Classic Rock News And Views
January 19, 2012
Rushing Into The New Year
The year 2012 will bring Rush fans something they haven’t seen in about five years: A brand-new studio album. This one’s been in the oven for a while having been started back in 2009, but it looks like it’s almost done since the group is reportedly done with recording and was planning to begin mixing early in the new year.
Two songs from the new album, Clockwork Angels were released previously, giving fans a sneak peek at their latest material, and according to a recent entry by drummer and lyricist Neil Peart on his personal website, the three Canadian boys aren’t dialing things back any. In fact, Peart says that, “So . . . thus have I arrived at my sixtieth year, more-or-less gracefully and gratefully, feeling healthy and strong, and feeling that I am putting words together and hitting things with sticks better than ever.”
If the reports that say Rush may start touring this spring hold any water, fans might not have to wait too long before the new album is released. No official announcement has been made regarding a tour, but it does make sense considering the forthcoming new album. Although there’s no reason to doubt that the group will embark on a tour soon, I wonder how anxious they are to actually get out there and do it.
As he has in past writings, Peart reveals in his most recent posting that there is a downside to going on tour and with a young daughter at home, it may be something that’s weighing on his mind more than usual these days. “It’s like when people ask me before I go away if I am excited about going on tour, and I can only look at them in wonderment. Should I be excited about leaving my wife, my baby daughter, my friends, my dog, my house, my toys, my desk, my kitchen, my grocery stores, and all that?,” he writes.
It surely isn’t my intent to throw cold water on the expectation that Rush has a lot of life left in it and that fans can expect the group to continue making new music and touring in the years to come. As a fan myself, I don’t feel like I’m anywhere near the point where I’m ready to say that I’ve heard enough music from Rush, but at the same time, it is enlightening to gain a little insight into what the people up there on that stage might be feeling.
It’s always been pretty clear that Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee are more-or-less the front men both on and off stage while Peart has always been more reclusive – a trait that has likely been misunderstood by some fans through the years, but I believe he has more than made up for any perceived snobbery by sharing his thoughts, feelings and certain details of his personal life through his website. I feel that I know more about his personal life than I do about those of his band mates, even though Lee and Lifeson are the two that we most often see and hear during interviews and other public events.
It’s clear that Peart is a man that’s far more comfortable behind a keyboard or with pen in hand than he is on a talk show set or in a radio station studio. The tendency for the public to think of celebrities as something other than human is well demonstrated, and I for one am glad we have this medium called the internet that allows our favorite rock stars or actors the opportunity to reach out directly and remind us all that they are just as human as the rest of us.
January 10, 2012
Van Halen Preps For 2012 Tour with New Album Release Looming
Van Halen is kicking back into high gear starting next month with the start of their 2012 tour on February 18th and the release of their new album on February 7th. The group announced plans for their upcoming tour during a special performance at New York’s Café Wha? last week. The album, entitled A Different Kind of Truth will be the first one featuring David Lee Roth since the multi-platinum 1984 which was released during January of that year.
After Roth’s departure from the group in 1985, Van Halen worked their way through through replacement frontmen including Sammy Hagar and Gary Cherone. They even engineered a fleeting reunion with Roth during 1996 which ultimately resulted in a further souring of relations between Roth and Eddie Van Halen.
In addition to the on-again-off-again relationship problems between Roth and Eddie Van Halen, the group also experienced a falling out with long-time bassist Michael Anthony who was officially fired from the band during 2006 and was replaced by Eddie Van Halen’s son Wolfgang. The departure of Anthony may have been the result of his friendship with Sammy Hagar who reportedly refused to join Van Halen for a 2004 tour unless Anthony was included. The reason for the plans to exclude Anthony were not clear, but he was permitted to re-join the group after Hagar’s ultimatum. After that, Anthony’s role as part of Van Halen was gradually diminished until he was let go.
After sporadic rumors of a reunion with Roth came and went for a number of years the announcement was finally made during 2007 that Roth would indeed reunite with Van Halen for a tour which kicked off in Charlotte, NC on September 27th, 2007. Although the tour was plagued by numerous cancellations and the rumors that were spawned as a result, the tour was ultimately considered a success for the group, reportedly bringing in almost $93 Million which marked the most profitable tour in the group’s history.
Today Van Halen released the first single from the new album. “Tattoo,” is the kind of hard-rocking guitar-driven track we’d expect to hear from Van Halen with soaring vocal harmonies and David Lee Roth’s trademark theatrics dominating the accompanying music video.
I strongly suspect that the upcoming tour will not include the cancellations and drama that disrupted the 2007-2008 tour since tour organizers and the band members themselves are probably being extra vigilant and making sure that each and every member is physically able to meet the demands of the tour, which spans about three months and includes shows in 40-plus cities.
Although there are likely still fans who will not consider the current incarnation of Van Halen representative of a genuine reunion without Michael Anthony, the group is clearly intent on reviving brand Van Halen and fortifying their position as one of the most successful rock acts in history.
December 19, 2011
CD Review: Aqualung 40th Anniversary Special Edition
What good is a reissue anyway? In many cases, not much. One often gets the sense that reissues are just another way to milk a bit more cash from some classic music. Such is not the case with Jethro Tull’s Aqualung 40th Anniversary Special Edition and Collector’s Edition. This one is not one of your typical “remastered” releases, this one has been remixed and that’s what makes this release a very worthy addition to any Tull fan’s collection.
Fortunately for Jethro Tull fans, the fact that the original 1971 release of Aqualung was a bit flat – OK quite flat – sonically speaking, did not go unnoticed by Ian Anderson. The quirky frontman, it turns out, was disappointed with the final mix after spending many frustrating hours working with equipment that just wasn’t able to deliver the sound he had wanted. Although the material is brilliant and was executed superbly four decades ago, the sound quality of the album was always a disappointment, and left fans like myself wondering why they could not have done better. Now we know.
Although the quality of this new release is limited by the quality of those original master recordings that were used to remix this album, I can say without hesitation that the result was well worth every hour invested in it by Ian Anderson and Steve Wilson, the audio wiz behind this release. As revealed in the accompanying booklet, Wilson made use of the latest technology to bring out the best of the original recordings and tweak them just enough to finally make these classic tracks come alive.
Sitting here with both the original release and the new release queued up, comparing the two might best be summed up by saying that the original recording sounds as if someone has draped heavy blankets over my speakers while the new release brings the lows, the mids and the highs that were sorely lacking in the original release to life. For me personally, the lack of a good solid “bottom” (the low-end frequencies produced by instruments such as the bass, tom toms and kick drum) was always the most prominent deficiency on the original release.
I’m happy to report that the disappointments with the quality of the original release have been remedied by this new release. Although it might not be in the same league as something like Heart’s Dreamboat Annie which was recorded just four or so years after Aqualung, Steve Wilson deserves a massive amount of credit for milking an album’s worth of dramatically improved sound from those 40-year-old master tapes. Finally, one can crank Aqualung up to 11 and enjoy the full knock-you-down sonic experience that we’ve been missing for the past 40 years!
For those who may be struggling with the difference between a “remaster” and “remix,” perhaps Ian Anderson explains it best: “For those of you easily confused about such things, a ‘remix’ is not the same as a ‘re-master.’ Remixing involves going back to the original studio multi-track masters and balancing and perfecting the sound on all the individual instrumental and vocal tracks and creating from them a new stereo or 5.1 surround master.”
The Special Edition which includes two CDs and a 30-page booklet with photos, history of the group, details on the evolution of Aqualung tracks and a few words from Steve Wilson on the technical details of the remix process.
The limited collector’s edition includes a 180g heavyweight LP, 2 CDs, DVD, and Blu-Ray disc including various unreleased materials, a new stereo mix, the original Quad mix, and 5.1 DTS and Dolby Digital Surround. Also included is a 12″x12″ 48-page hardback book featuring liner notes and an interview with Ian, Q&A with engineer John Burns, Don Lawson, memoirs from band members, rare photos, lyrics and more.
After hearing the vastly improved audio quality of this new release, I suggest that serious Jethro Tull fans, run – not walk – to the store and grab a copy of this new release. As always, it’s available on Amazon.com as well.
November 16, 2011
Review: Lindsey Buckingham at Tulsa Hard Rock
Story and Photo by Scott Smith
In 10 seconds, most rock guitarists would lose a six-string shoot-out against Lindsey Buckingham.
The guitarist, singer and songwriter with Fleetwood Mac is an artistic monster on the stage, and as brilliant as his finger-picking rhythm patterns and searing lead breaks are on the Mac’s “Rumours” and “Tusk” albums and on his studio work, it’s seeing and hearing the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s nimble fingers and thumbs in person that truly is an astounding experience.
Buckingham and his solo band showed no hints of fatigue or road burnout when they played their final U.S. date of Buckingham’s Seeds We Sow Tour at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino’s Joint on Nov. 14, 2011, near Tulsa, Okla. At age 62, Buckingham still fires off guitar parts to retain his title in the world’s Top Three Living Guitarists Club.
Wearing a dark leather jacket and blue jeans and sporting, as usual, rock’s greatest hair, Buckingham performed music from his latest CD, “Seeds We Sow,” with some of the new tracks (“In Our Own Time,” “Stars Are Crazy” and “Seeds We Sow”) showcasing Buckingham’s melodic, on-going tip of the hat to Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson, while Fleetwood Mac favorite “I’m So Afraid” handed Buckingham a wide-open canvas to slash furiously at his guitar.
“Trouble,” Buckingham’s minor hit from 1981, took on a slower rhythm and gained beauty, as did “Under the Skin,” while “Go Insane,” like it has since Fleetwood Mac’s 1997 tour, took shape in haunted, acoustic-guitar form. “Go Your Own Way,” a tune that defies wear and tear from near-constant radio play, summoned some of Buckingham’s greatest solos of the evening.
At first, much of the crowd seemed a bit sedate, even during Buckingham’s trademark, one-man take of Fleetwood Mac’s brooding “Big Love,” but when the galloping rhythm commenced for the equally great “Second Hand News,” all ages were on their feet, wiggling to Buckingham’s fluttering guitar sound and the backing band’s succinct instrumental play.
Even though “Tusk” seemed a bit early in the set — the Fleetwood Mac staple arrived about 3/4 through the two-hour show — the song gained stronger legs in the concert setting. After singing the song’s initial hushed vocal parts, Buckingham let his famous vocal howl gush for the song’s final two minutes before playfully stomping across the stage, thrashing about his electric guitar.
Buckingham’s performance, just like his effort with Fleetwood Mac at Tulsa’s BOK Center in 2009 and during his solo shows at the Brady Theater in 2007 and 2008, almost always was spot-on inside the Hard Rock. Watching Buckingham tear out solos, gently stroke quieter chord patterns and sing the tribal-like “Tusk” as if a man possessed comprise a can’t-miss event.
While witnessing Buckingham command the stage, it’s so easy to see why Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood would do anything, way back at the end of 1974, to get Buckingham to join his band. Fleetwood was so desperate to get Buckingham to join, he relented to the guitarist’s “package” demand that Fleetwood Mac also hire Buckingham’s then-girlfriend, a pre-famous singer-songwriter named Stevie.
November 7, 2011
CD Review: Journey’s Greatest Hits Volume 2
Spinning up Journey’s Greatest Hits Volume 2 CD for the first time provided for me an experience that was true to the band’s name. Listening to those hits took me on a musical journey back to the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Although the compilation includes tracks that were recorded between 1978 and 1996, it was those early songs like Stone In Love, Feeling That Way and Just the Same Way that really took me back to those Saturday nights sitting in my 1973 Chevrolet Laguna listening to the radio and hanging out with friends into the wee hours.
Of all the bands we listened to and loved during that time, I don’t feel as if I’m going too far out on a limb when I say that Journey’s share of airtime on rock radio probably outshined just about every other group. It’s not all that often I can put on a greatest hits album packed with seventeen songs and find each and every one of them instantly recognizable.
Even more impressive is the fact that I can look at the track listing from Journey’s Greatest Hits and realize that the same is true for that compilation. Although I was happy to listen to every Journey song that came on the radio during those days, I’m not sure I could have described myself as a bona fide fan since I don’t believe I ever purchased one of their albums and am certain I never attended any of their shows. I was never much of a concert guy, although I suspect my presence at a Journey show would have been a good bet if I was.
These days I believe I am justified when I consider myself a true Journey fan since I have acquired eight of their albums over the past decade or so, which has been increased to a total of nine with the arrival of this latest release.
The fact that this is a greatest hits album deprives me of the opportunity to opine about the songs themselves. I am, however, one who always seems to have something to say about engineering and sound quality. On that front I have no complaints. The mixes on my CD copy sound quite similar to the recordings I already had and are quite good for the most part. Perhaps I’d be considered unqualified to make that kind of judgment by vinyl aficionados since I find no fault with the sound quality I enjoy from a digital recording.
Speaking of vinyl, Journey’s Greatest Hits Volume 2 is also available on a gatefold double-vinyl edition which also includes an access code allowing the owner to download a digital copy of the re-mastered mix for vinyl. That move kind of makes my head hurt just a little bit, but maybe some vinyl devotees can muster the tolerance to endure the sound of a digital version while they are working on their computer or want to take the album on the go with them using one of those new-fangled iPods or portable MP3 players.
Leaving the not-so-thinly-veiled sarcasm aside, I actually think it’s pretty cool that a re-mastered vinyl version of this release is available for those who prefer that medium. Although I’m perfectly content listening to the digital version, I remain open to the idea that vinyl may indeed sound better in some way I don’t yet understand and would welcome the chance for someone with a capable set-up to convince me of that popular assertion some day.
Calling this a new release just doesn’t seem right despite the fact that technically, I suppose it is. What it represents to fans like me is a trip back in time that brings back a flood of memories of days (and nights) when I didn’t have to fret about forgetting my reading glasses at home, didn’t have to worry about hurting my back shoveling snow (ouch!) and couldn’t stop thinking about how those blue jeans fit on that girl from the other side of town who spent a few weeks hanging out with us. I believe she’s the reason I often mistakenly believe the title of Stone In Love is actually “Blue Jean Girl!”
