CD Review: AC/DC - Black Ice

In nature  some animals imprint. This normally occurs at birth and is a method for improving their chances of survival. For example a new born duck imprints on the first duck-like moving thing it sees, and learns to follow this in convoy style (or so is my limited understanding from Microsoft Encarta). Why am I explaining this?

Well, the first truly cool music I heard was AC/DC. Up until then it had always been stuff like ABBA, Boney M, etc that never really moved me. The moment that George brought his AC/DC albums to school I was intrigued. Once I heard it on a decent sound system - it had imprinted. Therefore I’ll be honest from the outset here – there was no way that I was not going to like this album. I have always believed that AC/DC are the greatest band around, I love Angus’ guitar playing style, and their songs always cheer me up!

There have been some mediocre albums, but over the years, every album has had great songs to offer with new ways of saying the same thing offered, and also new things to say. So, I don’t think that I am like the Robert De Niro Rolling Stones fan in ‘The Fan’ in that I can admit to being a bit more realistic in my expectations of the band.

I do however imagine AC/DC sitting in their well-deserved lap of luxury, being stumped and agonizing over how to keep things fresh and vital after so many years. And my view is that I wish that they would not do that. Get in the studio, make a whole lot of hard driving boogie rock and roll, add lyrics about all the rude jokes and innuendos that you can think of and take it from there – what could be easier? Keep it greasy and menacing with lots of sinister sounding backing vocals. The guitar should be razor sharp, slicing through the clutter that invades my day and the riffing should massage my brain in the way that a physiotherapist would treat your lower back (i.e. not too gently, but it feels great when it stops). The thing is, in my view, AC/DC fans probably are not looking for something that’s too different, as long as it rocks, and gives them a new excuse to pump some seminal AC/DC out of their stereos. They have done enormous bell gongs, and cannons firing, and I suppose it is difficult to top that in the 2000’s? I, of course, would like cannons on every album, but am prepared to admit that they may come across as overused to other none cannon preferring listeners (at least they’re included on most of the live albums). In addition, most of my experiences with AC/DC albums have resulted in some type of damage – AC/DC ‘Live’ resulted in me accidentally breaking the volume button on my car stereo, ‘Back in Black’ broke some speakers, you get the idea. This has sort of become an expectation too….. in short I want to be Thunderstruck! That looks easy enough…….

So, what have they done with ‘Black Ice’?

Well, I’ve listened to it in the car on the way home from the shop, I listened to it twice on the stereo at home and I have listened to it again driving to work and back (it’s an extremely listenable album).

They have made another AC/DC album – that’s what. It’s all in here: the straight ahead AC/DC style boogie rockers, the various innuendoes, the fantastic Young brother’s guitar sound, the rock solid and booming rhythm section and the high spirits. Also, they have slowed things down on a couple of songs, and offered some new things like some that almost sound like Pop songs. To me there is no shock and horror related to this (the slowing down that is), I have always enjoyed songs like ‘Ride On’ and ‘Night Prowler’ and have believed that this element of their oeuvre has been neglected on the last few albums. Even the most classic of their albums such as ‘Highway to Hell’ includes tracks such as ‘Touch too Much’ or ‘Love Hungry Man’ which in my view are pretty ‘light’.


They have also not remained impervious to the world around them. Both lyrically and musically, the 2000’s have had an influence. For example ‘Anything Goes’ and ‘War machine can be musically linked to offerings by younger bands such as the Killers and The Raconteurs (the guitar reminds me a lot of ‘Born in the USA’ era Springsteen). However, there have always been moments when AC/DC have displayed a lighter touch.
On ‘Rock 'n' Roll Dream’ Johnson sounds like a cloth capped version of Grace Slick, Stevie Nicks and the Wilson sisters all rolled into one. Maybe he has believed that all this time, he doesn’t do slow (the last slow AC/DC songs coming from Bon Scott). Well here he does, and it comes across well.

My Favourite track thus far: ‘She Likes Rock ‘n’ Roll’.

But, essentially, the question is: ‘Is this a good album’ i.e. ‘Is this as good as Highway to Hell or Back in Black’? The answer is not as easy. When I first heard those albums I was still in my teens. They resonated with my life at the time. How do I look at ‘Black Ice’: from the point of view of a teenage boy and the minimal baggage that comes with that, or from the point of view of a middle-aged male? While I believe that I am more in touch with my inner teenager than most, I will stick to the middle-aged view for the sake of honesty. After all the ‘boys’ in the band are even older than me, so let’s say that we have all ‘moved on a bit’. The sound and the music are great, what may be missing is the same level of humour in the lyrics that I have come to know and love. In that sense I think that this is a good album certainly better than “Fly on the Wall’ and ‘Flick of the Switch’, probably somewhere between ‘For those about to Rock’ and ‘Stiff Upper Lip’. I will say this: if you like AC/DC, you will like this album!

From a teenaged kid’s point of view amongst the clutter of itunes, ipods, MTV, hormones and insecurity, I don’t think that we will get an opinion on the album as a whole, and that is how the band want us to view it – a complete album.

In a career and history where the band has received so much from Rock and Roll, it is refreshing to see how much they are prepared to give back. I don’t think that they ‘need’ to make albums anymore, and that said, if they were only doing this to keep out of the way of the wife and kids at home it probably would have sounded terrible. But they have been dead serious about this and it shows. I believe that this is the underlying lesson relating to this band – it is not all about taking only, to succeed you also need to give, and these guys do so with all of their collective hearts and two big balls each too.

October 2008 Update

I have recently made some new discoveries and will hopefully post in more detail on them in the future. But just to keep everybody updated, here are few few things worth a mention.

Endless Boogie: I recently became aware of a band called Endless Boogie via a sampler in Uncut magazine. They really rock! These guys sound something like ZZTop and AC/DC with a lot of their own flavour in there too.

Rodriguez: We grew up to Rodriguez's 'Cold Fact' album being a part of the ambient sound in 70's suburban South Africa. It comes as a surprise that the rest of the world (apart from maybe Australia) had not paid this American artist much attention. It seems that now about 30 years later awareness has been raised. Give it a listen you will be amazed at how fresh it sounds, and how relevant the lyrics still are.

The Hold Steady:  I bought the new album recently 'Stay Positive', and it sounds fantastic.

Also: I just can't wait for the new AC/DC album. By all acounts so far it sounds like it is good. I have only heard the single 'Rock 'n Roll Train' thus far and while that is a fine song I really hope that the rest of the album is good.

DVD Review: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Runnin' Down A Dream

As mentioned in an earlier posting, I was determined to get hold of a copy of the Peter Bogdanovic movie called ‘Runnin’ Down A Dream’. This is a movie he made about the life and times of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

 

Well, I eventually bought it, risking my hard earned cash on the South African Postal service by ordering it from Amazon (I looked everywhere in South Africa and could not find the DVD). After two and a half weeks it arrived.

 

The version that I bought consists of the movie spanning two separate DVD’s, a live home-coming concert DVD, and a CD of some live rarities. The movie itself is about four hours long, the length of which has created a bit of controversy in itself.

 

The Movie

 

The movie is in fact a revelation. I had my doubts about a movie of this length, but as explained in the liner notes, so much footage from over the years existed that the actual material available was just too good to omit (we also have a theory on the KraKen Rock that Tom’s slow speaking style also dragged things on a bit). It seems that since the band started, there was always someone around with some form of video camera device. For me, living in South Africa all my life, who had only ever seen the video of ‘Don’t come around here no more’ in terms of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers visual offerings, the time spanning footage was the revelation. There are visuals of the band performing in their early years, interviews spanning all the years, and some shots of the band backing up Bob Dylan. For me this was a pure visual feast.

 

Then there is the actual story (a movie should have some kind of story to it). Narrated by various people involved with the band, including most members of the band, it is riveting. After sitting down and watching the first discs about two hours worth of the movie, we seriously considered putting the second disc in straight away. It is a really enjoyable, informative documentary. The only criticism that I had at the end was that of – ‘why didn’t they explain more about various points’, and of course the answer to that is that four hours was already too long.

 

The story spans the formation of the starting bands in Gainesville, the quick demise of Mudcrutch (including where the name came from), the early days and the fact that like so many other bands they had to first break it in the UK before their home country would even take notice. Then it tracks the change of band members over the years, their relationships with other prominent artists (Stevie Nicks and Bob Dylan for example), as well as Tom’s Traveling Wilburys experience. The message that I felt prevailed from this movie is that, often you are only given one chance to do something – at these times, do not mess up., and don’t forget that dogged determination. If you don’t have it – you will fail.

 

In amongst all of this there are some really great moments, and I think that every person will find their own, whether it be a shot of Dave Grohl hammering away at the drums in a rare live performance, or the expressions on various faces during a drug bust in a German airport.

 

I would say – well worth a watch.

 

The live DVD

 

The live DVD is of a concert at the University of Florida in Gainesville in 2006. The guys are starting to look a bit old, and to me it seems to get off to a bit of a slow start. However, after about three songs in it picks up. My favourite parts are when Stevie Nicks joins them on stage. Viewers of the movie will understand her ongoing wish to be in the Heartbreakers, and with this in mind it is great to see her enthusiasm on stage.

 

Another thought that strikes me every time I watch Live Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers DVD’s is how astoundingly good Mike Campbell is. He is in every sense of the word a virtuoso (scary hairdo though).

 

The CD

 

The CD is only nine tracks long and offers live songs from the very early days to more recent times, mainly culled from live TV appearances such as Top of the Pops, The Old Grey Whistle test and Saturday Night Live. The last track is a sound check of a Hank Williams song that they had never done before (apparently) – hard to believe. Dave Grohl appears on the drums for the SNL performance, and if you had watched the movie, you would know how much that meant to him.

 

Interestingly the old songs sound just as great today, and the new songs sound fresh and strong.

 

Conclusion

 

I am glad that I bought this package. It is quite literally hours of entertainment.

There are amazing insights into the recording industry, as well as insights into the band and their friends. A statement not to be taken lightly when you count people like Bob Dylan and George Harrison among your friends.

If you like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, buy it. If you don’t, borrow it, and you may find that you do like them afterwards.

Book: Mark Oliver Everett - Things the Grandchildren should know

I never intended this blog to include book reviews. I have read several Rock biographies and autobiographies, but a book review is something completely different to an album review. What I have decided to do is briefly mention a good Rock related book if I come across one.

 

This brings me to mentioning an excellent Rock related book that I have just finished reading.

 

Recently Amazon lured me into recommendations that were Eels related, and brought my attention to a book called ‘Things my grandchildren should know’ by Mark Oliver Everett. Usually this author goes by the shortened name of E and fronts the band called the Eels. This book is his first autobiography, published in 2008 and therefore pretty much current. It takes us through his childhood, teens and struggles in life and the music industry up to today, and all I can say is that things have been pretty tough so far.

 

The book is well written in very direct prose that uses the actual story to capture the reader, and not necessarily other more subtle literary devices. It works for me and as the cliché goes ‘I could not put it down’.

 

The over-riding message that I got out of it is that one must never give up. When other people are trying to guide you in certain directions - stick to your principles. Over and over again one hears tales of how the record label does not like the new album and wants certain changes made. This book describes several of these incidents and how E handled them. The music industry is really tough and it takes a lot of dogged determination to succeed. I think that that is an excellent message for young people starting out in the industry to understand.

 

Of course, the his struggles in the music industry are described against the backdrop of the terrible struggles E has faced throughout his personal life too. The message about perseverance and determination is even more important in this context. There is never the feeling that E is saying ‘don’t bother me with your problems as mine have been so much worse’, the inherent message is more that life can be challenging, and as an individual one should remain true to oneself if there is to be any hope of rising above it all.

 

This is a well written, thought provoking book. Everyone should read it as it helps to put life into perspective.

 

On another note, please take time to check out the Eels website. It is definitely one of the best I have ever seen, and also makes some rare recordings available.

 

http://www.eelstheband.com/

 

 

Classic albums revisited 3: Lou Reed - Transformer

As the stream of thoughts, memories and recollections go, I was reminded by the offering from The Killers – ‘Tranquilize’, that I had purchased a re-mastered version of Lou Reed’s – ‘Transformer’ last year and not really paid it much attention. I am so familiar with the original album, I don’t think I felt any urgency in checking this CD out properly. I have listened to it a couple of times now, so let’s revisit it as one of the all-time classic albums out there. The question being – does it still stand up today?

 

About the album

 

Lou Reed had already achieved cult status with his work with the Velvet Underground by the time he went solo. His first solo outing was received with mixed reviews, and seemed to carry over a lot of songs from the Velvets days. I loved it, but what can I say, I belong to the school of thought that ‘Reed can do no wrong’. Sad I know, but at least I’m consistent. But, back to ‘Transformer’, and enter some side-kicks for the album, no less than David Bowie and Mick Ronson (a Spider from Mars). A lot is said about whose album ‘Transformer’ really is, for example the argument goes that Reed would never have been able to have done it by himself. The question is asked: why did Ronson not get more writing and playing credits, and further: how involved was Bowie really? My view is that this was a collaboration. It brought out the best in all the artists involved, and this is what made it a classic in the first place.

 

Ronson alone was a master. Originally from Hull in the UK, he made a couple of attempts at breaking into the music scene in London before returning to Hull and taking on some type of job maintaining local parks. Apparently he was out applying whitewashing to a football pitch when he got the call from Bowie to try out for the Spiders (there’s probably more to the story than this as they did not have mobile phones in those days). The rest is Rock and Roll history.

 

One common thread that appears when reading about Ronson (who has sadly recently succumbed to cancer) is his humility. Apart from the ‘Transformer’ album, and his work with Bowie, Ronson has made numerous other contributions, as well as a few solo albums and also some work with Ian Hunter (I have a vinyl copy of ‘Slaughter on 10^th Avenue’ that stands the test of time very well). On ‘Transformer’ he went about writing, arranging and playing several instruments on most of the songs.

 

Throughout rock history there are characters like Ronson who have transformed the sound of rock in an era, almost while nobody was looking, i.e. operating underneath the radar. Today we have the likes of Johnny Marr. Famous for his work in The Smiths of course, but then also responsible for a lot of non-credited work on some the The The albums, and, did you know, he also played on Talking Heads’ ‘Naked’ (my favourite Talking Heads album without a doubt). Another is Bernard Butler who has the ability to do the same as Ronson. This is probably the subject matter for an entire other posting, as I am digressing from the album review, but if you have other examples of this phenomenon please leave a comment and I will try to compile a more comprehensive posting at a later date.

 

So, looking at what the album has to offer, we start off with –

 

Vicious

What a cool song! Witty and swaggering it has the ability to put a smile on my face every time. Come to think of it, there are a few tracks on this album that do that.

 

Andy’s Chest

 

The Andy being none other than Andy Warhol – a key character in Reed’s past Velvet Underground history. The lyrics are great ‘… a hairy minded pink bare bear…’.

 

Perfect Day

 

Recently revived to help raise money for a charity cause, as well as appearing on the ‘Trainspotting’ soundtrack, this song grows from strength to strength. Dwelling on the simple pleasures in life that are made only more pleasurable by sharing them with a special person in you life, this is a joyful life affirming song that gets stronger with every listen. Ronson on piano apparently, and the symphonic swells dare anybody not to sing along to the majestic chorus.

 

Hangin’ ‘Round

 

‘You keep hangin’ ‘round me and I’m not so glad you found me ….’ go the lyrics. Reed a master of the message, gets it across with ease every time. This song also lays a blueprint on how to be cool.

 

Walk on the wild side

 

I suppose most people have heard this song. Without a doubt, this is Reed’s most popular song ever. At four minutes 15 seconds long, my view has always been - why so short? When in fact, this is longer than most of the other songs on the album. I can never get enough of it. Reed apparently could. Listen to the Reed live album ‘Take No Prisoners’. The audience constantly heckle him for not playing it, and when he does, it is pure vitriol.

 

Make Up

 

In the days before Emos and Goths, Reed and Bowie were at the forefront of ‘Glam Rock’ which introduced the world to Rock ‘n Roll androgyny and males wearing make up.  This song however is more a ‘fly on the wall account’ of someone transforming themselves with make up. Still fresh and highly listenable as a song.

 

Satellite of Love

 

Wacky weird lyrics take us ‘way up to Mars’. A great song with Bowie clearly having a lot of fun on the backing vocals. A lot can be said for music that sounds like fun was had in the making.

 

Wagon wheel

 

Another set of weird and whacky lyrics, but with another motivational theme laced with something nasty. Partly containing some good advice and then some advice that should probably be ignored. The music is nice and rocked up thanks to some great riffing from Ronson.

 

New York Telephone Conversation

 

‘I was sleeping gently napping when I heard the phone, who is on the other end talking, am I even home?’ this is a really short song, but biting and incisive in the multi dimensional way only Reed can be.

 

I’m So Free

 

Reed dead-pans his way through this song, with the famous backing vocalists offsetting this with joyful abandon. It works really well and seems to have influenced a lot of other artists over the years. I'm developing a theory that Reed is sometimes sarcastic!

 

Goodnight Ladies

 

A cabaret style song that probably astounded the audience. Considering that the entire album is rather astounding when compared to Velvet Underground material (although it was always pretty weird too) and then the first solo album, this track is then not so astounding. Reed’s offerings to the women in his life have always seemed to me to be quite bipolar. One moment the misogynist, the next the adorer of everything that is feminine, his songs swing from one side to the other like a pendulum. This one however, seems to me to place the pendulum firmly in the middle. The main point seems to be that behind the scenes (off the stage) life goes on at a pretty mundane pace.

 

So what is the verdict about the ‘Transformer’ album 36 years later? I recently read a review by music critic Emily Mackay (on NME.com) where she discusses the point of rock music. One that she mentions is that ‘great rock affirms life’. This album does that for me. In my view the album as presented above is still engaging and refreshing. It remains a collaborative effort that brings out the best in all involved. The sound is that of off-beat, weird but funky rock music. Loose and unhurried, the album sounds fun to me.

 

Do I recommend buying the CD? The songs sound great, and at the end there are interesting demo (acoustic) versions of ‘Perfect day’ and ‘Hangin’ ‘round’. These turn out to be very interesting in terms of offering a view on what the album could have been like had Bowie and Ronson not arrived. Better? No, but not worse either! Lou Reed can do no wrong – but I think that I said that already.

CD Review: The Killers - Sawdust

This album was released as a type of B-sides, rarities and remixes collection. As in my Eels posting in June, you will know that I can be quite partial to this type of release, if, of course, the band has the depth to support it. The Killers as such can be considered a fairly new band. Formed in 2002, and with only two albums to their name before releasing ‘Sawdust’ I think its safe to call them a young band. Bands like the Eels, Pixies and others had a lot of ‘real’ albums out before their B-sides releases surfaced, so I was a bit suspicious about this release at first – how can they sustain a full length (17 song strong) release of this nature?

 

First I must mention that my motivation for buying it was two-fold. One, I am a huge Lou Reed fan, bordering on the completist in his case. Reed is in fact the only artist that brings out the completist tendencies in me, I have however balked at buying ‘Metal Machine Music’ so I suppose I am not a real completist. Nevertheless his appearance on the first track of ‘Sawdust’, on a song called ‘Tranquilize’ was reason enough for me to buy the album. The second reason was that it was going for a slashed price in my local Musica store. Was I disappointed? No way and here’s why.

 

‘Tranquilize’ is an awesome song. Lou Reed is brilliant and his and Brandon’s voices work extremely well together. Another stand-out track for me, which may bother purists, but which I put down to pure fun is the Jacques Lu Cont’s remix of ‘Mr. Brightside’. Why mess with perfection you might ask – my answer is that when it’s done this tastefully, let’s have a little fun and enjoy the moment. Another interesting, and for me, thoroughly enjoyable track, is the Dire Straits cover ‘Romeo and Juliet’. A lot can be said about the paucity of the 1980’s era popular music offerings.  But when one examines the key influences on a band like The Killers and hears how they have managed to distil, and make their own, certain key moments of that era (think Soft Cell and A Flock of Seagulls, these leap out at me when I listen to ‘Sawdust’), you realise that it was not all bad. Here though the take on ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is pretty straight forward but rather enjoyable.

 

Another cover on this album is that of Joy Division’s ‘Shadowplay’. The pitch of Brandon’s voice was never going to match that of Ian Curtis, and it is refreshing to hear that he does it ‘his way’. Hopefully this cover will turn a younger generation onto the brilliance of Joy Division.

 

Then there is another cover, a few more original songs, and, to me, not a single bum track. I particularly like ‘Leave the Bourbon on the shelf’ with the world weary line ‘Leave the Bourbon on the shelf and I’ll drink it by myself’. Excellent rhyming, and in my view up there with the originality of Hank Williams. Apparently this song is the first part of a Murder Trilogy. You can find the details on Wikipedia.

 

This album is well worth purchasing, you will not be disappointed, it is definitely a hidden treasure.

September update

Well, August has come and gone without me posting a single thing. I apologise to my numerous readers. There are reasons for the slowness of pace in August, none of them very pleasant, and I will not be going into them here.

 

I have not been idle, however, and have been doing a lot of reading, listening and playing around with my new toy. Having recently acquired a Squeezebox, I can only rave. What a really cool device for bringing your computer-residing music collection back into you hifi (check the following link - http://www.slimdevices.com) I love it. I also spent a lot of time re-discovering Fleetwood Mac which traced my involvement from being too young to understand that it was not considered cool to really dig them (my favourite album at the age of 11 was ‘Tusk’), to being slightly embarrassed that I was the only guy in my peer group into ‘Mirage’ and ‘Tango in the Night’, to now understanding that its OK to have the occasional guilty pleasure as long as no-one else is harmed.

 

Uncut magazine is polling their readers for their favourite Pink Floyd song, use this link

http://www.uncut.co.uk/news/pink_floyd/news/12126 to go there and nominate yours.

There is also some good news out there. First AC/DC have completed their new album and it is due out soon. It is called 'Black Ice', and the first single from it is called 'Rock 'n Roll Train'. I was fortunate enough to hear it this morning on UJFM on the way to work, and it definitely improved my Monday for me a lot.

Secondly, Metallica are also ready with their new album called 'Death Magnetic'. It have not heard it yet, but review on my favourite music web-sites are good. Admittedly after 'St. Anger' I remain sceptical, especially since I noticed on Uncut's web-site they give it four stars and going back to their review of 'St. Anger' I saw that they gave that one four stars too. I'll decide for myself, and let you guys know what I think.