privileged enough to witness some brilliant South African music live.

Having recently purchased the Lucky Dube – 'The Best Of' CD, I was struck by a big dose of nostalgia. I have been fortunate enough to witness live performances from seminal bands such as Sakhile, Stimela and Juluka. In fact, Sakhile’s show was the only time I have experienced my hair standing on end as a result of the collective band member’s musical virtuosity. Over the years I have been fortunate enough to see myriad bands come, some stay and others go, some brilliant and some rather average. I have been to concerts by Hotline where a young PJ Powers belted out Led Zeppelin covers accompanied by an awesome Alistair Coakley. I have seen Brenda and the Big Dudes dole out the soulful and funky, and then also witnessed the rise and (in some cases) fall of bands such as No Friends of Harry, Cinema, The Helicopters, Little Sister, Psycho Reptiles, Petit Cheval, Tananas, Dog detachment, Tribe after tribe, Seether (as Saron Gas), Wonderboom, Prime Circle, Henry Ate, the list goes on and on. Some were really good, other just OK and others really bad. What bothers me though is the lack of continuity and permanence of good bands and artists in South Africa. I think that there are probably numerous and complicated reasons for this (one being that people don’t go out and buy their albums), but what is sad is that we have this problem at all.

So it is even sadder when we have such seriously talented artists like Lucky Dube, who has been a relatively successful counterpoint to the inconsistency by becoming hugely popular throughout the world, and especially Africa, and releasing album after album of quality reggae music, who are cut down in their prime by mindless criminals. He has not been the only one, sadly there is a long list of highly talented musicians who have lost their lives to crime in South Africa.

It only takes one listen to this CD to realise that here was a hugely talented individual, surrounded by an extremely talented set of musicians, producing quality music time after time. The reasons for his continuous success is also obvious when you listen to the songs and realise just how good the musicians were, how much care was taken with the production of the songs and how much thought went into his lyrics. These songs are so much a part of South Africa’s radio airwaves that it is hard to understand why some of Dube’s underlying messages of Peace and Social Consciousness have not seeped into our ailing national psyche. Every home should have a copy of this CD, play it loud in your home and in your car, quote the lyrics to each other so that hopefully this contributes to South Africa becoming the beautiful nation that we all want so badly.

CD Review: Shack - Time Machine The Best of Shack

Shack is a band that everybody should know about, but they probably don’t. Consisting mainly of Michael and John Head, brothers from Liverpool, the rest of the line-up has kept changing over the years. Members trace their roots back to The Pale Fountains and The Strands. Read about them on Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shack_%28Band%29 The Head brothers apparently have a bit of an obsession with Arthur Lee and the band Love that comes through in their own writing. In fact when Arthur Lee visited the UK they performed the role of his backing band.

Shack consistently produces quality albums that contain beautiful songs. More often than not, these songs are about everyday occurrences with the skill of the Head brothers being that of holding up a mirror for their listeners to use to look at themselves. My first experience of Shack was when I got hold of the ‘HMS Fable’ album. This album on its own should convert anybody into a Shack fan. Each and every song is a killer. Michael and John, on Vocals/Rhythm and Vocals/Lead respectively, sing and strum away in some of the most evocative songs I had heard for a long time. My favourite song on this album is ‘Daniella’ which I don’t think is the obvious choice but really appeals to me. I next got the album ‘The corner of Miles and Gil’, although ‘Here’s Tom with the weather’ came out between these two albums, which in my view was not as good as ‘Fable’, but still a very strong offering.

Next for me has been ‘Time Machine’: the to-date Best Of offering. As with most Greatest Hits compilations, there is always going to be some debate as to which songs make it onto the CD (I for one cannot understand how Neil Young could release a single CD Greatest Hits compilation, he has enough hits to fill at least 3 CD’s). I think that in Shack’s case, this can be even more heated than usual. This is because their songs work on such a personal level, meaning different things to different people. I just love the track ‘Cup of Tea’.

As always, as it is a ‘Best Of’ compilation, one has to view the offering in terms of completeness as well. In other words, if viewed as a ‘Time Machine’ it must include tracks from all stages of their career in order to be able to transport the listener back in time. From this perspective this is an excellent collection that enables the listener to hear the evolution of the band as they grow from strength to strength. This is not to say that the earlier tracks are not good – they are indeed very good. What changes though is the production quality and the growing use of other elements to further enhance their sounds, such as a strings section (maybe what changed was the budget available to the band when entering the recording studio).

The two songs on here that are most recent do not come from any of the already released albums, and therefore could be seen as providing a view into what is still to come from this great band. I must admit, while they are not bad songs, they do seem a bit too conventional in my view.

Overall, this is a nice snapshot of a very good band that manages to help the listener to identify the beauty in their everyday surroundings. The songs always leave me with my mood improved and uplifted. The message from the band seems to be that: no matter what terrible things happen in your life there is also a lot of beauty around if you look hard enough. If you like this their other albums are sure to blow your mind, I recommend ‘HMS Fable’ first and then move on from there, you will not be disappointed.

April 2008 what's on the player

The April roundup is a bit delayed, and I blame this excellent web-site: http://www.starwarsorigami.com/. It combines two things I really enjoy, star wars and origami. Have a look, I know it won’t appeal to all rockers out there but maybe some of you will appreciate it.

Back to the music though, and I can report that I finally got the Radiohead CD out of my player although I must admit that I do miss it. I must also point out that I have been listening to Muse HAARP a lot, but will not include it in my summary as my previous posting is dedicated to it.

The summary for the month therefore is as follows:


Paramore – Riot!

Imagine Avril Lavigne as a musically talented individual who can write good songs and sing well. This gets you to imagining what Hayley Williams from Paramore is like. Only she is even better than that. The Paramore album is full of strong rocking tracks that only grow with repeated listening.

Breaking Benjamin - Phobia

In my opinion this is a silly name for a band – it sounds like a boy band. But then, I don’t know, maybe they named it after two obscure blues legends….

However the album really rocks. It is on the heavier side of American type rock with good lyrics and a great overall sound.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Pack up the Plantation: Live.


Listening to Muse – ‘HAARP’ got me thinking about my favourite live albums, which then led me to dusting off my vinyl copy of ‘Pack up the Plantation’ (actually my vinyl does not have much dust on it). I wonder if there is a digitally remastered version of this recording out there – I will have to do some research.

This album, however, is an awesome concert document. Sound quality, crowd participation and band performance are all very strong, and the guest appearance of Stevie Nicks is also truly splendid, especially on the track ‘Insider’.

Queens of the Stone Age – Lullabies to Paralyze
Josh Homme of the Queens of the Stone Age (QOTSA) is a truly talented individual, with, a little paradoxically, one of his major strengths being the ability to collaborate. This has lead to great collaborations in his series of ‘Desert Sessions’ albums where he gathers together friends and colleagues (Polly Jean Harvey to name one) and takes them off into the desert somewhere to jam and record. I have got sessions 7&8 and 9&10 and they both rock. Also in his collaboration work, he has recorded with the band Eagles of Death Metal. This is another band with a slightly misleading name. The music is not of the genre death metal – I believe that it is meant to sound like, conceptually, what death metal would sound like if The Eagles played it. I can report that their interpretation of this is some really groovy, funky and skanky sounding boogie rock, with some of the nastiest (and funniest) lyrics around.

Josh Homme is the main member of QOTSA and what underscores all of his projects is the amount of fun he seems to have in doing them. ‘Lullabies to Paralyze’ continues on that theme, with the whole album capturing a unique sound, with plenty of attention to detail given to the tone of guitar sounds. There are immediately lovable songs such as ‘Burn the Witch’ and ‘Little Sister’, as well as songs that really grow with each listen such as ‘Everybody knows that you are insane’.

I love this album, and will try to get hold of their new one too as soon as I can afford it.

CD Review: Muse - HAARP

Following on from my much documented Muse euphoria (after seeing them live in March), I ordered the HAARP package. This package is based on two live concerts that Muse held in the new Wembley stadium over two days in June 2007. The CD captures the one day while the DVD is of the other day. Fortunately for me it did actually arrive and I have been listening to/watching it ever since. It is described as a live CD that includes a bonus DVD, but to me I view it as the other way round i.e. a live DVD with a live CD to accompany it (there are more songs on the DVD than there are on the CD).

Separating them out, let’s take a look at the CD first. If I consider what makes a live album great, it is very difficult to pinpoint one single thing. Obviously there are some factors that have to be good, such as song selection and recording quality. But the truly great ones capture something extra. In the case of AC/DC’s ‘If you want blood..’ there is a raw energy and excitement that make the album crackle with energy. The crowd chanting ‘Angus, Angus, Angus’, and Angus himself giving it his all as solo after solo sneaks in and boogie woogies all round your head, cannot be equalled. Then there is Iron Maiden’s ‘Live after death’ with Bruce Dickinson exhorting the crowd to ‘scream for me Long Beach’, a now classic quote. Others such as the Eels’ ‘Oh what a beautiful morning’, Talking Heads’ ‘Stop making sense’, Little Feat’s ‘ Waiting for Columbus’, Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker’s ‘Pack up the plantations’, Nick Cave’s wall of sound on ‘The abattoir blues tour’ and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘One more from the road’ have something special that makes them great. There are also some weird anomalies such as Lou Reed’s ‘Take no prisoners’ where the level of self, and audience,-loathing makes this a one of a kind too, but that is the exception rather than the rule. In each case it may be a different factor but in the end it is all about what the artists choose to reveal to their audiences, and the fun that they have playing their music (except for Lou).

On this CD, sound quality is really good, with the live mix coming across well. The track-listing covers all aspects of their career so far and my only beef is that there is no ‘Feelin’ Good’ on the CD. In terms of the ‘something extra’ discussed above, the band give it their all with an energy that is infectious. While not much dialogue takes place with the audience, there are enough quips and ‘thank yous’ to ‘Wemberley’ to keep this alive and energetic. What is astounding is the way that the band sound better with every song. Towards the end, Matt’s voice sounds stronger than when he started.

The DVD however is what makes this package worthwhile in my opinion, especially if you have been to a Muse concert. It functions as a perfect document of what a Muse concert is like and had my daughter and me reminiscing all the way as we recognised elements of the concert we had experienced in Johannesburg. Here the track-listing is far more comprehensive than the CD, covering 6 more songs (including Feelin’ good). As a bonus DVD, this far exceeds expectations. The sound and visual quality is of the highest standard, hence my comment about it being the actual item in the package with the CD as a bonus. Their concerts in general are grandiose, high energy, affairs, and in the case of these Wembley showings even more so. The energy and spectacle is thrillingly captured in this format. Musicianship is flawless with Muse the band delivering like a well-oiled machine.

In terms of extras, there is not much. There is a ‘making of’ type documentary that is interesting enough, but what would have been nice are some interviews with the band members, and a photo gallery. This brings me to the one thing that I would raise as a criticism. This is definitely not a band that gets very involved with their audience. They keep to themselves. Ultimately I suppose that their interaction is more at the emotional level, and at this they are very good. They manage to generate excitement, elation and euphoria with their craft. This to me is preferable to singers or bands who hold long one-way conversations with their audiences and then deliver an average performance. But, some insights into the band members and what they are like as people would have been very welcome.

Well I don’t want this blog to become a Muse blog in general and therefore will have to get over the band at some stage.

Don’t forget, your comments are most welcome.

CD Review: Bob Dylan - Modern Times

CD Review: Bob Dylan – Modern Times

In my explorations in the World Wide Web I have noticed that this album caused some controversy on its release in 2006. Several authoritative publications rated it as a 10/10 or full marks on whatever scale they use, and then very vocal commentators disagreed with that saying that it is not ‘Blond on blond’ or ‘Highway …’. This interested me and I decided that I should form my own opinion. The first thing that you should know is that up until now, I have never owned or heard a full Bob Dylan album – there I said it. Of course I have heard most of the most famous songs, and who does not totally enjoy Hendrix’s version of ‘All along the Watchtower’, but I have no prior experience of a Dylan album. Why I make this point is that, hopefully this will mean that I can provide a view on the album without having any pre-conceived ideas, and also make no comparison to prior work.

Although I must mention that the CD sleeve tells one almost nothing, I have determined that the band on the album is the same that has been touring with Dylan recently and the album was produced by Dylan himself.

In my mind, the antecedents of this album seem to align themselves for the production of a gem. Namely, there is no external pressure on Dylan to produce a best seller or hit single, I don’t think that he needs the money and his last two albums have been hailed as a return to form. Therefore he can go into the studio for the right reasons, to have fun recording a new album with nothing to prove.

So, what is the album like?

The answer is that it rocks! This bunch of old guys, lead by main old guy, Bob Dylan, lay down some funky grooves. The drum and bass section are rock solid. Every song bounces along on some of the coolest rhythm tracks one can imagine. The rest of the band is even better. Then Dylan adds more lyrics to each song than one can believe possible. He just keeps going and he’s got a lot to say. I always thought that his voice would start to grate after a couple of songs into any album, but in a strange way he manages to keep things fresh each time.

The question is: what does he sing about at such length? And interestingly, apart from a couple of barbed political numbers (which are thought-provoking and insightful), the story is the same as any guy has – guy meets girl, guy falls in love with girl, girl frustrates the hell out of guy. Listening to this album is like having a real heart-to-heart discussion on life with your most beloved Uncle. Here he is at 70 odd years, and still describing with such vivid clarity what you have been through, and what you can expect to go through for the next half of your life too. It is encouraging and empathetic in a way that leaves me motivated and glad to be alive and in a relationship. This may sound as if males may get more out of the songs than females, but what I would say is that if you as a female wonder what guys talk about – have a listen to this, you may gain some insights. I know I am generalising dangerously here. You are welcome to disagree; this is only my opinion

As I mentioned, there is not much information on the sleeve notes so I don’t see any song-writing credits. However I recognise some of these songs such as ‘Rollin’ and Tumblin’’ and ‘When the Levee breaks’, but I am pretty sure the lyrics are largely his own. My personal favourite track is ‘Rollin’ and Tumblin’’ closely followed by ‘Nettie Moore’. Dylan can pull rhymes out of thin air with nonchalant ease. His craft in this area is awesome to behold (sonically that is). Every song is strong and of high quality both musically and in terms of the lyrics – they have already become old friends to me and I can’t help smiling when each song starts and I anticipate what he is going to be singing about. Dylan is one witty guy who really loves music and still has a lot to say. The love of music is very tangible and this is why I like the album so much. In recording this album, Dylan also performs a very important role in an ‘oral history’ type of way by updating some near-traditional old songs, polishing them up and delivering them to generations who may never have heard them. Hopefully this will encourage people, especially other musicians, to examine their roots from time to time.

The band sounds comfortable and un-hurried. Dylan has taken some time to get into a studio, gather his thoughts and deliver a carefully prepared package of songs for his audience. My interpretation of the message is that people should stick together, enjoy life and don’t forget to stop and laugh at yourself every now and then.

I think that I should explore some of Dylan’s back-catalogue.

Or would that destroy the impression I now have?

Please add comments if you have them, they are most welcome.

Classic albums revisited 1: Iron Maiden – Killers

Sometimes one has such great memories of albums. Due to possibly a relationship one is in (or just been dumped out of) or a group of friends one is hanging out with or even doing something else that one really enjoys (like work !!@@&&??? – I’ve heard that it happens????). Certain albums take on a special significance and become beacons in your past that highlight certain episodes of your life. So far in my life, there are many. Iron Maiden’s ‘Killers’ is one of them. In revisiting these albums I hope to test them for durability and determine whether they really were as good as I thought that they were at the time.

I stumbled across the Iron Maiden website recently (http://www.ironmaiden.com/) while following a news item relating to the fact that they will soon be releasing a Greatest (early) Hits album, and it instantly got the memories going. By the way the Greatest Hits album will be free for three listens or something like that…. I still have a few of their albums in their original vinyl format, I was a big fan in my teens, and when I saw the digital download section on the website, with digitally remastered versions of their early albums – I could not resist. I also saw them live in Johannesburg once with Blaze Bayley on lead vocals, it was pretty good.

My copy of ‘Killers’ is shot and, being my favourite Maiden album in those days, it was my immediate first choice for a download.

Listening to it now, I think my copy back in those days was probably shot right from the beginning. These remasters are crystal clear and have detail that I’ve never noticed before. That is rather a good start to revisiting the album, I would say.

Tracks
The Ides of March
A terrific instrumental opener to the album. Searing guitar soloing screams out, beware a killer set of tracks coming up, beware, beware (sorry William S)! Drums roll on from on high and the portends are there, get ready for some uplifting rock music that will transport to the grimy underworld of serial killers, madmen and bad thing worshippers.

This moves straight into Wrathchild. What a great name for a song. Paul Dianno kicks in on the vocals and Steve Harris seems out to bludgeon the wrathchild with his bass guitar. The great thing about this album is that the songs are carried on a platform of drumming and very melodic bass with the guitarists peeling off solo after solo. Throughout the songs the power chords are incidental. Wow what a formula!

Next is Murders in the Rue Morgue. Poor misunderstood Paul gets into a frenzied case of mistaken identity while in Paris. The whole situation is exacerbated due to the fact that he can’t speak French. Please don’t arrest him gendarmes, he has 8 more tracks to sing, and what about the real killer who has gone free. Oh, I got carried away again, this happened in my teens too. These songs have always done that to me, whisking me away in a fury of duelling screaming axe work, rampant drumming and a galloping bass-line.

Three tracks in and I can’t believe that I have deprived myself of this for so long. What’s next: Another Life. I love the guitar work jumping from structure to structure in the song, and the tone is really cool.

Another life is followed by Genghis Khan another stormer of a tune. This is Genghis with his mind set on mayhem. On his horse storming through the steppes looking for people to slash, slash and slash (he would probably kill me for spelling his name wrong, let me check….). By the way this one is an instrumental – pretty evocative though….

Up next is Innocent Exile starting with Harris on bass causing everyone to question why he didn’t just get a normal guitar and deal out the punishment like we know he can. Ah, I know the bass is more punishing! This is a really cool song to headbang along to, not to mention annoying poser air-guitaring.

The title track Killers brings on some of the most unremorseful killer lyrics I have heard, it’s really fun stuff like ‘oh my God, what have I done? Ooh yea, I’ve done it again’. Starting off ominously, Harris bass foundation is slashed and stabbed at in violent intervals by Dianno yelping and the guitars cutting. I love this stuff. Dianno’s voice is great and the twin guitar attack will kill you if you let it.

After Killers come The Prodigal Son which is one of the slower mellower tracks on the album. I’ve heard that if you play it backwards you can hear Dianno sing ‘the Devils got hold of my soul and he won’t let me be’. Oh, wait a minute, you don’t even have to play it backward to hear him say that.

Purgatory is up next, and that’s probably where I will end up when I’m punished for my corny jokes. The bass echoes the rabid riffing of the guitar attack and rock classics don’t get much better than this, ‘please take me away, take me away, so far way’ go the lyrics, with all the instruments chiming along.

I’m exhausted from moshing in the lounge while trying not to crack my darling’s latest pottery creation, and there are two more songs to go starting with Twilight Zone. Dare I say the weakest track on the album, in my opinion.

Finally shattered, sweating and slightly embarrassed (the kids just don’t understand) we hit Drifter. One guitar starts, the bass joins in the next guitar starts, Dianno and the drums kick in and we have another killer track (OK I waited long enough to use that as a pun, so let me). This has some of my favourite guitar work ever, and the bass is just as good. Dianno exhorting everyone to sing along. Where has he been the last ten tracks, why does he think I’m so hoarse?

OK, I loved this album then, and I still do! It is a real classic. In addition who can deny the brilliance of the album artwork? It is possible that this album was over-shadowed by the ‘Number of the Beast’ album, the arrival of Bruce Dickinson, and the over-whelming momentum gathered due to their spectacular live shows.

March 2008 What's on the player

OK – I did this for February, and here is the March roundup. This is a brief take on what my opinion is on a few albums that I have been listening to recently i.e. the current albums rotating through my player.

Radiohead – In Rainbows

I had this on frequent rotation in February, and still cannot bring myself to remove it from the CD player. I really like this album!

Muse – Black Holes and Revelations

As in my previous posting where I reported on seeing Muse live at the My Coke Fest, I mentioned that I had the Black Holes and Revelations album (my only Muse album) on heavy rotation for the remainder of that weekend, and up until now as well. It is a strong offering that survives repeated listening with ease. At the concert they also played ‘Feelin’ Good’ which really impressed me and I hope to get a copy of that soon. Speaking of which I have ordered a copy of HAARP from Amazon and I expect it to arrive this week (if it arrives at all – over Xmas I ordered some CD’s and books from Amazon that never arrived, some South African Customs employees family members are now grooving to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’s new album while reading the complete Michelle Paver ‘Chronicles of Ancient Darkness’ series, and I can’t bring myself to buy it all again – so I still haven’t heard the afore-mentioned album). I will provide my thoughts on HAARP in time.

Pearl Jam – Rearviewmirror

This was my first ever digital download of an album bought through the OD service. I must say, I still much prefer buying the physical CD’s. When it comes to Pearl Jam there is even more reason to buy the CD as their packaging is often quite different and fun. Well, what I find interesting about this one is that I seemed to have mellowed a bit since buying it. It has always been an album of two discs, and by that I mean that the first is the ‘heavy’ one and the second more ‘mellow’. When I first got the album I preferred the first disc, now I am tending more towards the second. My view is that the second discs songs are stronger.

Scars (Gary Moore) – Scars

This album is quite a curiosity. It is Gary Moore’s version of the power trio and it works very well. I believe that Mr. Moore should be much more successful than he is – not that he is struggling, but it could be even better. Perhaps he has been missing a constant creative partner much in the way Jagger - Richards or Page - Plant were writing teams. I recently listened to some of his early eighties output and found it quite cringe-worthy. I would call it Cheese-rock i.e. cheesy rock. But compare that to his work with Thin Lizzy, then to his Blues-era material and then to Scars and you can forgive him for that. Scars influences to me are Cream era Clapton, Hendrix and even, now that I think about it, more modern bands such as …..Muse. It is a solid album with strong songs, excellent guitar, and Moore’s vocals sounding strong. I wish he would do another Scars project. By the way one of my favourite DVD’s for a long time has to be ‘Gary Moore and friends – A tribute to Phil Lynott’, if you can get a copy of that grab it I guarantee you will love it. Something else worth mention is the StratPack DVD. This DVD contains a host of very average performances, until Mr. Moore takes the stage. Wow he outclasses everybody else with his version of ‘Red House’.