Brian Fallon is the singer/songwriter of The Gaslight Anthem, a pretty cool Jersey band that has three albums under their belt. During his spare time, Fallon hooked up with his guitar-tech, Ian Perkins, to form The Horrible Crowes and record and release Elsie (SideOneDummy).
Fallon is calling this album his ‘for me’ project. Free of being the bandleader, Fallon has the freedom to explore his musical interests beyond the restrictions of being in a band like Gaslight.
In this instance it’s good. He’s able to move past his musical boundaries but not beyond harmonic common sense. This is a good, concise, tight little album that should get attention beyond Gaslight Anthems usual following.
Produced by Ted Hutt (Dropkick Murphys), the 12 tracks here run the gamut from broken-heart ballads on “Cherry Blossoms” to stomping rockers on “Mary Ann.” Other standouts include “Sugar,” “Behold The Hurricane,” “Black Betty” and The Moon,” “Last Rites” and “I Witnessed a Crime.”
Brian Fallon’s part-time project, The Horrible Crowes, has given him the confidence to be more than his full-time Gaslight Anthems. It will be interesting to see what Fallon does with that confidence on future projects.
Pearl Jam is celebrating their twentieth year as a band. To mark the occasion they performed two 3 hour marathon shows at Alpine Valley on September 3 and 4, released the documentary PJ 20 by Cameron Crowe, published an exhaustive 384 page autobiographical coffee table book, and released a two cd set of unreleased music, Pearl Jam 20 (MonkeyWrench).
That’s the bottom line right, the music? One would think but the history of this band, outside of the music, is a story all it’s own. Finally their career gets an outsiders objective look. Well as objective as one can be working with the band. This set reinforces their history.
The first cd is stuff taken from Crowes movie. Some of it readily available like “Black” from MTV’s Unplugged to really obscure but historically important stuff like the relatively unknown pre-Pearl Jam Mookie Blaylock smoking on “Alive,” which ultimately appears on their debut album.
The second disc is simply filled with rarities, live cuts and demos. The standouts here are many like the soundcheck recording of “Faithfull” or “Nothing As It Seems” recorded in Seattle as well as the Temple Of The Dog demo “Say Hello To Heaven,” Chris Cornell’s dedication to the passing of Andrew Wood. While the second disc has its moments, it has too many demos for my taste. Ok I like Jeff Ament’s 1999 demo of “Nothing As It Seems” and “It Ain’t Like That,” but demos are cool to hear compared to their finished versions and do not shape a band’s career. That is a minor criticism though and this set is pretty damned good, especially when you consider that Pearl Jam readily makes all their live shows available on-line for fans to purchase.
Other standouts include the 2000 instrumental “Of The Girl,” “Last Exit,” which exemplifies why Eddie Vedder is this generation’s best vocalist, and “Better Man” from Madison Square Garden last year.
I’m looking forward to their next 20 years.
I’m kinda surprised by this one; Chickenfoot has just dropped their second album, Chickenfoot III (One Music). I’m not so surprised that they named their second album III; I’m more surprised it was actually released.
Consisting of vocalist Sammy Hagar, virtuoso guitarist Joe Satriani, former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and Red Hot Chili Pepper drummer Chad Smith, these guys have a lot going on. Friends first who happen to be in other bands, I figured one album and they’d go back to their other gigs. Here they are though, with another tuff as nuts album of 11 tracks that have each member in top-notch fighting shape. Be it Hagar’s tongue-in-cheek lyrics, Satriani’s storming guitar riffs or Anthony and Smith laying down that stomping foundation. Standouts include “Dubai Blues,” “Big Foot,” “Last Temptation,” “Up Next,” “Three and a Half Letters,” whose lyrics are actually from letters from unemployed fans pleading for help, and the little too commercial “Different Devil.”
Wilco has always been the very definition of alternative rock. Whether it’s pop, folk, 60’s rock or country-twang, if they’ve been anything, they’ve been diverse. Their eighth album is The Whole Love (dBpm).
After the breakup of alternative-country band Uncle Tupelo, members Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar formed Wilco in Chicago and became road warriors in a constant state of touring. Internal squabbles caused Farrar to move on; otherwise Wilco and their albums and shows are consistent and something that their fans count on.
This album is a new challenge for the band, releasing The Whole Love on their own, newly-formed label. Without having the restrictions a record company can put on musical groups, it has given the band a newfound freedom. They don’t take advantage of that and keep on the steady path.
Lead vocalist and primary songwriter Tweedy wasn’t born with the best voice and doesn’t play a flashy guitar but his simplistic approach with his band behind him works wonders. Great material makes great songs and that’s the key with Wilco. Standouts include the experimental “Art ff Almost,” “Standing O,” “Born Alone” and “I Might.”
