Album Review: "Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor" by Rob Zombie

Rob Zombie is now an elder statesman of metal. He can only be about four to five years away from Alice Cooper like acceptance amongst the elders of America.

It's still a bit difficult to think that twenty three long years have passed since this man's  music first came into my life, White Zombie's "La Sexorcisto." After that album though, they swung in a decidedly techno direction with "Astro Creep" and then moving even further to the darkside with the remixed version of the same album. It was hard to not be offended if you were a young metal head.

Rob then went solo and put out "Hellbilly Deluxe" which was even more of a techno album than the last two White Zombie releases. At this point, Mr. Zombie was dead to me, but here we are about fifteen years into his solo career with the latest record. I was drawn to this album because of Mr. John 5.

"The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" by Alice In Chains

Remember Alice In Chains? The last time that this band had any relevance to me was when Jerry Cantrell opened up for Metallica on the Re-Load Tour.

Before that it was when Alice In Chains opened up for Kiss on the reunion tour. Honestly, neither of these performances made a believer out of me. Having seen both of these acts does give me a bit of insight on the artist of the day here, Jerry Cantrell.

Sure Alice In Chains is a band and not Jerry's solo band, right? Well, not so much.Cracked.com even listed Alice In Chains as to why it very well might be.

In the end, Layne Staley may have been the face of Alice In Chains, but he was not really the voice of the band because he just said what Jerry told him to say, at least in the songs where Jerry wasn't singing. It's easy to forget just how much of this band really is Jerry Cantrell. Some of their biggest hits were either sung all or in part by Jerry.

Album Review: "II" by Unknown Mortal Orchestra

This album has a really cool cover. It caught my eye and then a google search was done to find out something about this record. Google came back with it being an indie lo-fi album.

The moment when I became a fan of lo-fi rock is very clear to me. I saw the Black Diamond Heavies at the Schlafly Tap Room opening for Exene Cervanka and The Original Sinners. Since then the audio quality of my music library has taken a hit, but often times for the better.

A good lo-fi record, that has well written and crafted songs, can wonderfully encapsulate and "recreate" the vibe of early rock'n'roll when dirty guitars weren't created by stepping on your distortion pedals, but by diming the knobs on the amp because volume was more important than clarity because even though they were playing professional gigs, the musicians couldn't afford amps big enough for the place. Ah, early rock'n'roll and blues and it's amazing how a Lo-Fi record can capture that spirit!

"Topanga" by Atheist

I've said it before, but the coolest thing about this hobby of mine is when an artist emails me and says that they'd like me to hear their music. So, once again I'm taking a look at some music I'd never heard of but received via email and that's totally cool.

The artist is question is Atheist and his album is "Topanga." Yes, he has an affinity for Boy Meets World. I was never a fan of that show because Fred was the best Savage.

This album touches on such pertinent topics like Topanga, The Warriors, James Franco's Ph.D's, hipsters, organic weed, and Drake "freestyling" with the aid of a BlackBerry. (Off topic: Am I the only one who sees Drake and wonders how Jimmy Brooks got out of the wheelchair? Degrassi Jr High rules.)

This album could best be described as old school hip hop done by a new school rapper. Keep reading to find out what the hell that means.

Album Review: "You Can't Fall Off The Floor" by What Made Milwaukee Famous

From time to time, we all hear about bands without really knowing why that's happened. It would be the most appropriate for this to be said about the Austin, Texas outfit, What Made Milwaukee Famous, by me. It should be highlighted that this group is not in fact from Milwaukee, nor did they make Milwaukee famous. Their name was taking from the Jerry Lee Lewis song, "What's Made Milwaukee Famous Has Made A Loser Out of Me."

In most normal cases, these group would not get much of a second look from the likes of me, but upon watching their video on Youtube, it felt like there was something there that was really worthy of a second look. It very well could have been the quite well done music video. It could have been the catchy hooks and vocals. All in all it was probably the fact that this group can write a damned fine song. This was the group that caused me to stop buying CDs only. This album is not available in a physical form, but on iTunes, Amazon, etc as MP3 only.

Album Review: "Surrealistic Pillow" by Jefferson Airplane

Looking backwards in time and thinking of Patricia Kennealy's book. In that book, though she famously loved the Doors and Jim Morrison, she referred to Jefferson Airplane as her favorite band.

How is it that their music has never graced my stereo?

Well, that's about to change. I won't even go into that time I saw Starship live whilst working for Kiel Center. It's frankly just too painful and frankly, there's not much I could even recount about it now as that show as in 1995....

The Airplane, as we all know, is a psychedelic band from the late 60's that featured the inimitable, Grace Slick. It is equally pleasing and infuriating to me that Grace Slick has stuck to her guns about not performing after she had reached an advanced age, by rocker standards anyway.

Album Review: "Man In Motion" by Warren Haynes

Another foray into the blues has to be made. Warren Haynes certainly fits that bill, so you're welcome?

His is a name that is bandied about by people who are not me along with his other band, Gov't Mule. Before getting this record though, you would have never heard me mention him before and had you mentioned him to me, I'd probably have dismissed it out of hand, because I was stupid.

Knowing that guitarists tend to enjoy Mr. Haynes's  music, there was some excitement in the offing for me. Though I really do love shredders, it's also very nice to hear some down home emotive leads, and Mr. Haynes has that in spades.

About 30 years ago, this would have been called a rhythm and blues record, but nowadays it's just electric blues. Warren is accompanied by what could be described as a multitude of musicians for this album.

Album Review: "Heaven In This Hell" by Orianthi

Recently, sitting in the seats of the Family Arena in St. Charles, MO this blogger was waiting for Alice Cooper to begin his set on his latest tour stop in my "hometown." (St. Charles is 30 miles west of the City Proper where my family and I live.)

When the lights went down, the sparks and fire abated, and out walked the band onto the stage. There were three guitarists on stage, but one of them stood out to me. A white PRS guitar was being carried by him and he was wearing a long black jacket, a fedora, and long blond locks. Looking a bit closer it was noticed that he was also wearing stiletto healed boots and he had become she. My mind raced quickly and sadly the cell service was only 3G in the seating bowl, so my mind raced faster than my iPhone searching. but my initial reaction had turned out to be correct. Orianthi was standing on the stage with Alice Cooper as she's been a part of his live band for a few years now.

Album Review: "Unstoppable Momentum" by Joe Satriani

It's certainly been a long time since Satch has graced these ears. Everyone has heard "Summer Song" off of The Extremist. Certainly Sony helped out Satriani in that endeavor...

However, it has been far longer since the wider world has heard anything else from this fretboard master and there is absolutely zero hesitation in calling this man a master or any other superlative that can be thought of. This man not only has a strong catalog of his own music, but he was the guitar teacher of other guitar heroes, such as Steve Vai and Kirk Hammett. The world of guitar owes a large debt of gratitude to Mr. Satriani for his contributions, not only to his own music, but to the music of his now famous students as well. It's interesting to note that Vai took lessons from Satch when they were both children, but Hammett took lessons from Joe after the recording of "Kill 'Em All" to improve his technique, and the difference was striking.

Album Review: "Electric Warrior" by T. Rex

Even though part of this journey is to find current bands to listen to, there will always be a tendency to look back into the past. I'm shamed to admit that not only is this band absent from the library but completely unknown to my consciousness.

Upon a close listen to this record, the song "Bang A Gong" stood out to me as something that's made its way around and into my ears, but it's still shocking to me how this band was an unknown to me. This is another gross failure by St. Louis's Classic Rock Radio. KSHE and the U-Man, I'm looking at both of you, and don't even mention KSHE Classics if you play them there.

That got a little angry there didn't it? Let's try to find the plot again shall we? This album just drips 70's rock guitar tone. The guitar sound that defined the 70's, ike a whetted sharpening stone being put to use, has its muddy paws all over the songs.

Album Review: "Black Sea" by XTC

My knowledge of New Wave is pretty sketchy. Even when it was popular in my preadolescence I was into metal. Twisted Sister, Iron Maiden, Kiss, etc. XTC never caught my attention. However, it does appear that this was certainly my loss.

From the word go this album pops off in all directions. Black Sea is a very good title for this record. Whilst sitting with it coming through the headphones it feels like you're the captain of an 1800's sailing vessel as it paws its way over stormy seas and you're hearing what the men are doing down below. It's a truly pleasing experience.

They have been labeled power pop, but this album is pure new wave. It's the perfect marriage of synthesizers and instruments. It would be hard to really nail down what this group is doing in terms of a genre. From dirty rock riffs, to ska choruses, to new wave synth, it really feels like they leave no stone unturned.

Album Review: "Koloss" by Meshuggah

Once again, it's about to get very, very brutal. Meshuggah is a band that has been around for what seems to be a very long time. Honestly, they have never crossed my path other than to have heard their name and that they exist.

Last year they were profiled in Guitar World as they were beginning their tour for their latest album, "Koloss." At this particular show, they had taken delivery of their latest 8 String Guitars from Ibanez and they were rather excited.

As a music fan, guitar music is what this blogger finds to be the most enjoyable. A deftly played riff, a screaming solo, an instrumental lead that makes the listener tear up, and more.  This is my favorite thing in music. So, hearing about their playing 8 string guitars...yes interest was piqued.

Album Review: "Silver Age" by Bob Mould

It's time for me to try something very much out of my comfort zone. For many years, the names Bob Mould and Husker Du have been well known to me. That's not to say that these names ever found their way into my music library. It is far more appropriate to say that they were avoided like the plague.

But here we are and it's 2013 and there are only so many classic rock acts and there are only so many metal bands that are worth a damn and so on and so forth. This blog is part of a continuing mission to document the music I acquire, listen to, etc and it serves as a reminder of the dark days when I switched to MP3s and I heard Kiss, Metallica, and Megadeth 60% of the time. Bob Mould (and Husker Du) is someone that a great many people in this world hear something that I simply do not hear. So it's time to listen to his most recent solo effort and see what's there.

Album Review: "Blues For Jimi" by Gary Moore

There are still a great many artists out there that I am trying hear what the others hear. Gary Moore fits into this list. Seeing his name bandied about on guitar forums and on the head stocks of signature model Les Pauls caught my attention.

Turns out he was a solo artist and a member of Thin Lizzy for a time. These things took me completely unaware. He is also mentioned frequently in interviews I've read in Guitar World. If he sets so many other guitarists, including high level pros, then this is someone who should stop being unknown to me. 

He's also another in the legion of white guitarists who love the blues and obviously he's rather adept at it. The more and more I hear, the more and more I realize that I need to give this man a full listening. "Blues For Jimi" is something that Amazon has recommended to me over and over, so maybe there is something to this. It was recorded in 2007 at a special tribute to Jimi Hendrix, obviously.

Album Review: "Hush Hush" by Kentucky Knife Fight

This band came to me by complete accident. There was a chance meeting and I met one of the members. Until this meeting, this group was completely unknown to me. But here we are with the album and checking it out. It's always nice that music is everywhere and you never really know where you're going to find it.

Admittedly, the St. Louis Music Scene isn't indelibly inked into my brain like it once was. Right now if you asked me to name five local bands, at least 4 of them would no longer be a going concern. Although the heyday of the middle nineties in St. Louis has not left me. Many a night I spent down on Laclede's Landing. Mississippi Nights, Kennedy's, and Bernard's Pub were my hangouts, but we've quickly gotten off track.

So, as it is, the St. Louis Scene is currently something of a mystery to me, but I am trying to wade back into the waters and find more and more new stuff and here we have the latest release by St. Louis's own, Kentucky Knife Fight.