As much as I like to get some good ol metal for a Tuesday release, I am quite happy and relieved to see the multi genre albums hitting shelves. From Buble to Frank Turner. Alanis to Steve Martin. There are some real gems here folks and should be catching your attention. I have to admit that Snoop Lion was the off one for me (with holding my rant about "Frequency Unknown") where I was skeptical of the work now that he has been 'reborn' so to speak. Thank goodness my brother has been a longtime fan of Snoop, sent me a text the other day to give it a spin. He assured me that it was worth the listen, regardless of the sensationalized guest voices of Drake, Akon or Miley Cyrus. I have to admit that a few songs fell flat for me, but I do appreciate the reggae vibe that he is portraying. After all, it's Snoop!
Now back to my rant about Geoff Tate and "Frequency Unknown". I will give Tate the benefit of the doubt that he has made some amazing albums in the past and inspired many musicians you now hear today on the radio, but what's with the subtle "FU" and the continual back and forth over who has the legal rights to Queensryche? If it was anyone but Tate, I wouldn't have even listened to the album. But giving credit where credit's due, I decided to spin it. I'll let you make up your minds over it.
Some other great albums that shouldn't be ignored are Frank Turner's "Tape Deck Heart" and Steve Martin's "Love Has Come For You". Both artists I discovered over the years and continually look forward to their releases. Frank Turner did such an amazing job playing solo while on tour with The Offspring (my first time seeing him) that it was an instant 'like' on Facebook and pick up a few albums. I just hope he comes back to Toronto soon. As for Steve Martin...it's Steve Martin! haha
In all seriousness, his work on "The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo" and "Rare Bird Alert" were a fresh new take on banjo music and collaborated with some great artists such as Dolly Parton, The Dixie Chicks, Vince Gill and Paul McCartney. At least worth the preview with all those names popping up.
So in closing, we just had a very successful Record Store Day on Saturday across the world so show some love and pick up an album or two. Cheers!
Buble is at his best when reclaiming beloved classics as his own. Frank Sinatra's "Come Dance With Me" becomes playful and electric in his interpretation. Some songs, like the unexpected duet with Reese Witherspoon on "Something Stupid," are wild cards that can bring down the house.
Yet it's Buble's love for middle 20th-century music that keeps this album in the middle of the road: As an artist, Buble needs to become his own man. -Ottawa Citizen
In spite of some massive hiccups, Snoop’s effortless charisma and innately relaxed delivery — along with Diplo’s chops as a master curator of Caribbean styles — allow Reincarnated to rise above the novelty factor that initially seemed primed to doom the album. The real question: is Snoop Dogg’s transformation into Snoop Lion here to stay? It’s hard to see him sticking to reggae for more than a couple albums, but for the time being, he’s enjoying the hell out of his time in the islands. -Idolator
While Morissette may have gotten famous for her "angry woman" songs, "Guardian" from her newest release is a jangly pop anthem showing she is not all piss and vinegar. The crowd is into the performance throughout the show and it is mixed so you can hear them. This is especially evident on "Ironic," as they take the vocals for the entire first verse.
After more than two decades in music and nearly as long as an international star, Morissette shows herself to be an artist still willing to take chances and stretch out her music, especially in a live setting. Fans of Morissette will not be disappointed by Alanis Morissette - Live At Montreux 2012. -Blinded By Sound
Lyrically, the album is just as detailed. Where England Keep My Bones featured multiple songs focused on his homeland, Tape Deck Heart is very much an inward-looking record. Turner wrestles with memories of the ones that got away, realizes with terror how fast time slips away as he grows older, struggles with admitting he’s fallen out of love, and berates himself for screwing up a relationship. Yet his clever wit pops up from time to time, adding some much-needed levity. “Good & Gone” curses both Hollywood and Mötley Crüe for the ways each distorts love’s reality, while “Oh Brother” jokes about the “old flyers, lame tattoos, the in-jokes and memories” that bond band members who are going their separate ways—a group that formed many years before because one member knew “the chords to ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit.’” Tape Deck Heart might be a far cry from Turner’s strident acoustic punk roots, but his brutally honest self-reflection and unflinching romantic analysis elevate the record into something just as meaningful. -AV Club
Although it isn't the revelation or surprising, extraordinary achievement that his 2010 record Praise & Blame was, Spirit in the Room is another solid, very welcome set of stripped-back interpretations from Tom Jones, produced once again by Ethan Johns, making those comparisons to Johnny Cash's late-period recordings with Rick Rubin all the more fitting. Know that the songbook has changed from classic (spirituals, blues, and traditional numbers) to more contemporary (Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen, Paul McCartney, the Low Anthem, and others) and that Jones and Johns are both in top form and you've got the picture, along with that same frustration that no matter how fun "What's New Pussycat?" and "Sex Bomb" were, a couple more albums like this along the way would have been rich and rewarding. Jones joins the ranks of singers who have really "felt" Cohen's words in "Tower of Song," here in one of its most naked of performances, but as the dark carnival of Tom Waits' "Bad as Me" gives way to a frail, delicate, and lonely Richard Thompson song, it's obvious this one doesn't have that last one's purposeful layout, at least not until the fourth quarter. Exiting with the off-kilter and brittle "All Blues Hail Mary" (Joe Henry) and the spiritual/secular strangeness that's "Charlie Darwin" (Low Anthem) makes for a compelling suite, and while Spirit in the Room matches its predecessor on a track-by-track level, it's only in those last moments that the whole package seems as thematically sound and well designed. -All Music
Did Steve Martin rock his signature arrow-through-the-head prop at these bluegrass-y sessions? Hard to tell; except for unfussy harmonies, he expresses himself only via his stately, joyous banjo-plunking. The star is Edie Brickell, the hippie-pop one-hit wonder (and Mrs. Paul Simon), whose sassy vocals feel down-home but all her own. The songs tap folk tradition without getting stuck in it; they’re full of struggling lovers, an ’84 Ford, a baby in a suitcase and some memorable melodies. With help from guitar legend Waddy Wachtel and others, these two make a dandy duo. Hey, Mumford & Sons: Need an opening act? -Rolling Stone
I thoroughly enjoyed the remaining tracks of the album. Both "Behold, The Pretty Filthy Creatures" and "White Trash Freaks" bring me back to my "Sinister Urge" days. One with a great fast paced beat throughout the entire track and the other a sluggish anthem style song that both resemble vibes of "Dead Girl Supertar/Never Gonna Stop". An instant win in my books.
Then we have THE COVER. It's almost an expectant in this day and age for a band/artist to cover artists they grew up on and influenced them. I think Zombie would do the best job explaining the reason behind covering Grand Funk Railroad's "We're An American Band". -AFGM
(No reviews...yet)
In this re-release of the Flesh And Blood recordings, titled The Flesh And Blood Sessions, Pilson revisits the songs and brought in some additional content such as the bonus track "Heaven Knows". The former Dokken bassist also wrote the liner notes for this collection, and in them he walks you through the history of the band. All in all War & Peace wasn't groundbreaking, but the music has a lot of heart and soul to it. It's a shame that the prejudice against these musicians didn't allow this band to blossom. Tracks like "Kill For The Love Of God" and "Nailed To The Cross" showcased just how cutting edge War & Peace was musically and lyrically. If you're a no-frills hard rock or contemporary metal fan you'll appreciate what The Flesh And Blood Sessions has to offer. -Sleaze Roxx
An 11th-hour remix provoked by fan complaints of the album’s prerelease samples show its audio quality has improved. But nothing could have saved the hits Tate re-recorded from Queensrÿche’s commercial peak: “Empire,” “Silent Lucidity,” “Jet City Woman” and “I Don’t Believe in Love.” Here, those engineering masterpieces are sonic embarrassments, and Tate hurts his own singing legacy by submitting vocal tracks full of cracked notes and congestion. Despite his resolve to flip off the haters, the only person he screws with "F.U." is himself. -Billboard
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