Everyone has that one buddy who’s broken up with a serious, long-time girlfriend and then just gone completely non-linear. You know, the guy who talks about how great his girlfriend is the entire time they’re dating, hints at even marrying her, and then she leaves him without warning for a Swedish hair model or something, and your buddy is completely inconsolable? Well, for about a week or two, of course, and then he starts nailing everything in sight. That’s basically […]
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Deep Purple, Now What?!: Album Review
Let’s start with a bit of an opinionated, music snob mini-rant: Deep Purple is one of the most important and too-oft overlooked bands in rock history. If one looks at their obvious and strong influence on hundreds of bands and the multitude of musicians who flat-out credit Deep Purple with inspiring them to do what they do, it’s shocking how frequently their music is completely absent from the collection of many rock fans. Quite often, the average […]
We Saw It! The Queen Extravaganza at House of Blues, Houston, TX — June 20, 2012
The Queen Extravaganza rocked the House of Blues in Houston, TX, on June 20th…and Grez was there! Check out his recap of the show.
Spin Cycle: Joe Walsh, Analog Man
Twenty Years. That’s how long it’s been since the last time Joe Walsh offered up a collection of original tunes for his fans. Two decades since his last set of tunes set itself as a backdrop to the first go-round of the Iraq disarmament crisis, George H. W. Bush vomiting in public, and John Gotti receiving his racketeering life sentence…and competing with the likes of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden for chart position (and not faring so well in that fight). […]
The Viewfinder: Joe Walsh’s “Wrecking Ball”
Joe Walsh of Eagles/Barnstorm/solo fame will be releasing his first album of original material in twenty years, titled Analog Man, in just a few days. The last time he presented new music to us, we were involved in Desert Storm the first time and George H. W. Bush was President (that would not be Dubya, for those of you who are timeline challenged). Yeah. It’s been a while. Rolling Stone was kind enough to sponsor official video for a live show that Joe […]
We Saw It!: Chickenfoot at the Houston Bayou Music Center 5/29/12
On Tuesday, May 29th, Chickenfoot rocked the Bayou Music Center in downtown Houston, Texas. I was there. The short version of my take on the show is this: Holy. Crap. It’s almost 48 hours later, and I’m still dumbfounded by the show that I saw Tuesday night. Chickenfoot showed up fully prepared to defend the label of “supergroup.” Not that any of these guys really need to…they’ve all had superstar careers, and don’t require anyone else’s approval. Nonetheless, they appeared […]
The Viewfinder: Montrose with Joe Satriani perform “Bad Motor Scooter” in San Francisco
On April 27, Sammy Hagar united with the remaining members of Montrose and Joe Satriani to play a tribute concert for Ronnie Montrose. Here’s “Bad Motor Scooter” from the show.
The Viewfinder: Asia’s “Face On The Bridge”
Prog-rock supergroup, Asia, is slated to release a new album this May, entitled XXX in honor of their 30th anniversary of being a band. The original lineup is once again intact, featuring John Wetton, Steve Howe, Carl Palmer, and Geoff Downes. They’ve already released a single and corresponding video called “Face On The Bridge.” I’ve always found it interesting that Asia is referred to as a prog-rock band. Sure, the respective members all come from other prog-rock projects, but I’ve always […]
Spin Cycle: Mount Carmel’s “Real Women”
Indie rockers Mount Carmel hail from Columbus, Ohio, and, like many things Midwestern, nearly fooled me into thinking they were one thing when they were really something else. Their handle sounded to me like they would be hipster pop or some other ironically-named alt-rock-nuvo-art-thing. But noooo – they are straight-up, four-chord seventies rock, those sneaks. As if I weren’t already thrown off enough, once they launched into their opening track, “Swaggs”, and I heard those gritty vocals coming through a classic condenser mic, […]
Spin Cycle: Halestorm’s “The Strange Case of…Halestorm”
“That bitch can eat her heart out!” That sums up nicely what Lzzy Hale is going for throughout her band’s new offering, The Strange Case of…Halestorm. She seems to be saying “don’t you wish you were me, girls? I completely rock and am still totally a chick about the whole thing. Keep reading Cosmo, but you’ll never get your hands on this secret sauce.” And chances are good that they never will. Many girl-fronted rock acts fall quickly into self-parody […]
The Singles Bar: Rush’s “Headlong Flight”
The Canadian super-power trio, Rush, are back with a new album in the works (Clockwork Angels) and a new single available. A single that is seven minutes long. You heard me right. Seven. And it’s a single. For real. It’s called Headlong Flight. And you know what? It deserves to be a single…this song, despite its epic length, is catchy and features the band in their best form, really hearkening back to their glory days. Alex Lifeson’s soloing on Headlong […]
Spin Cycle: Flying Colors’ “Flying Colors”
Oh, Flying Colors, you got me. How you did it shouldn’t be a mystery, and yet it was a surprise to me, as I was fixed in a wary crouch, prepared for flight at the first sign of blasé songwriting or preachy lyrics. But you approached patiently, slowly luring me in with all sorts of little sonic treats, and the next thing I knew I was tamed, housebroken, and gladly accepting aural scratches behind the ears. [“Who’s a good boy? […]
