Pandemonium Cheesecake

U2 must love their album Achtung Baby because they've spent the last 20 years of their career trying to record another album like it. So far they have failed. Released late in 1991 while Nirvana was slowly conquering the world, Achtung Baby was the follow up to Rattle & Hum , a mostly disappointing album which found U2 trying too hard to be the 'worlds greatest band.' U2 recorded Achtung Baby in Berlin, so it's no surprise that the Americana blues/folk sound that they leaned heavily on for their previous albums was replaced by late 70s Bowie-esque sound, another rocker famous for reinventing himself in Germany. Combining Bowie's electronic sound with the music coming out of 'Madchester' (psychedelic dance rock), U2 created what has been their sound ever since, swirling guitars drenched in effects over a pop/dance heavy rhythm section. For Achtung Baby Bono trades in his politically fueled lyrics for more personal ones. Songs like "Who's Gon...

In honor of its release 39 years ago today (5.12.72) I am going to repost a review from more than a year ago. The Rolling Stones, Exile On Main Street . Exile On Main Street ends the greatest four studio album stretch in rock history. Between 1968 and 1972 the Stones released Beggars Banquet , Let It Bleed , Sticky Fingers and finally Exile . Are you fucking kidding me? Today bands take longer breaks between albums than this and the Stones release 4 of the best 100 albums ever during this time. Exile is among one of the tougher records in rock history to get into, the first two or three time I listened to it I hated it. Alot. So much so that I didn't listen to it for years after that. Where was the 'Brown Sugar' or 'Sympathy For The Devil', the only song my local classic rock radio station played from this album was 'Tumbling Dice', really? That's the best song on it? If you were lucky they played 'Happy', which was sung by Keith and really do...

One of the greatest 'what ifs' of the 90s is Blind Melon. Their first album, Blind Melon , was a wonder of down-home psychedelic southern rock in a time dominated by grunge. If you haven't heard their debut, you probably think they were nothing more than a one-hit wonder. If you had a TV in 1993 then you probably saw (repeatedly) "No Rain", or 'the bee girl song'. But it's their second album, Soup , that proves this band was much more than a one-hit wonder and could have been one of the better bands that came out of the 90s. Their career was cut tragically short by the death of lead singer, Shannon Hoon, childhood friend of Axl Rose. (Why oh why couldn't they have changed places.) Ignored by MTV and the press because there was no "No Rain" on this album, Soup , is definately a mixed bowl of great music. There is plenty of their take on classic rock, from the Zep-esque "2x4", "Vernie" sounds like Black Sabbath-via-the ...

If you were to rank the 10 Greatest Led Zeppelin songs, none of them would be on Houses Of The Holy . If you were to extend that list to 25 songs, there's a good chance that 6 or 7 would be on the fifth Led Zeppelin album. The first CD I ever bought and my favorite Zeppelin album for a long time (it's now Physical Graffiti ), Houses Of The Holy might be the most solid of all their work, no real dogs among the eight tracks. Just real good (not great) rock songs. Like most Zeppelin albums, this one opens with a punch in the face. "The Song Remains The Same" kick starts the glorious Zep machine. The driving riff, the stellar drum work, all trademarks of the first song on any Led Zeppelin album. Don't believe me, just check track 1 of every Zeppelin album you own. Then, with "The Rain Song", the album comes to a screeching halt. It's Zeppelin at their most tender, until the five minute mark when the storm breaks. John Paul Jones' string arrangement ...

It's weird being unemployed. I had been with the same company for 13 and half years and in the same store since it opened almost eleven years ago. Now, I have no idea if I will ever step in the store ever again. Not sure its really sunk in yet. It seems like a vacation right now, especially since its around the time I take my annual March Madness vacation. Even when I was driving home it seemed surreal. I was a bit numb, but not really upset since no tears were shed. The writing had been on the wall for almost two years now and I was the obvious choice to go. One of the reasons I wasn't really upset was because of the cd I listened to on the way to work, for whatever reason I grabbed the Stones ' Exile on Main Street ' for the seven mile trip. 'Exile' is one of my top 5 albums and if you don't own this album, you need to. It ends the greatest four studio album stretch in rock history. Between 1968 and 1972 the Stones released 'Beggars Banquet', '...

Long Island ruined me. Growing up there, listening to WBAB [a classic rock radio station] led me to believe that Billy Joel was among the elite in rock music. Their dependance on William Joel's weak-ass catalog robbed me from learning just how good artists like David Bowie, Queen, The Who and Elton John really were. Not to mention ignoring some of the giants of rock that get ignored by most radio stations, the Stooges, Velvet Underground and the Clash. You never hear 'The Entertainer', 'Miami 2017' or 'The Ballad of Billy The Kid' on the airwaves anywhere else except on Long Island. 'Piano Man' is the only song heard at 5pm on Fridays on any station and a wedding on the Island isn't complete without either 'She's Got A Way' or 'Just The Way You Are' [which is possibly the wussiest song in the history of rock music]. Don't believe me? Really listen to the song, I mean really listen like you didn't grow up on the Island...