Each week I use this space to post some mini-reviews, cool tracks, random thoughts, neat news, or whatever else I damn well please.
MiniReview
Simon Felton “Surrender, Dorothy!” – This is the second solo record from Garfield’s Birthday’s Simon Felton. His last solo CD, “Failing In Biology”, was a notable nugget of smart Brit pop (read review here). Felton marches along the same track on “Surrender, Dorothy!”, constructing careful melodies augmented with airy harmonies and psychedelic overtones. The hooks take longer to sink in than last time and the abundance of slower tracks is going to make some people yawn. On the other hand, there is some more sizzling guitar work to be found – check out the solo on “Peepshow” for example. The main attraction is the pop perfection in “Marbles”, and “Novelty” is another highlight I’d encourage you to check out. Recommended for fans of The Smiths, XTC, and The Divine Comedy.
Simon Felton – Official site.
Surprise of the week
Footloose is being remade. But the surprise comes from looking at the soundtrack artists…dissing Kenny Loggins and recruiting the likes of Cee-Lo Green amongst a bunch of country stars and…Smashing Pumpkins?! What sort of musical schizophrenic is going to want this? Here are the gory details.
And if that isn’t bad enough, they are remaking Dirty Dancing too.
News
Swallow this: Poison frontman Bret Michaels believes the band will make another album when the time is right. Here’s to hoping they can recapture the magic of their heyday. Read the story here.
Whose gonna buy your wild reissues? Get a load of all you get with the 20th Anniversary edition of U2’s landmark record “Achtung Baby” – check it out here.
Another hodgepodge of “new” stuff is coming from Foreigner in September. A 3CD collection – one acoustic disk, one full of re-recordings of hits (why?), and one of a live concert. Read all about it here.
New Butch Walker called “The Spade” arrives August 30. In the meantime, grab a FREE DOWNLOAD of the first single, “Summer of ‘89”. Details here.
Michael Sweet has left the band Boston for his old band, Stryper. Good news, bad news, who cares? Story here.
Random iPOD song of the week
Pop perfection. Squeeze’s “Hourglass” – one of their finest moments.
Showing posts with label Poison. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poison. Show all posts
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Odds and Ends
Each week I use this space to post some mini-reviews, cool tracks, random thoughts, neat news, or whatever else I damn well please.
MiniReview
28 Days of Joy “Are We Ghosts” EP (2011) – A neat little EP of sweeping pop and light rock from Rob Bowden, who is 28 Days of Joy. The four songs gracing this EP constitute a “manifesto on the nature of love and being in the 21st Century. Key track here is “Broken Bones”, a wonderful piece that slowly builds to a rewarding climax. “Bruising” was co-written with Matt Hales for you fans of Aqualung. Check it out if you like Snow Patrol or Coldplay.
Free album download
L.A. indie band Lowlight have released their full-length album, “A Wonderful Lie” completely FREE for music fans. Its atmospheric pop with a bit of country twang scattered here and there. Their music is off the beaten path and not always palatable, but clearly original and inventive.
Free album download here.
Check out their award winning music video here.
Band website: ilovelowlight.com
Surprise of the week
John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics for The Beatles’ 1967 song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” have been sold at auction for more than $237,000 in Los Angeles, according to Spinner.com.
News
Queensryche mark their 30th anniversary with the release their 12th studio album, “Dedicated To Chaos,” on June 28. "It's kind of like an 'Empire' record set 25 years in the future,” singer Geoff Tate recently told Paul Anthony of U.K.’s Rock Radio. “It's a very listenable record, I think. (read full story here).
Listenable? That is the best adjective you can come up with to describe your new album?! I have my fingers crossed, Mr. Tate, because mostly everything since “Empire” has been pretty unlistenable (save some tracks off “Hear In The Now Frontier”.
By the way, did you ever wonder how Queensryche got their name? Read about it here.
Random iPOD song of the weekPoison “Until You Suffer Some (Fire and Ice)” off their under-appreciated “Native Tongue” album. Features lots of Bobby blowing smoke and some terrific harmonies.
MiniReview
28 Days of Joy “Are We Ghosts” EP (2011) – A neat little EP of sweeping pop and light rock from Rob Bowden, who is 28 Days of Joy. The four songs gracing this EP constitute a “manifesto on the nature of love and being in the 21st Century. Key track here is “Broken Bones”, a wonderful piece that slowly builds to a rewarding climax. “Bruising” was co-written with Matt Hales for you fans of Aqualung. Check it out if you like Snow Patrol or Coldplay.
Free album download
L.A. indie band Lowlight have released their full-length album, “A Wonderful Lie” completely FREE for music fans. Its atmospheric pop with a bit of country twang scattered here and there. Their music is off the beaten path and not always palatable, but clearly original and inventive.
Free album download here.
Check out their award winning music video here.
Band website: ilovelowlight.com
Surprise of the week
John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics for The Beatles’ 1967 song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” have been sold at auction for more than $237,000 in Los Angeles, according to Spinner.com.
News
Queensryche mark their 30th anniversary with the release their 12th studio album, “Dedicated To Chaos,” on June 28. "It's kind of like an 'Empire' record set 25 years in the future,” singer Geoff Tate recently told Paul Anthony of U.K.’s Rock Radio. “It's a very listenable record, I think. (read full story here).
Listenable? That is the best adjective you can come up with to describe your new album?! I have my fingers crossed, Mr. Tate, because mostly everything since “Empire” has been pretty unlistenable (save some tracks off “Hear In The Now Frontier”.
By the way, did you ever wonder how Queensryche got their name? Read about it here.
Random iPOD song of the weekPoison “Until You Suffer Some (Fire and Ice)” off their under-appreciated “Native Tongue” album. Features lots of Bobby blowing smoke and some terrific harmonies.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Kneejerk: Ed Kowalczyk - Alex Band - Bret Michaels
Kneejerk is a new feature here on BMF - we preview some new releases and give our short, "kneejerk" reaction...this edition features three guys who decided to fly solo…
Ed Kowalczyk “Alive”
Ed Kowalczyk, best known as the man who made a hit song using the word “placenta” in his lyrics, has given birth to another recording in the form of a solo album called “Alive”. His Pennsylvania-based band, Live, was huge in the 90s thanks to a strong debut followed by their blockbuster “Throwing Copper” record. But after the uneven “Secret Samadhi” the band lost traction and alienated fans as they catered to trends. Failing to draw back the music buying public, I can’t blame Kowalczyk for trying a solo effort. Kowalczyk was a driving force behind the songs and sounds of Live, so it comes as no surprise that “Alive” sounds so much like, uh, “Live”. While most fans will welcome his characteristic vocals, the fact that he’s done little here to distance himself from Live is disappointing and just sounds tiresome. And his lyrics are overly saturated with spiritual references – even more than usual – he comes across like the Deepak Chopra of the musical world. So for me, I’m afraid “Alive” is D.O.A. Let’s hope his other bandmates, some of whom went on to form The Gracious Few with Kevin Martin of Candlebox, can produce something with more life.
Alex Band “We've All Been There”
Alex Band is the baritone voice from The Calling, best known for their 2001 smash "Wherever You Will Go" off the “Camino Palmero” record. Like we’ve seen with Kowalczyk, it is very hard for such a recognizable voice to distance itself from the shadows of its past projects. So again, vocally and even musically, “We’ve All Been There” could easily be mistaken for the third record from The Calling. That aside, “We've All Been There” is filled with decent modern AOR – catchy songs with big choruses and simplistic lyrics. “Tonight” and “What Is Love” have radio-friendly written all over them. The major problem is that by halfway through you realize why he called the record ““We've All Been There” - everything is sounding the same! Worse, the repetitive sappiness of his lyrics gets old fast. But if you are looking for a record stuffed with songs of love and inspiration that are belted out by an excellent vocalist, you’ve found your Band.
Bret Michaels “Custom Built”
Bret Michaels has seen an unexpected resurgence in his popularity these days, unfortunately due to appearances on reality TV and extensive coverage of his health problems. This has climaxed in a surprise appearance on the American Idol finale, which gave him the opportunity to remind America that he still does music. But his timely new CD is a tragedy in that it is such a wasted opportunity. People were interested in Michaels once again, but this CD is just a cash cow rushed together in a transparent attempt to capitalize on his newfound popularity. In fact, there are only four new songs – the rest are remixes, demos, a cover (Sublime’s “What I Got”), or tracks found on previous releases. Granted, not many people have heard those previous releases, but the reality is that those songs are not very good. As for the new songs, we have 2 nondescript rockers (“Riding Against The Wind” and “Lie To Me”) and 2 decent ballads. Ballads have always been a specialty for Michaels, and “Nothing To Lose” (with Miley Cyrus) and “Wasted Time” find him in fine form. “Custom Built” is stitched together like a sloppy patchwork quilt – some rock here, bit of glam, lot of country, and some other fabric salvaged from a previous worn out blanket.
Ed Kowalczyk “Alive”
Ed Kowalczyk, best known as the man who made a hit song using the word “placenta” in his lyrics, has given birth to another recording in the form of a solo album called “Alive”. His Pennsylvania-based band, Live, was huge in the 90s thanks to a strong debut followed by their blockbuster “Throwing Copper” record. But after the uneven “Secret Samadhi” the band lost traction and alienated fans as they catered to trends. Failing to draw back the music buying public, I can’t blame Kowalczyk for trying a solo effort. Kowalczyk was a driving force behind the songs and sounds of Live, so it comes as no surprise that “Alive” sounds so much like, uh, “Live”. While most fans will welcome his characteristic vocals, the fact that he’s done little here to distance himself from Live is disappointing and just sounds tiresome. And his lyrics are overly saturated with spiritual references – even more than usual – he comes across like the Deepak Chopra of the musical world. So for me, I’m afraid “Alive” is D.O.A. Let’s hope his other bandmates, some of whom went on to form The Gracious Few with Kevin Martin of Candlebox, can produce something with more life.
Alex Band “We've All Been There”
Alex Band is the baritone voice from The Calling, best known for their 2001 smash "Wherever You Will Go" off the “Camino Palmero” record. Like we’ve seen with Kowalczyk, it is very hard for such a recognizable voice to distance itself from the shadows of its past projects. So again, vocally and even musically, “We’ve All Been There” could easily be mistaken for the third record from The Calling. That aside, “We've All Been There” is filled with decent modern AOR – catchy songs with big choruses and simplistic lyrics. “Tonight” and “What Is Love” have radio-friendly written all over them. The major problem is that by halfway through you realize why he called the record ““We've All Been There” - everything is sounding the same! Worse, the repetitive sappiness of his lyrics gets old fast. But if you are looking for a record stuffed with songs of love and inspiration that are belted out by an excellent vocalist, you’ve found your Band.
Bret Michaels “Custom Built”
Bret Michaels has seen an unexpected resurgence in his popularity these days, unfortunately due to appearances on reality TV and extensive coverage of his health problems. This has climaxed in a surprise appearance on the American Idol finale, which gave him the opportunity to remind America that he still does music. But his timely new CD is a tragedy in that it is such a wasted opportunity. People were interested in Michaels once again, but this CD is just a cash cow rushed together in a transparent attempt to capitalize on his newfound popularity. In fact, there are only four new songs – the rest are remixes, demos, a cover (Sublime’s “What I Got”), or tracks found on previous releases. Granted, not many people have heard those previous releases, but the reality is that those songs are not very good. As for the new songs, we have 2 nondescript rockers (“Riding Against The Wind” and “Lie To Me”) and 2 decent ballads. Ballads have always been a specialty for Michaels, and “Nothing To Lose” (with Miley Cyrus) and “Wasted Time” find him in fine form. “Custom Built” is stitched together like a sloppy patchwork quilt – some rock here, bit of glam, lot of country, and some other fabric salvaged from a previous worn out blanket.
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