Music Album Review

Sep 14 2007

Sunrise Over Sea – The John Butler Trio

At the age of 16 American born Australian roots & blues singer / guitarist John Butler learned to play guitar on his grandfather’s dobro given to him by his grandmother. Based around the city of Perth, John started busking before achieving his current fame. After starting the trio, two of the band’s albums — Three (2001) and Living 2001-2002 (2003) — have gone platinum in Australia and reached the top ten of the Australian album charts in those years. The 2004 album Sunrise Over Sea debuted at number one on the Australian charts on March 15, 2004 reaching gold record status in its first week on sale. The John Butler Trio: John Butler (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, lap steel guitar); Shannon Birchall (double bass); Nicky Bomba (drums, djembe, percussion).

Treat Yo Mama Butler demonstrates he knows how to do commercial singalongs too with the obvious crowd pleaser, in a cigarettes & whiskey roots blues track about Mother Earth. Peaches & Cream shows his nod to reggae and the song, from where the album title is taken, is a nod to his home in Byron Bay. I absolutely love the beginning of Company Sin; shame on you if the catchy chorus doesn’t repeat in your head over & over again. It also had a bluesy guitar solo that fits the song, about eradicating large corporates, perfectly. Butler’s voice starts resembling RHCP’s Antony Keidis from this point onwards. It’s about a young man, Ben, who joins work in the mines in Australia and is plagued by guilt on his company’s sin – the destruction of land which is sacred to the Aborigines. He gets relieved when he finally gets sacked.

What You Want is the first single, a song that reminds me of the ocean, is about a breakup. Damned To Hell is a song about how the greedy cannot find absolution in heaven and will be damned to be punished in hell. Hello is a wake up call to someone who wastes their life away to drugs or some other addiction and tells them that they are missing things. Bound To Ramble is about loving life on the road and the love of travel in Australia. Seeing Angles is about someone who changes your life. There’ll Come A Time is about what will happen if we continue to rape the earth.

Zebra is the first single off the album, about all the different things he could be, representing the different types of people that populate this world, and accepting each of these people for who they are, about diversity if you will. Gotta love the wah pedal drenched guitar solo in it man. Mist is this celtic vibe instrumental piece that if you close your eyes, will take you away to Ireland & Scotland. Old Man is about aging and how life eventually comes to an end. Album closer Sometimes is about making compromises with people you don’t agree with for the betterment. It starts so gently and slowly and then builds up in volume.

The result is a diverse album of mixed influences yet the final mix is a heady potion that is one for the ages.

Song for the day – “Company Sin” – THE JOHN BUTLER TRIO

By Roshan • Music, Music Album Review • 1

Sep 5 2007

Analogue – A-ha

Norwegian trio A-ha have had huge success throughout the world with their work in the 1980s and are still very popular in South America & Europe now in latter half of the 2000s. I was a fan from 1987 till 1991 and then they faded away in the wake of all my rock, metal & blues bands. The band temporarily split up. Then in 2000, I heard what would become my favourite A-ha song – Summer Moved On and Minor Earth, Major Sky from their comeback album and was hooked again. I prefer this A-ha over most of their 80s stuff, a very melancholic approach to pop-rock that only these Norwegian trio can do. Still I didn’t have any of their songs until, a couple of years ago, based solely on nostalgia reasons, I bought their greatest hits cd and regained my taste for them.

Analogue is the band’s 8th & latest studio album, released in 2005. I was able to download it in its entirety and enjoy the wonderful songs on it. The album starts off with first single Celice, about people who have lost their direction in the hunt for meaning – and loneliness as a result of lost innocence. You hear the opening lines by singer Morten Harket, the music of Paul Waaktaar-Savoy & Magne Furuholmen and it’s like meeting a familiar face. When Don’t Do Me Any Favours is about non-compromising & rejecting a person (probably a former lover) like the line “I’d rather be your adversary than to be your slave“. Cosy Prisons is many fan reviewers favourite track on the album (I love it but my fav is another track). The song is about the hi-life & things that money can buy and enclosing oneself in a protective bubble, isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be and compares that kind of life to being in a “cosy prison” without a clue about the real world.

Analogue is downright one of the best a-ha songs that I have ever heard and is so addictive that I already played it 10 times on my pc and on my cell phone! It starts of with an ominous guitar sound and then the keyboards kick in with that repetitive line that is so atmospheric! It’s a plea of a loved one to return. In a similar vein, but much slower, is Birthright, which tells a person who is planning on leaving, that the answers might not be there and that time can take care of things.

Holy Ground is about saying goodbye to someone who you used to love but now the love is ground due to differences in their respective thinking. Over The Treetops is a sound that seems to be about a nature lover and wanting to live the simple life closer to it. Halfway Through The Tour‘s subject matter that has been written & sung about by many, many bands who are regularly on the road – being homesick and lonely even when playing for stadiums across the globe and being in the media spotlight. The Fine Blue Line is about how good things can change quickly and nothing is permanent. Keeper Of The Flame & Summers Of Our Youthare a nostalgic look at playing music in the passion of youth, while Make It Soon is a love song. White Dwarf is about a picture of planets, moons & a white dwarf! At best I think it’s a analogy for fading love!

All throughout Harket’s vocals draw you into the world of a-ha, while Waaktaar & Furuholmen lend their musical talents to weave a musical tapestry that is far superior to their early works. Their best album ever? Who cares, just get it!

Song for the day – “Analogue (All I Want)” – A-HA

By Roshan • Music, Music Album Review • 0

Sep 4 2007

Sold For A Smile – The Gandharvas

So this is the second album that I have of the Gandharvas, their third overall release. Released in 1997, Sold For A Smile is proof that the London, Ontario band were on the verge of great things. There are many instantly hummable tracks and the bands excel at that kind of no frills rock n’roll/alternative that was the rage during the early to mid 1990s. I guess you can find, in their music, traces of Blind Melon, Aerosmith & Perry Farrell like vocals. Anyways, this is a good album, I first started hearing in 2002 and enjoy it as much now. I lost my original copy and was able to download the songs as mp3s, so I guess it deserves a review over here.

The album starts with one of their hits, Downtime, an up-tempo rocker and feel good song with wavy guitar riffs throughout the track. It’s a song about forgetting what others think of you and to do what you think is best. Stick to your guns, so to speak. Gonna Be Loose is the second track. Shells is a slightly slower number with some deft keyboards and cool guitar breaks, that ends kinda abruptly. And I get a slight Beatles feel over the song. Then you get the raucous Waiting For Something To Happen, with singer Paul Jago singing in a semi-narrative style for the first verse, then screams part of the vocals and then goes more gentler and back and forth. The album title comes from a line in this track.

Hammer In A Shell is a more playful song – “swinging her hips like ringing a bell, swing a hammer in a shell” – and is basically about this girl! Watching The Girl is a great track and probably the best on this album, although not the most famous. Sasparilla is the bands tribute to punk rock, which builds in intensity during the bridge / chorus and a song made for moshing. Into The Mainstream is a bit more ominous that most of the songs and features crashing guitars and frentic drumming and the singer stretching his vocals.

You then get Milk Ocean a bit more, dare I say it, sensous and a bit sexual as well. The Gandharvas don’t write any love songs for sure! The guitars sure are dreamy in this track and the vocals, at that point, add to the effect. A pause and then the singer becomes more intense as the song draws to a climax. Oh you want ATTITUDE? You got it, in the form of Diabalony an in-you-face, rampant & rebellious abusive track, filled with the word fuck! Some versions of the album ends with a fantastic, rocker version of Cindi Lauper’s Time After Time, which many have stated they like better than the original. It sure is a great track with a great guitar solo, the last official song on their discography.

I’m sure you can still find this album on online store, downloadable mp3 formats for a nominal fee. Get it if you can.

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Song for the day – “Downtime” – THE GANDHARVAS

By Roshan • Music, Music Album Review • 0

Aug 23 2007

A Soap Bubble & Inertia – The Gandharvas

The Gandharvas – although the name is so Indian, the band is not. The Gandharvas, who take their band moniker from the Sanskrit word for the mythical all male spirits who had mastery over musical languages in ancient India, were a 5 member rock group from London, Ontario, Canada. No Indian connections as far as I can tell, except for the name. They were an alternative styled band and their debut album was as eclectic & weird & different as they come. Their 1994 debut, A Soap Bubble & Inertia, is a collection of tunes that would seem impossible to categorize other than ‘alternative’ but it is just not enough. The songs vary from First Day Of Spring, their most memorable & successful single, a song which sets the standard for the band, a semi-ballad that starts from a dreamy slow tempo to a more rockier climax to Circus Song, what can I can best describe as a Russian circus theme music! Seriously, the song reminds me of some circus shows that they would air here on Doordarshan back during the days of India-Russia cultural exchange programs.

Then there is Cans, which is an instrumental piece with cans being the main instrument backed by the usual guitars, drums & bass, the playful (it has birds chirping sounds) Dallying & the ominous grungesque Bundle. The Island is another slower tempo but rockier track with some cool lead guitar breaks and my favourite song on the album. Yes, I like this song more than the normal fan favourite of First Day Of Spring. I feel that you can add this track as the opening credits song of a movie about an island (?) where strange things happen or in which some lab experiments gone wrong occur.

The 8 minute Soap Bubble Meets Inertia is a grungier track with interesting interludes and the last couple of minutes could actually make up a totally different song all together. Other tracks are Breakfulls Of Heroin, the catchy & playful Coffee Song (“keep me awake, me awake, there’s still something to say, this is my surreal holiday”, Elevator Bugs, The Supreme Personality & Saturn Quits Fasting.

It’s too bad that the Gandharvas split up after only 3 albums and like 6 years of existence. I would club them among my favourites if I had heard about them when they were still around; as it is, I only heard them in 2002. Still, they are original enough to warrant a special place in the alternative & experimental music bracket of the numerous bands that have come & gone and stayed in our memories. You can to some of their songs & watch a couple of video at their MySpace site, which is maintained by a couple of their former members, now that the band is no more.

Song for the day – “The Island” – THE GANDHARVAS

By Roshan • Music, Music Album Review • 0

Aug 8 2007

Quadro Neuvo – 6 Albums

Quadro Neuvo is a German group that plays a mixture of Jazz & World Music. The passion of Quadro Nuevo has always been the tango, the Valse Musette, the Flamenco and the affectionate revival of selected film music. With each release Quadro Nuevo interpret the old Italian Tango and the lyrical Canzone in their very own way. This is the music of an almost lost Italy, which has been performed by charmed but already forgotten singers such as Carlo Buti, Nilla Pizzi, Begnamino Gigli and Claudio Villa. These are the songs that arouse dreamlike imaginations, which have always inspired the melancholy fantasies of the north and middle Europeans. Extended musical journeys through Italy gave Quadro Nuevo the ideas and inspiration for their CD. During their journeys they performed their songs not only in concerts but in a really original and exciting way: as street musicians in the narrow streets and alleys of the old Mediterranean cities. The stylistic interpretation lies between European music tradition, Jazz and World Music. Their’s are great CDs for lovers of all things Italian – or for lovers everywhere!

The band takes turn in highlighting an instrument and delivers an easy listening album filled with lovely tunes. There are no weak songs on this album, so just switch on the cds and go about doing your daily routine – surf the net, read a book, do housework, shine your shoes or whatever it is that you do. Or do it the best way, keep a pot of black coffee next to you, sit back with a cigarette or a cigar (if you smoke), keep some snacks handy and relax, while the music whisks you away to the Italy of your dreams. No one song particularly sticks out, although that might be a great thing! How many times have you bought a cd on the strength of one or two songs and then be disappointed at the lack of quality of the rest of the songs? Numerous times for me. Even the greatest albums have alteast two or three weak songs or songs we do not consider to be as good or even worthwhile of the artist. But with Quadro Nuevo you don’t get weak songs, their entire catelog of songs were meant to be, well it seems to me atleast, to be ripped into mp3s and played one after the other, in any order that you may chose to and to be enjoyed on a lazy afternoon at home. It does not matter what else you do, the music will stay on with you, like the effects of a good wine.

Credits:

Mulo Francel: Tenor Sax, Soprano Sax, C-Melody Sax, Bass-Clarinet
Robert Wolf: Guitar, Octave Guitar
Heinz-Ludger Jeromin: Accordion
D.D. Lowka: Acoustic Bass, Freless Bass, Udu Drum

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Song for the day – “Nature Boy” – Quadro Neuvo

By Roshan • Music, Music Album Review • 0

Jul 29 2007

Six Degree Of Inner Turbulence – Dream Theatre

The 6th full length cd released by New York progressive giants, Dream Theatre, Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence, is a two cd effort that was released in 2002. The first disc consists of five lengthy tracks while the entire second disc is occupied by the 42-minute title song broken into 8 tracks. The differences between the two CDs are two different types of Dream Theater styles. The first disc is generally seen as experimental and heavy while the second disc is seen to be more in line with the previous Scenes From A Memory. Blind Faith is an awesome track, which I place among the best that DT have to offer. The song is rarely played live as the unison section between Jordan Rudess and John Petrucci (timestamp – 7:55) is very difficult to play. Then you have Misunderstood, beginning as a ballad and followed by a dark mood with some crimsonesque guitar work. The Great Debate features excellent drumming and bass playing, and many rhythm changes in the bridge. Disappear is a melancholic ballad.

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence fills up the entire second cd as the sixth song and title track. Though the song is essentially broken up into eight movements, the track itself is one 42 minute song and took up the entire second CD of the album. The song explores the stories of six individuals suffering from various mental illnesses. Particularly represented are bipolar disorder (About To Crash), post-traumatic stress disorder (War Inside My Head), schizophrenia (The Test That Stumped Them All), autism (Solitary Shell), post-partum depression (Goodnight Kiss), and dissociative identity disorder (Losing Time). The song also contains musical influences from classical, to metal, to folk and progressive. Some parts of the song are direct nods to some of the bands musical influences.

Grand Finale‘s lyrics advise the listener to be more understanding of the people who carry these and similar afflictions, and to accept them as they should be. This section of the song sums up the entire 6 degrees. The guitars by John Petrucci blaze throughout the album, Jordan Rudess shines on the keyboards & there are some intricate piano playing in there, Mike Portnoy is a mega drummer, John Myung’s bass lines thumping all throughout and James La Brie proves once again why he is known as one of the most powerful vocalists in rock music.

As you can see by the subject matter & the epic musical styles, Dream Theatre is not for everyone. If you idea of great lyrics & music is Britney or Beyonce – get the hell out! But you grew up on Rush or Yes, then Dream Theatre and Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence is for you. Great album, which is better in places than it’s predecessor, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory.

Song for the day – “Blind Faith” – DREAM THEATRE

By Roshan • Music, Music Album Review • 0

Jul 25 2007

The X Factor – Iron Maiden

This is an old album of Iron Maiden, 1995 to be exact. The X-Factor was released 12 years ago, the first of two albums that had Blaze Bailey do the unenviable task of trying to step into Bruce Dickinson’s shoes and fill the daunting role of lead singer of Maiden. Some say he failed miserably, some like his contributions and some say that the rest never gave him a chance. That his vocals were good but not for Iron Maiden, cause you will always compare him with Dickinson. For me, I liked this album a lot; I bought the tape twice, having lost my first copy and now I have been able to download the entire album as mp3. I think it deserves another chance, so try and listen to the songs without bias. Bailey is no Dickinson but he is not bad.

The album has a anti-war feel theme-wise but starts off with an epic (and I must say that this is one of my very favourite Maiden tracks) – Sign Of The Cross, a song of darkness, introduced by atmospheric keyboards and chanting monks’ choir, and which is a concert favourite. The live version recorded on cd & dvd from the Rock In Rio concert is even more fabulous, what with Bruce & three guitars. Man On The Edge is based on the Michael Douglas movie Falling Down, about a man who finally snaps and loses all control. It was a single and had a good video. Two songs about war & it’s effect on humans are Fortunes Of War & The Aftermath. The latter has a good line that says “After the war, left feeling no one has won, After the war, what does a solider become,” in a song that asks if wars are worth the destruction (both physical & mental) that comes out it.

Dark themes dominate in Judgement Of Heaven, Blood On The World’s hands,The Unbeliever and The Edge Of Darkness all good tracks. Lord Of The Flies is inspired by the book & film of the same name and was also released as a single, about a group of young boys who are stranded on a deserted island during a war. But you get the feeling that Blaze’s voice was not fitting well in Maiden and that there was something missing. 2 am & Look For The Truth are the remaining songs, which are both just ok. Overall I really like this album and I was just getting into Maiden around that time. I had a few songs & the Fear Of The Dark tape but no other albums, so this was a kind of beginning to really be an Iron Maiden fanatic stage for me. It’s a 6 out of 10 for me.

Song for the day – “Lord Of The Flies” – IRON MAIDEN

By Roshan • Music, Music Album Review • 0

Jul 18 2007

Cafe Tropical – Johannes Lindstead

This guys is truly awesome without attempting to be the least bit flashy. Spiritual rather than religious, Johannes Linstead is a world music master to the core, playing music for the soul on this, Cafe Tropical, his 6th album. The award winning classical guitarist from Oakville (Ontario), Canada mixes influences from Cuba, Venezuela & Greece, giving us a tropical cocktail. It’s amazing what Johannes Linstead has accomplished in the eight years since the release of his first album Sol Luna Tierra in 1999. From winning “Best World Album” to having top-ten charting albums, to top radio airplay, he has become recognized internationally as one of best selling guitarist/composers in the nouveau flamenco genre.

From the very first song you are hooked! Cien Fuegos a fiery, mediterranean track that sets the mood. Cafe Tropical reminds you of Cuba with it’s Latin trumpet accompaniment and breezy feel that makes you wanna reach for a pina colada. My favourite track is The Streets Of Old San Juan, a dance along number. Spanish Town is the kind of song that makes you long for living in a small town where everyone knows you and every evening it’s party time on the streets with good food & wine. Tides Of Eden is a melancholic tune, while Ole Ole Ola reminds me of camp fire parties.

You have Suave with some good piano playing along with the guitars, El Zocolo, Santeria, Para La Havana which screams ‘CUBA’ loud and clear and is probably one of the best tributes to the city of Havana. The album also has Chica Chica, the name by which one of my MySpace friends from Idaho goes by and who I met around the same time as when I discovered the music of Johannes.

Overall, this is one of the best flamenco, world music albums that I have heard, comparable to those of Jesse Cook, Ottmar Leibert, Oscar Lopez & Vicente Amigo. Enjoy it!

Song for the day – “The Streets Of Old San Juan” – JOHANNES LINSTEAD

By Roshan • Music, Music Album Review • 0

Jul 14 2007

Modern Day Drifter – Dierks Bentley

Another internet find and of a style totally different from the previous one – gotta love the internet – is the country singer Dierks Bentley. Now, this guy is the first American country male singer that I like! Honestly! All the male country singers whose songs I have are Canadian! I came close to liking Billy Ray Cyrus a few years ago but he got too corny for me. I like a couple of American country bands like Blackhawk & Diamond Rio and a few songs of Alabama, but no solo singers. Till now! Born, 1975, in Phoenix, Arizona, he moved to that mecca of the twang, Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 19. He worked in Television for a while and only released his debut album, Don’t Leave Me In Love in 2001, on an independent label. In 2003 his self-title big label debut , features his to no#1 hit on the country charts, What Was I thinking. He has released an album in 2006 called Long Trip Alone, which is equally successful, but the one I have with me is his 2005 US Billboard #6 album, Modern Day Drifter.

The album features two US Country #1 hits, Settle For a Slow Down & Come A Little Closer. You get honky tonk, little twang and song nice tunes in the album. In the title track, we see a picture of a man who goes where he wants, when he wants. In Cab of My Truck, he talks about how it may not be much to look at, but he’s got everything he needs right there inside. In Settle for a Slowdown, his girl has left him and he’s watching her go, just hoping that if she won’t stop and turn around, she’ll at least step on the brakes and slow down. In Come a Little Closer, he wants to make everything right again, saying “there ain’t nothin’ that love can’t fix.” In Good Things Happen, he talks about how everything else may not be going right, but as long as he has his girl by his side, “good things happen.” In the final track, Gonna Get There Someday, he talks about how he’s on the verge of a commitment, but not quite there yet, but feels he’ll get there someday. And as the song progresses, you realize he’s speaking this at his mother’s grave. Show stopper So So Long is a barn dance number about showing the door to a cheating woman.
Overall a really good album that you can enjoy over a beer or two.

Song for the day – “Gonna Get There Someday” – DIERKS BENTLEY

By Roshan • Music, Music Album Review • 0

Jul 13 2007

Holly – Justin Nozuka

What would I do without the internet and enlightened souls who decide to give the rest of us unfortunate ones the goods? Once again, via some guys’ blog, I have found out about a truly talented singer / musician and he is only 18! This kid can wail better than most and he is a true gem in the world of hype & glitz and nothing much else. Justin Nozuka is a Toronto based soul influenced acoustic pop-rock musician. It’s hard to put a tag on his music, but you get the pop, soul & rock vibe all over his debut album Holly and his lyrics are quite mature for a teen. The 18-year-old singer-songwriter has fleshed out many of the songs he’s been playing on acoustic guitar the past year for intimate audiences. Now, with recent opening slots for Ziggy Marley, Sam Roberts, Xavier Rudd and The Philosopher Kings, he is poised to build his audience one fan at a time, impressing those with his engaging personality, ear-bending lyrics and a rugged soulful voice. Born in New York to a Japanese-born father and Canadian-born mother, Justin moved to Canada at age 8 with his mother and siblings after his parents’ divorce.

In fact, the title of the album Holly & one of the songs Oh Momma pays homage to his mother, Holly, who raised Justin and his 4 brothers & 2 sisters by herself after her divorce. The album opens with the bluesy Down In A Cold Dirty Well, an ominous acoustic song that Justin inexplicably wrote about falling down a well. This song sends chills up spine but you still sing along. My favourite track on the album is Be Back Soon, a lusty track about missing your girl, who is on vacation on a beach somewhere, while you are at home and missing her being in your arms. Save Him is about an abused wife, who still wants her husband to be normal. Most of his songs are from his imagination, like Criminal, another great track about a young teen who smokes pot of the first time on the streets with his friend and then throws a bottle in the air for fun. The bottle breaks on the road and later a small girl when walking barefoot, cuts & bleeds on the broken glass. The song is about the guilt that the boy feels when he sees the story on tv and wonders if he should run (to Mexico and change his name & face)!

There are love songs like Golden Train and the pleading Mr.Therapy Man, which reminds me a lot about the Beatles Mr.Postman, but only in the lyrics and overall theme of the song. While After Tonight & We Were Supposed To Grow Old are about breakups, I’m In Peace is about the bliss of having a loving & beautiful girl in your life. Singer Damhnait Doyle, of the band Shaye, guests on If I Gave You My Life. The album ends with the philosophical plea to humanity (especially the US), Don’t Listen To A Word You’ve Heard. Overall truly wonderful music from a young artist with an old soul. Buy it!

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Song for the day – “Be Back Soon” – JUSTIN NOZUKA

By Roshan • Music, Music Album Review • 0

Jul 4 2007

5 Dollar Bill – Corb Lund

If you haven’t heard of Corb Lund & his backup band the Hurtin’ Albertans, don’t worry! There is a good reason – he is not a commercial artist but rather a roots & country musician who sings what he wants & what he loves and not to get on tv. However, he does have a loyal following who attends each & every concert that they can. 5 Dollar Bill was released in 2002 and is one of his best albums. It starts off with the title track, 5 Dollar Bill – a bouncy, cleverly-written song about running whiskey to the U.S. during prohibition. You’re hooked by the first line. By the time the band kicks in, you’re dancing. He mixes humour in his lyrics about a time long gone by. There’s a ballad about his native Alberta, Short Native Grasses & the ominously sounding No Roads Here, which sounds as if it could easily fit into the soundtrack of The Good, the Bad & the Ugly or any one of those old Clint Eastwood westerns. I especially love the acoustic riff in the intro of this song.

Heavy And I’m Leaving is anther soulfull ballad that Corb does true justice too with his singing. Then you get a bar anthemn with Time To Switch To Whiskey, with it’s catchy lyrics and chorus (“It’s time to switch to whiskey, we’ve been drinking beer all night” & the blue collar Roughest Neck Around, a homage to the hard working oil riggers of Alberta. Shine Up My Boots is a wishful thinking song about a young worker, in probably an era gone by, who goes into town on his day off and thinks of what all he can do with $20 that he can afford to spend. He thinks of gambling, getting rich, marrying a pretty woman, buying a ranch with horses but in the end figures that he would probably just drink that money away.

Daughter Don’t You Marry No Guitar Picker is about a father giving his daughter advice on the kind of person to or not to marry. Another country / rodeo ballad is Buckin’ Horse Rider about a cowboy at the twilight of his life. She Won’t Come To Me is a song about a horse that won’t come to people who don’t appreciate life (you could exchange the horse with a woman or happiness). Expectation and the Blues & Apocalyptic Modified Blues are just that – country blues songs that Lund & his band do so well.

So what are ya waiting for! Grab your whiskey or your beer and listen to this awesome album.

Song for the day – “5 Dollar Bill” – CORB LUND

By Roshan • Music, Music Album Review • 0

Jul 3 2007

Lost Highway – Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi is as comfortable as an old pair of jeans or a long-time friendship. They pay some tribute to country music on Lost Highway, their 10th studio album in their 20 plus years as a band. Singer Jon Bon Jovi has always been obsessed with cowboys hats & boots but only from 2005 has his band’s music strolled on country-rock territory. But the band delivers on this 12 track album. Ofcourse the standout & first single You Wanna Make A Memory shines on as one the New Jersey boys’ best tracks ever. Slide guitars straddle this album and at times Richie Sambora steals the limelight but I still think his best playing was pre-Crush, released back in 2000. A nice surprise comes in the form of a duet with LeAnn Rimes on especially on Till We Aren’t Strangers Anymore, singing in a perfect country girl twang.

One thing Bon Jovi should avoid is the type of song that leaves you wondering what is wrong with them. I am talking of We Got It Going On and their ilk. Again, these started popping out from 2000 onwards as it is evident that they are rocking a bit hesitatingly. The title track is a mid-tempo song, half ballad-half rocker and all nostalgia & upbeat about traveling through life. The kind of song that you’d expect from experience and years of doing things your way. Summertime is a poppier song about how his mate makes him feel. With a good video this song can make the rounds of VH1 & MTV for a few months. Whole Lot Of Leavin’ is a plea to a lover to stick together while there are too many people leaving something of the other, their hometowns, country or their lovers.

However, they still have too many semi-ballads & ballads and songs about the same things for my taste. Any Other Day is about barely hanging on, Seat Next To You tells the lover that she is the one the singer wants to be for all times, Everyone’s Broken is comforting a person who is pained & upset, saying that it happens to everyone and that it’s part of life. The Last Night is about leaning on someone in the dark times that plague our days. One Step Closer & is like a dozen similar songs, while the party song I Love This Town is basically a resort-bar party style song about a…. town!

This album is a good one but kinda dull at places. It may grow on me a bit and I think overall it is a bit better than Have A Nice Day.

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Song for the day – “You Wanna Make A Memory” – BON JOVI

By Roshan • Music, Music Album Review • 0

Jun 19 2007

Rodrigo y Gabriela – Rodrigo y Gabriela

It’s been stated before that one of the best things about the Internet is that you can discover & share truly wonderful music that you wouldn’t be able to using traditional methods. My mp3 & cd collection is littered with artists who I first heard of from some well meaning music afficionado, either through email or his / her blog. Rodrigo y Gabriela are one such duo and what a fine pair of flamenco guitarists these two are. Raised in Mexico and based in Ireland, these former thrash metal & classic rock musicians have turned to Rumba Flamenco as a form of expressing their music and you will hear flavours of their metal past in everything that they do. There 2006 self-titled album, has songs like Tamacun, what I would like to call world anthems! As the person from whom I found out about this duo puts it, songs like these are enough to deliver world harmony! It is the best track on this album.

Diablo Rojo is a raucous number that I saw the duo perform on tv. Ixpata, PPA & Juan Loco are other standout tracks on this wonderful cd. But wait…they have a stunning surprise for us in the form of classic metal covers! A wonderful & uplifting version of Stairway To Heaven that would have Jimmy Page clapping along in awe and a rocking Orion that would have the members of Metallica moshing along in support. Not that the rest of the songs are bad – infact they are excellent but these standout. Please go get yourself a copy.

Song for the day – “Orion” – RODRIGO Y GABRIELA

By Roshan • Music, Music Album Review • 0

Mar 18 2007

User Your Illusions 1 & 2

Guns n’Roses have been off the production of albums for over 13 years now. The bickering and egos & abuses hurled at each other & mainly the demons that wage a war in the mind of frontman Axl Rose, have ensured that the band is Guns n’Roses in name only. Axl remains the only original Gunner left in the band. Keyboardist Dizzy Reed is the next longest serving band member, having joined them in 1990 (but not an original member). No Slash, no Izzy Stradlin’, no Duff McKagan, no Steven Adler, no Matt Sorum & no Gilby Clarke. After Axl won the rights to the GnR name, he can play with anyone he choses and it seems like he has. Next he could chose members of the Backstreet Boys, Air Supply, Duran Duran, some rappers & polka musicians, record and album of crap and still put it out as Guns n’Roses. That is the way of the world of GnR these days. Remember their 5th Studio album proper (The Spaghetti Incident was a covers only fling), The Chinese Democrazy has been a work in progress from 1994! Bands evolve or devolve a couple of times in that long a time. The members of the band are aging and not getting any younger.

Anyway, the purpose of this post is to compare & review their simultaneously released double album Use Your Illusion I & II; albums which propelled Guns from just a hugely successful & cult band to mega superstars, whose legacy is never going to die.

Use Your Illusion 1 : This album’s line up has the original Don’t Cry & November Rain. Each song is still played heavily on radio in classic rock stations and by numerous bar & cover bands across the globe. The two ballads feature truly legendary status in the music video categories as well. Next hit song will be the cover of Paul McCartney cover Live & Let Die. Next would be the rocking Dust n’Bones, The Garden & Don’t Damn Me – the latter being one of my favourite GnR song lyrics! The “in your face short song with the video that has only one camera angle but still rocks” song of the album is Garden Of Eden that is best played loud in an open space. Coma & Dead Horsecomplement the album well as does the acoustic tongue-in-cheek You Ain’t The First; a song about how a former lover isn’t as special as she thinks she is!

Use Your Illusion 2 : This one starts off with a classic Civil War, an introspective look at American issues within the country. Axl signs the song off with the brilliant line : What’s so Civil about War anyway?. 14 Years features great piano playing by Dizzy Reed. Yesterdays, You Could Be Mine are other big hits of this album, as is the second version, with alternative lyrics, of Don’t Cry. But the jewel in this album is Estranged, a staggering 9 minute ballad of epic proportions. Get In The Ring is a big “fuck you” to the detractors of the band and filled with expletives. Pretty Tied Up & Locomotive give the album some foot tappin’ numbers, while the album ends with an explosive My World.

So which is the better of the two? You decide. Let me know which is your favourite of the two cds.

Song for the day – “Dead Horse” – GUNS N’ROSES

By Roshan • Music, Music Album Review • 0

Feb 18 2007

Guitar Virtuoso – John Williams

John Williams is one of the world’s most popular classical guitarists. An Australian born in Melbourne, he was initially taught by his father, Len, until he was a student under Andres Segovia in Italy and later he attended the Royal College Of Music in London, studying piano and upon graduation was offered to start their guitar department, which he ran for 2 years. He was also a member of a fusion band – Sky. Williams has won numerous awards for his music, mostly guitar arrangements of classical pieces. Cavatina was the theme of the movie The Deer Hunter in 1979 and was a world-wide hit single for Williams. He resides in both London & Australia. This cd is sort of like his best of and was released in 2000. It showcases his nimble and gentle style of playing the guitar. I have recently started to listen to classical styled acoustic guitar based pieces, mostly of Don Ross & Andy McKee. These two guys imbibe influences from rock, folk & jazz into their playing, while Williams’ stuff is predominantly classical.

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the distinguished gentleman online download Song for the day – “Cavatina” – JOHN WILLIAMS

By Roshan • Music, Music Album Review • 0