Almost in Parody

It is disgusting to even think of my absence, having lost interest in something I considered fruitless, save the opportunities it offered from an egoistic point of view. Yet, I have reached that slump again, getting stuck in a listening routine like that pissing off piece of chewing gum firmly attached to your tyre, its periodic squeak over the road a constant reminder of the fact. Expect a review of Live And Unreleased by Weather Report within the close of the working day... in California.

Bricked and Renewed

I betcha thought that I had fallen prey to the plebeian predisposition of forgetting about new ventures in some bout of pseudo-ADD. Long story short, I've had some downtime because of technically difficulties, and that isn't even euphemism. However, looking on the bright side of things, its given me plenty of time to listen to some new music, some old music, and finally got down to listening to all the artists that came highly recommended, who I never took much notice of.

I've been an avid fan of Jason Becker for some time now, as an abstraction more than his music. With some familiarity with Cacophony, mostly because of the Megadeth-Marty Friedman connection, I dusted off (literally metaphorical; yes, I like oxymora) his debut solo album and it was, frankly, a breath of fresh air. My personal favourite at the moment is "Mabel's Fatal Fable", the beginning of which, Becker says, is a melody in minor second harmony. Who'd have thunk it, eh? A whole new approach to chromaticism! Although it isn't a big step away from traditional neo-classical albums (i.e., if I had reviewed the album in detail, I probably would've have given it 4 lives) it is the nuances that make it distinct. Becker talks at some length about this album on the Hot Licks video, The Legendary Guitar of Jason Becker. Even if you aren't a guitar player, any 19 year old with as good chops as Becker is worth watching, right?

I've been turned towards Progressive Metal of late, and it isn't like I am complete devoid of a progressive side. Listening sessions with Dream Theater and Liquid Tension/Trio Experiment have not only renewed my curiosity in genres of music I've yet to explore but have been regarded as more constructive than studying for the frequent examinations that I am posed with otherwise. I am not quite fond of ambient music, which, from the very few hours I've put in with Porcupine Tree, they seem to embody. Opeth is a band I dismissed long before, but I assume its an acquired taste, much like alcohol. You reap the same effects, or so I am told :P For those who are unfamiliar with Opeth as I am, "Windowpane" off of "Damnation" and "The Lotus Eater" off of "Watershed" should suffice as proggie missionaries.

The horrible part of being off the grid is the fact that you miss out on all the things we, as members of a technology induced impatient society, take for granted. Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert and Black Country Communion released their respective albums, which I would have preferred to have listened to when it released and not six weeks later [read with bitterness].

Black Country Communion gives you the impression that they're the next Zeppelin by their very line-up. And the opening track of their debut album concurs with this deduction. Alas! The rest of the album seems to be quite forced and uninspired. It must be noted, however, that their performances as players of their individual instruments is commendable, yet music is more than a sum of its entities, and the sum doesn't quite add up here.

Paul Gilbert's Fuzz Universe is close to the epitome of guitar virtuosity, yet amorphous. A detailed review coming soon.

Joe Satriani's album, Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards is unmistakably true to his style and method. More on that later, preferably after I've actually listened to the whole album!

Tracks that I keep returning to in recent times: [Track/Album/Artist]
Pulsar/United States/Paul Gilbert
Mabel's Fatal Fable/Perpetual Burn/Jason Becker
Windowpane/Damnation/Opeth
John Petrucci's Guitar Solo/Once In A LIVEtime/Dream Theater
In My Darkest Hour/So Far, So Good... So What?/Megadeth
Paradigm Shift/Liquid Tension Experiment/Liquid Tension Experiment
Spooner Arks/Albino Slug/Buckethead
Wonderful Slippery Thing/Erotic Cakes/Guthrie Govan
Black Country/Black Country/Black Country Communion
Thickfreshness/Thickfreshness/The Black Keys
Woman Is A Devil/Essential Rarities/The Doors
Travelling Riverside Blues/BBC Sessions/Led Zeppelin
A New Day Yesterday/A New Day Yesterday [Live]/Joe Bonamassa
Portrait of a Man/Portrait of a Man/Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Blue Guitar/Blue Guitar/Earl Hooker
Boston Rain Melody/The 7th Song/Steve Vai

I must confess, this post is quite unstructured and sans a precise motive, yet I felt it necessary to reawaken "This Dying Soul." "So foul and fair a" metaphor " I have not seen." :D

auro

B.B. King - One Kind of Favour

Looks like a beaut, doesn't it? Well, it ain't just the pretty album art for this album. There isn't a lot to analyse and deliberate. If only P. Dicky hadn't used it as an album title, I would've stuck with just saying:
Step 1: Put the CD in.
Step 2: Press Play.
Step 3: Repeat.

Don't be put off by the fact that it won a Grammy. I'm not even being sarcastic. Did anybody watch the last Grammy's? If they weren't so Gaga about the whole affair, year after year after year till its an obvious fallacy, may be a lot more deserving nominations would surface and just may be a few less commercially appealing albums would go home honoured amongst those that find a nomination.

Getting back to the album, an important thing to know right off from the start is that the album represents, more or less, an entire couple of generations, most of which "Blues Boy" King has been at the forefront of. Especially when it comes to blues, you're better off perceiving it as a recreation or a personal interpretation rather than a cover. Although it wouldn't be as strikingly different at times as is "Whole Lotta Love" compared to "You Need Loving", B.B. is like no other.

From my homework on the album, I gather that T-Bone Burnett, the producer, was largely responsible for recreating the sound of the 40s and 50s, a few songs which were in fact from the era. Wonderful production, creating the right atmosphere from the word go, and never would you really feel the vintage nature of the music playing because of its modern sensibilities.

Kicking off with a cynical yet satirical piece by Blind Lemon Jefferson, the album takes a tour through a wonderful blues repertoire from T-Bone Walker to John Lee Hooker. Having played with a majority of these blues greats, and given my unfamiliarity with some of the original recordings, I'm quite sure their essence have been effectively captured onto this magnificent album.

It's rather a difficult task to pick a favourite out of the lot, but biased towards minor blues, I'd say I've given Get These Blues Off Me and Backwater Blues more plays than some of the others. Wonderful guitar work by B.B. There's a reason his surname is King and not Hammet. I find it quite odd that a majority of professional music critics have fixated as much as they have on B.B.'s age, with comments like, "You'd never think he was 82 when he recorded this album." Well, he was, and if it wasn't constantly pointed out, I'd hardly think anybody would notice. As B.B. once said himself: "Blues is whatever that ails you. It's for everybody."

Track Listing
01."See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" (Blind Lemon Jefferson)
02."I Get So Weary" (T-Bone Walker)
03."Get These Blues Off Me" (Lee Vida Walker)
04."How Many More Years" (Chester Burnett)
05."Waiting for Your Call" (Oscar Lollie)
06."My Love Is Down" (Lonnie Johnson)
07."The World Is Gone Wrong" (Walter Vinson, Lonnie Chatmon)
08."Blues Before Sunrise" (John Lee Hooker)
09."Midnight Blues" (John Willie "Shifty" Henry)
10."Backwater Blues" (Big Bill Broonzy)
11."Sitting on Top of the World" (Walter Vinson, Lonnie Chatmon)
12."Tomorrow Night" (Sam Coslow and Will Grosz)

Personnel:

B.B. King - vocals, guitar
Dr. John - piano
Nathan East - double bass
Mike Elizondo - electric bass, double bass
Jim Keltner- drums, percussion
Jay Bellerose - drums, percussion
Eugene "Snooky" Young- trumpet
Ricky Woodard - tenor sax
Ernie Fields, Jr. - baritone saxophone
Jeffrey Clayton - alto saxophone
Neil Larsen - hammond organ
Darrell Leonard - trumpet, arranger, horn Arrangements
Ira Nepus - trombone
Charles Owens II - tenor saxophone
Johnny Lee Schell - guitar

Rating: Nine whiskers, only because I was expecting a new B.B. original.

Timelessness: I think the album itself is the epitome of timelessness because some of the tracks are older than my parents for God's sake! Just a wonderful reminder of the soulful artistry of the blues that's still cherished by true music lovers. Eight lives.

For the lazy:
Brilliant! Buy it, borrow it or call your local radio station, just get your ears tuned in to this Blues masterpiece!

What I've been listening to - First Fortnight, August 2010

The start of a new semester at college, and I'll have been looking forward to are the long bus rides. So far around three hours on every week day, I could not  have been closer to my iPod if I was an objectophile, much like the character of Leigh Swift.


Although I've spent a considerable few journeys engaged in TV shows like "The Sopranos," "Mad Men," "Misfits," "Modern Family," "Breaking Bad," "Damages," "Psych," "Burn Notice," "Entourage" and a few others, I have had the pleasure of discovering quite a few artists, and most importantly, appreciation of progressive music.


What I've been listening to, new and old:


Dream Theater
Dixie Dregs
Ella Fitzgerald
Louis Armstrong
Iron Maiden
David Garrett
J. S. Bach
Johannes Brahms
Jimi Hendrix
Joe Bonamassa
B. B. King
Black Sabbath
Heaven & Hell
Joe Satriani
The Doors
Led Zeppelin
Frank Zappa
Liquid Tension Experiment
Charles Brown
Lightnin' Hopkins
Albert King

Avenged Sevenfold - Nightmare

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Nightmare-Avenged-Sevenfold/dp/B003OF3R0S

One thing I'd never want to get into with every album is its genre. In this age, everyone seems to have elements of different genres fused into one song. Or that's the case with music I'd listen to anyway.


On with the album, just a little background. Avenged Sevenfold's drummer, fondly known as The Rev, passed away last year of under the counter drug complications. Quite unfortunate for someone of such potential and youth to die as tragically. May he Rest In Peace.

The question of carrying on with a band after one member is deceased has always been very controversial. It has been done before with varying degrees of success. The Doors carried on without Jim Morrison, yet this was short lived. However, there have been the occasional band like AC/DC, who have enjoyed a successful career with Brian Johnson after Bon Scott's death.

Mike Portnoy, The Rev's favourite drummer, was brought in as a session drummer, and at the moment, he's signed on to tour with them as well. Portnoy certainly has a very different style than The Rev, and I feel that it is clear from the album that Portnoy has tried his best in making sure his perspective doesn't take over the record, and has tried keeping it as close to The Rev's own skills.

Down to the actual review. Overall, I wasn't quite impressed. I am a casual fan of the band, back in their City of Evil days, and to be honest, it was Portnoy's guest appearance that prompted me to, err, pick up a copy :)
In that regard, as I have said before, I was disappointed. I feel he was trying to play as The Rev would, keeping his memory alive.

It's quite ironic that the album title is a description of the album itself. Aside from "Victim," the other tracks don't even reach mediocrity lyrically. And M. Shadows is the vocal equivalent of a three month experienced guitarist, who plays the same old lick over and over again. Vocal phrasing is between monotonous and horrible.

Synyster Gates is the only reason I got to the end of the album. A very promising guitarist, but I feel he is being held back by the musical inadequacy of Avenged Sevenfold. As a songwriter, he has a long way to go, as you can hear from "So Far Away."

I really would like to say good things about this album, but its all I can do to keep things amicable. After much deliberation, I thought I might as well be honest about what I feel about the album solely as a work of a art instead of a tribute to a deceased band mate. Much focus has been given to what James Sullivan might feel about the album from beyond the grave. I feel that if the band wasn't up to the task, they should have respected his memory and stopped recording instead of using this death as publicity.

All in all, I solemnly disturbed album reflecting the harsh times the band have been through of late.


Track Listing:

01."Nightmare"
02."Welcome to the Family"
03."Danger Line"
04."Buried Alive"
05."Natural Born Killer"
06."So Far Away"
07."God Hates Us"
08."Victim"
09."Tonight the World Dies"
10."Fiction"
11."Save Me"

Personnel

Avenged Sevenfold

M. Shadows – lead vocals
Synyster Gates – lead guitar, backing vocals
Zacky Vengeance – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Johnny Christ – bass
The Rev - vocals, drum arrangements, drums on demo

Session musicians

Mike Portnoy – drums, percussions
Brian Haner, Sr. – guitar
Sharlotte Gibson – backing vocals
Jessi Collins - backing vocals
David Palmer - piano, keyboards
Stevie Blacke - Strings, string arrangement
Stewart Cole - trumpet
Mike Elizondo - keyboards
The Whistler - Whistling

Producer: Mike Elizondo

Rating: Three whiskers

Timelessness: I would be surprised if fans of real music [automatically excludes those who get goosebumps listening to the awesomeness of the Backstreets Boys] remembered this album by Christmas. No lives.

For the lazy:
Bad. Don't buy it.

aurocella

Blog Maintainence

Well, I've been trying to give you guys [I'd prefer to think that I'm talking to a little orchestra of leprechauns holding violins and so forth lest I have an actual readership] a good album as my first review. My initial plan was to put out Nightmare, by Avenged Sevenfold.However, I've had my misgivings about the album, and narcissistic as it sounds, I don't want the first review to be a flaccid thumbs down. I am trying to find the silver linings in what, at the moment appears to be 11 dark clouds. And yes, if it came to mind, Black Clouds and Silver Linings, by Dream Theater was also another option and everything will be coming soon.

The main reason for this post is to establish some structure. Think of it as free verse commentary as opposed to judicial review. Contradiction there. Yes, there is going to be no format. It is quite obvious that I am biased towards my taste in music and I will adhere to that taste. I have been known to split hairs, and lets hope that over time, I won't grow to hate the music I love because I am too critical and slanderous.

One thing I would like to add though. Satirical gimmicks might make its way to the forefront in the near future. Might as well start with my rating system. I'd like to rate each album in terms of whiskers, with a maximum of ten [I wonder why I got that from?]. But I'd like to draw your attention to something I consider quite important: Timelessness. Extending the whole feline theme, I'm going to give every album a life, with a maximum of nine [shocking!]. Its a reflection of how I feel that album will stand the test of time. There have been one hit wonders over the years, they come, they go, nobody really could care less. But there have been albums like Led Zeppelin IV that are still quite dominant pieces of music after a period of forty years of recording. So that, for example, would get nine lives.


For IQ ~ 85
This blog is under maintenance :P


aurocella

So... what's going on here?

Well, I am far from ashamed to admit that I have never bought a single piece of music. It's 2010, and I live in Bangalore. If I paid for music [or any other media for that matter], it would really be like Hugh Hefner visiting a brothel. Having said that, I am sure that profanity is not going to be an issue. Although I do have a lot to say on the matter of illegal downloads and how hypocritical it is of me to say that I support an artist but I never give him any monetary backing, I think I might as well get started on the sandcastles I've already built in the air.

If you were as lazy as I assume most readers are in this day and age and just skipped that paragraph, I'mma get down to the brass tacks. I have  loads of music, the culmination of years of illegal downloads. And I figured, the only way I'd listen to everything, enjoy it and get a real feel of things is if I'd reviewed it all, album by album.

So, toning it down to IQ 85:

This blog reviews music.

Now lets get on with it before I'm supposed to get into all that happiness sunshine stuff.

aurocella