Pandemonium Cheesecake

When you think about best bands of the British Invasion you start with the Beatles. After they opened the door, the next two mentioned are The Rolling Stones and The Who. When you get to the next level, things start getting fuzzy. Who's next? The Yardbirds? No. You can probably name more guitarists than songs from the Yardbirds. The Hollies? No. The Zombies? Nope. Hermans Hermits? Who? How about the Kinks? They always seem to be forgotten. Why? For one, they don't have any lasting A+ rock song. Where's their "Won't Get Fooled Again" or "Sympathy For the Devil" or "A Day in the Life"? They also don't have that classic album. In fact, can you name a Kinks album? While their roots are sunk in American blues (like the Stones & the Who), by the time 60s ended the Kinks were running the other way, towards traditional English folk. While the Stones & the Who were recording classic albums ( Beggars Banquet , Sticky Fingers , Who's N...

Frank Zappa is like an ogre. He has layers. Either you 'get' him, or you don't. There are no people who 'sort of like Frank Zappa.' Either you love an artist who can write a song in 13/16 with titles like "No Waiting for the Peanuts to Dissolve" or you dismiss the sophomoric humor, scatological lyrics and one octave voice. His single disc greatest hits, ironically titled Strictly Commercial , is a poor introduction to an artist as far-reaching as Zappa and it bypasses an entire slice of his career. His live music. Luckily for everyone, when he went to Ryko, he was contracted to deliver 12 discs worth of live material for the label, and he did so with the series You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore (Volumes 1-6) . Volume 2, the Helsinki Concert, is the only set to have both discs dedicated to one band, the 1973-74 band. Recorded near the end of the tour in Finland, it highlights one of Zappa's better bands, featuring Napoleon Murphy Brock (guitar/sax/...