Early Man - "Closing In" (Matador, 2005) [key tracks: Feeding Frenzy, Fist Shaker]
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"This is what they do when they're after you! "
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So I have started my summer reading a little early. Currently I am reading about the Black Plague. One of the many fascinating things about the era of the Plague is that it is one of the few biological selective events humans have faced in modern times. What does this mean? Well, there are those who think that if you descended from a survivor from Plague haunted lands, that you may have a genetic mutation that will help you in ways we don;t yet fully understand how to exploit. In short, we have a receptor called CCR5, and this is used by T-Cells and the HIV virus alike. A mutation in this receptor can be traced to about 700 years ago, the time of the Plague. This mutation can either slow the progression of HIV to AIDS, or even make you immune to AIDS as we know it today. All I can say is wow. Interesting reading.
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Carl's Favorite Songs - #42 - Chop Suey! by System of a Down
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Early Man is a gift to Carl from the music gods. Not because they sound like 1980's metal, which they do. Not because they have perfectly mastered the aggro-mindless lyrical approach of thrash, which they do. Not because they rock, or make a mighty noise with 2 people, or that they can totally riff. But I love them because of their back story. The two members, Mike and Adam, were both raised in strict religious (Pentecostal) households. Once they turned 18/19 (depending on who's version of the legend you listen to), they found a big exciting world out there... including all those tapes and records of classic metal that they have never heard. Of course, they fell in love with it. King Diamond, Iron Maiden, WASP, Judas Priest, Dio, Black Sabbath... all of it sounded fresh and exciting. So what did they do? Start a metal band... an old school metal band. And they rip! All triplets, double bass, and high pitched "yeaaaaaahh!", Early Man makes an old metal fan's heart miss a beat. This LP is just over 42 minutes, but goes by way too fast. Not for the faint of heart, and definitely not ground breaking, but it is instantly one of the best metal LPs I own.
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One thing I found funny was the whole image of this band. Funny as in hilarious. They shun their parents' enforced legalistic religion and fell right into the fear of such Fundamentalists... the world of heavy metal. The second deadly sin is their name, Early Man, which alludes to another thorn in the side of Fundies... evolution. Also scary to a Pentecostal are the topics; death, war, persecution, and fire. Unbelievable, and even more so that it is not done with irony. Unlike Dragonforce, this is a band that makes you fall in love with the 80's metal scene all over again. Oh, and no keyboards on Early Man, so even better! Lastly, they shy away from over doing it. There is no gore, no Satanism, no cartoony sword wielding epics (which can be good, if you pull it off... right The Sword?). Just plain rock and fu**in' roll. So for their concerted stab at hypocrisy and superstition, we salute you.
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Horns up!

Def Leppard - "Pyromania" (Mercury, 1983) [key tracks: Foolin', Photograph, Rock of Ages]

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"Lady luck never smiles, so lend your love to me awhile. Do with me what you will; break the spell, take your fill. On and on we rode the storm... the flame has died and the fire has gone. Oh, this empty bed is a night alone, I realized that long ago..."

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I guess Shock Week is over. I didn't want to dig too deeply into my recently alphabetized record boxes, so you get this album today. Not that I wasn't going to write about it eventually anyway! So, what else have I been up to? Reading. A lot. And trying to finish up this semester. I won't lie, I have been having a very hard time with the fact that my classmates are moving on and I am left behind. Been a rough week for me. So what a great week to review an LP that has served me well for many, many years.

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Carl's Favorite Songs - #43 - Raspberry Beret by Prince

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"Pyromania" is by far Def Leppard's best LP. It is hard to believe now, but they were once considered part of the almighty NWOBHM (new wave of British heavy metal), which was supposedly rewriting rock and roll in the wake of Zepplin and Sabbath's decent into self-indulgence and inner strife. Iron Maiden was the biggest representative of the NWOBHM, so when you think of the band who sang "Pour Some Sugar On Me," you tend to giggle. But back in the day, they were metal. Their first couple LPs weren't much to hear, but when they infused just a taste of pop, it resulted in an epic rock and roll LP. "Pyromania" is one of those albums that stands as a unit, not a collection of hits and misses. Of the 10 tracks on the LP, 8 are bona fide rock standards. It wouldn't be, in my opinion, until "Appetite for Destruction" that metal offered such a fantastic LP. The LP is almost 25 years old and I still head bang and lift the mighty mano cornuto as I drive around CB. It sold an impressive 6 million copies in 1983 alone, and that is just in the States. At the height of their popularity, Def Leppard was standing for what was right (and wrong) with metal. The problem was this; the trade-off for the nod to pop was not that metal-heads left, it was that the mall crowd came. Suddenly they were a household name, and the fan base swelled. Nothing kills a genre band more than crossing-over. So what do you do? Swing back into obscurity, give up, or sell out? Leppard sold out. But at least they left one massive metal LP behind. Along with Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil," Venom's "At War With Satan," Metallica's "Kill 'em All," Slayer's "Show No Mercy," Dio's "Holy Diver," and Iron Maiden's "Piece of Mind", 1983 was one epic year to be a metal fan. Let's remember, 1983 was the year for Huey Lewis' "Sports" after all...

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That's it. That's all I got. Go buy the "new" JRR Tolkein book if you haven't. It will be the last thing (allegedly) ever published under his name. Christopher (his son) has done a pretty good job as literary executor, unlike Frank Herbert's no-talent son. If any of this makes sense to you, you are a huge nerd... like me. Horns way up.

Jane's Addiction - "Nothing's Shocking" (Warner Brothers, 1988) [key tracks: Jane Says, Ocean Size, Mountain Song]

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"I was made with a heart of stone, to be broken with one hard blow. I've seen the ocean break on the shore, come together with no harm done..."

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There was a time, less than a year ago, when if I had stepped in dog poop, I would have freaked out. Now, in April 2007, I'd say it happens on a weekly basis. Minimum. The apartment complex has slowly become pet friendly. This is good, because we have a dog (which helps my wife's loneliness problem and my laziness problem). This is bad, because the dirtballs that live in my complex just let their dogs crap wherever they want and don't scoop it up. Getting our own house will be an indescribable triumph on so many levels... And with that, Shock Week winds down to a close.

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Carl's Favorite Songs - #44 - No One Came by Deep Purple

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Jane's Addiction personified "shocking." Not only that, they were the enzyme that allowed alternative music to rise from obscurity to a household genre (for better and for worse). "Nothing's Shocking" was their first official LP (they had released an indy LP earlier, but many of the songs would appear again on their major label releases), and they were already a street level phenomena before it was release. By being signed to Warner Brothers, armies of indy bands suddenly had hope; Jane's Addiction led the way for a musical revolution. As you can tell by the cover, they are all about artistically challenging societal norms. That, and they liked drugs. Perry Farrel, the lead singer, used to dress very flamboyantly; adorned in make up, colorful jewelry, and feminine clothing (more than David Lee Roth's spandex and silk, Farrel wore corsets, hosiery, and so on). This (at the time) was very shocking indeed (even though we were used to seeing metal bands dress this way, it was odd to see a straight man in music proudly devoid of any machismo). Also shocking was their lifestyle; this was a time when tattoos and piercings were not common at all... people were still debating if a man should pierce his ear. Jane's Addiction led the way for every 20 something white girl to have pierced nipples, tongue rings, and lower back tattoos.

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On stage they were nothing short of combustible performance art. They weren't the scariest or most shocking live act around, but they were the scariest and most shocking major label live act around (unless you count the Chili Peppers and their sexual harassment lawsuit... the infamous socks on cocks meet teen girls case). Perry would often strip naked and prance around in a very Iggy Pop like fashion. Guitarist Dave Navarro would lay down some pretty heavy jams, utilizing the guitar to pump out some spacey sounds (and before Rage Against the Machine came along, he was the only one tripping out these sort of riffs). And of course the rhythm section of Eric Avery (bass) and Stephen Perkins (drums) were unmatched in the subculture from which Jane's Addiction rose. As artsy and new as their sound was, it was rooted in progressive metal and funk, with a taste of punk, but to a different percentage than contemporaries the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Part Led Zepplin, part Pink Floyd, part Stooges, and part Commodores (all meant as compliments) they were one of the tightest and most original of all the early "true" alternative bands.

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The album and band both deserve more than two paragraphs, so consider this a bonus. The album has some amazing tracks. My copy was an early pressing, so it is missing a song ("Pigs in Zen") that may be on all CD copies readily available today. I would venture to say of the 10 tracks on my LP, only 2 are forgettable... and they are the "Up the Beach" intro and the "Thank You Boys" outro. Between these are 8 perfect tracks. You probably have heard "Jane Says" on rock radio, if you listen to rock radio. It became an instant classic, only being nudged out of the limelight for "Been Caught Stealing"(which was on their next LP). If you were really into rock in the 1990's, "Mountain Song" probably popped up a lot in your audio travels. But a song that you need to hear, and one that has deceptively poignant lyrics, is "Ocean Size." The lyrics are a lovechild created by Farrel's love of surfing, and a Zen outlook on life. Their can be dichotomy between people, countries, religions... there can be difference, but they can coexist without clashing, without conflict. And change is within reach. This is the message of this song. I love it, and while I pretty much ignored Jane's Addiction when they were at their apex (I was mostly a metal head in those days), I still mangaed to listen to their stuff, and dug it. Now I look back on their 2 album career as amazing; "Nothing's Shocking" being the purer and better of the two (of course I am going to be partial, since the LP has guest appearances from Flea and 2 members of Fishbone). As is inevitable with all bands with this much creativity and originality, they imploded (alternative bands tend to either implode or sell out). Personalities clashed and they ceased to be cohesive or productive. So once they stirred the pot, invented Lollapallooza, unleashed an edgy lifestyle on the Midwest, and broke the glass ceiling for indy bands, they flung out in separate directions and handed the reigns over to bands like Nirvana and Radiohead to see what they could do with (or to) rock and roll. "Nothing's Shocking" is a perfect LP, and one that any modern rock fan needs to hear and cherish for it's high quality, uniqueness, and the ground breaking change it had on the music scene.

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And for the record, I am not a big fan of Farrel or Navarro. Both have done nothing since Jane's Addiction that in any way appeal to me, and Navarro has become something of a joke upon himself. Too bad, they were so good at the peak. And I am still a little bitter about the floodgate of pure drivel that invaded rock because of Jane's Addiction's success. The 1990's were more of a musical nadir than the 1980's if you ask me. To be completely honest, I think my biggest problem with Jane's Addiction was that they allowed everyone into my little club; they made indy music accessible to all. I realize that this is snobbery of the highest level, but a lot of emotion is invested in these bands that you follow and idolize, only to have some white trash CB queen with a copy of "Nevermind" tell you she loves alternative music. Yeah, that Nirvana disc is right next to Green Day, Eminem, Nickelback, and Korn. No thanks.

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One last item; in high school I was not exactly cool. Big surprise. But there was a girl in all my honor's classes that was pretty and cool. She was quiet and seemed not to run around with a lot of the normal posse of popular chicks. Something was different and attractive about her and I always sort of harbored a little crush on her. Her name was Emily. Anyway, Emily came to calculus one day with a Jane's Addiction t-shirt. They had just played Omaha in support of "Ritual de lo Habitual" (a coup for our musically bland concert scene). It was enough of an incentive for me to strike up a small conversation about the show. We were both surprised to find that each other liked "that sort of music." I talked to her a few more times over my senior year, and she wrote a very nice thing in my yearbook. This is what this sort of music is about; its a scene, and it brings people of like-mind together. When it works, its a great example to the world around to take notice. I haven't talked to Emily since graduation day (15 years ago now) but I hope she has found nothing but happiness, and I hope she still likes "that kind of music."

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Horns up.

The Dead Milkmen - "Beelzebubba" (Enigma, 1988) [key tracks: Punk Rock Girl, Stuart, Life Is Sh**]
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"I do not like you college brat. I do not like you and your frat. I do not like you at the shore and I do not like you drunk on Coors. I do not like your average life, hope you do not take a wife. I hope you don't decide to breed 'cause that's one thing I do not need. I do not like you radical, I hate you and your fancy school. You're wrong about the working class and I hope they kick your Harvard ass. 'I do not like you, world of ours, I'd rather live on planet Mars and die from lack of oxygen than breathe the air of other men.'"
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GASP! Shock week continues. The funny thing is my stuff won't be truly shocking. Rock and roll is full of filth and horror, and a person could build a ghastly web page dedicated to it. The Scorpions once had an LP called "Virgin Killer" that featured a full frontal nude picture of a barely pubescent girl. GG Allin lives the sort of demon-possessed life Danzig sings about. Unsane used some truly gruesome (and real) crime-scene photos on all of their early releases. And let's not forget the Dwarves, who always incorporate nude women, little people, blood, and sometimes even crosses on their covers (not to mention their songs are about killing, rape, and deviant sex). So consider my shock collection as "eyebrow raising"; just shocking enough to still be fun.
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Carl's Favorite Songs - #45 - Fire Woman by The Cult
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The Dead Milkmen are the princes of slacker punk. More structured than the Butthole Surfers, less drug influenced than The Flaming Lips, a bit more serious than Ween, more musical than King Missile, and more humble than The Dead Kennedys. Every word, cover, and sound is satire of the highest level, yet they come off as bratty and crass. I have listened to The Dead Milkmen perhaps more than any other band, perhaps second only to the Doors (it would be close). "Beelzebubba" was the closest thing they had to a hit album, as it featured the easy-to-spin novelty song "Punk Rock Girl." This song got a lot of attention on MTV, Dr. Demento, and Weird Al TV. The problem is that the band became novelty, and no one realized that there was a lot of fun to be had in all of their stuff. Songs like "I Against Osborne" and "Sri Lanka Sex Hotel" that personify madness, "Bleach Boys" and "Smokin' Banana Peels" that skewer drug abuse, and "Stewart" that fillets Midwest yokel culture (a trailer park king tells a young boy about the horrors of homosexuals and carnivals rides, fearful of what the "queers are doing to the soil"). There is even a track "Born to Love Volcanoes" that criticises society's elite for supporting the arts and PBS when real social change is within reach if they would just write checks to worthwhile charities. "I guess (PBS) needs my money more than a bunch of pregnant teens," is surprisingly poignant for what you expect from the Milkmen. So what's shocking about the Milkmen? Their use of words. "Fu**," "sh**," and so on are on a lot of albums, but are they used in reference to government, religion, and crucifying Charles Nelson Riley? The things they say are incendiary, and not welcome in Iowan households... just ask my wife. You have one of two responses to the Milkmen; that they are quiet geniuses, or that they are totally offensive. Either way, they can shock you.
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It has been a long week for me. I am starting to get the blues again. This stupid weather... it was 80 for like a week, then now we are back to snow, cold, and gloom. I like gloom as much as the next metal head, but this is too much at the wrong time. I find myself not wanting to get out of bed, to go to work, or do my homework. I even lost interest in playing LOTRO or reading. My Wii has been off for 3 weeks. I just need a jolt of sunshine. I hope the record show this Sunday can bring it. Either that or the new JRR Tolkein book that comes out next Tuesday... nerd Christmas!
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Horns up.
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Slayer - "South of Heaven" (Def Jam, 1988) [key tracks: South of Heaven, Ghosts of War]
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"Time melts away in this living inferno, trapped by a cause that I once understood. Blind obedience carries me through it all; do only what is expected of me. March on through the rivers of red... souls drift, they fill the air. Forced to fight behind the crooked cross."
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Okay y'all, its time for a theme. The next week's worth of posts will be under the theme "SHOCK WEEK." That is, the common theme will be shock. It won't be too hard to come up with a weeks worth considering a) I am not posting very often, b) I love metal, and c) people have a hair trigger for offense when it comes to music (they'll put up with a lot more on TV or movies than they will in song). So without further ado...
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Carl's Favorite Songs - #46 - She's Your Baby by Ween
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Slayer quietly escaped the 80's as the last true thrash metal band of the big four (Megadeth, Metallica, Anthrax are the other 3). Thrash metal was an answer to glam metal and MTV; kids who had punk attitude and loved metal, but wanted it fast and hard. All of these bands are still recording, but of them all Slayer is the only one who stayed true to the scene. That isn't to say they haven't evolved, but one listen to this, their 5th LP, then their latest LP ("Christ Illusion") and the spirit remains. They straight hate. They hate musical trends, hate social norms, and hate organized religion. Their covers are almost always shocking... with the classic era of Slayer LPs (of which South of Heaven is one) displaying some Hieronymus Bosch-like visions of madness and horror. Always present are pentagrams, crosses askew, and blood. Slayer aims to challenge everything that "playing nice" stands for by jumping in the face of everything held dear. Themes on their songs often include Nazis, terrorism, murder, Satanism, and war. On "South of Heaven," you get the point quickly. This LP was a point of maturity for Slayer, as their previous LP ("Reign in Blood") was as fast and mean as metal can be played. It would have been impossible to top. Their answer; slow down but retain the attitude. It worked. At the time, many fans didn't care for it... but in time it stood as a brutal and enduring monument to heavy fu**ing metal. It isn't for the squeamish, but then again it isn't extravagantly grotesque (like Cannibal Corpse) or self-deceiving (like Mayhem). They also manage to hold tight to the "pentagram" scene (aren't really Satanists by the way... few metallists are) without becoming campy, operatic, or progressive. Slayer is thrash metal, and this is one of their heaviest LPs.
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Shocked? Here's something else shocking. In the record collecting business, metal records are consistently the most over priced. Why? They were under printed, not distributed very widely, poorly taken care of, and well loved still by their fans. Metal fans are the most die hard of all music fans... high pitched screams and 2 hand tapping solos that once sounded fresh in 1983 still sell in 2007. And metal heads never forget the classics. They may buy the new Trivium or Priestess LP, but they are just as likely to shell out $20 for a VG to NM (very good to near mint) condition Slayer LP. I do and I did. And if you find me a copy of "Seasons in the Abyss," I will allow you to name my firstborn. IF you don't find one for me, I will name him or her Moloch. Now go, and bring me Slayer!
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Horns up!

Talking Heads - "Speaking in Tongues" (Sire, 1983) [key tracks: Burning Down the House, Girlfriend is Better, This Must Be the Place]
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"Down in the basement, we hear the sound of machines. I'm driving in circles, I come to my senses sometimes. Why start it over? Nothing was lost, and everything's free... I don't care how impossible it seems."
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Just a refresher for those of you newer to the site: here is how the thing works. Ideally it is a 3 paragraph "wham bam thank you ma'am"... an intro (you are reading it), a record review, and a paragraph unrelated to music (the fossil of my previous blogs and journals). Between the intro and review, I will be posting in reverse order my top 50 favorite songs. I won't comment on the songs until we get closer to finishing, and the songs will rarely have anything to do with my album choice. For you nay-sayers who said you couldn't come up with such a list, maybe you were right. I finalized my list this weekend and I realized a lot of great bands were left out. I made a list... 62 bands that are either epic or important to me and they are not on the top 50 list. So with that, we play.
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Carl's Favorite Songs - #47 - Never Been Any Reason by Head East
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Ah, the Talking Heads. Smarter than you. More artistic than you. And yet their music is infinitely accessible. The biggest single of their career opens this LP, "Burning Down the House." There can;t be many of you who haven't heard this song. In MTVs early days, it played non-stop. Its been played on retro-radio, soundtracks, and a pop culture reference since its release. This album sort of marked the Talking Heads' jump into mainstream. Hard to believe that they were integral in founding American punk... when punk was a person not a genre/sound. Their sassy intelligent art rock challenged all of the conventions of pop radio, and yet made fans of even the most material Material Girl. Little did top 40 radio realize, that this music was at once giving the finger to format, and embracing the ability to create within conformity. While not my favorite Talking Heads album, it is perhaps the most cohesive. David Byrne takes on new characters for each song, all of which he would flesh out for the subsequent tour (chronicled and glorified by the Demme film "Stop Making Sense"). The album ends in one of the strangest moments of Talking Heads history... a love song. "This Must Be The Place (Native Melody)" is perhaps the most heart tugging, honest love song ever, and it just comes out of nowhere from among a track listing full of TV preachers, UFOs, singing arsonists, and social criticism. Bryne's disjointed "art-nerd" persona may have equated the Talking Heads to a cousin to Devo to some, but one glimpse at the lyrics on "This Must..." will dissolve such a notion. "Love me 'til my heart stops, love me 'til I'm dead." It's all we really want. One last comment, check out the minimalist, goofy art work. All of the Talking Heads albums lack truly memorable cover art, yet everything was very elaborate and intentional. In the words of my father, "I'll never get art."
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What is joy to you? For my friend Andrew, it's his wife (literally, her name is Joy). For me, its simple things... like rearranging my bookcases, drinking a good root beer, playing Guitar Hero, and joining an online book club. One of the best moments of my recent years was key to me keeping my sanity... I took a class at IWCC called "The Nature of Evil in Literature." The professor was oddly qualified for the job, which was a welcome surprise (it was IWCC after all). My classmates were typical community college knotheads, and I gleefully crushed every one of them every chance I had on the message boards (you perhaps can;t appreciate the level of moron that takes classes at K-Mart U, I mean IWCC). As for my discussions with the professor, I actually learned a lot about literature and myself (no small task). So when I saw that Barnes and Noble had online book clubs, and there is one currently doing Paradise Lost, I had to join. I also joined one that does a different Shakespeare play every month... I couldn't be more pleased. Now I just need to find time to read, post, and reply... Anyone else here into book clubs or discussion boards?
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Horns up!

Sunn 0))) and Boris - "Altar" (Southern Lord, 2006) [key tracks: The Sinking Belle, Her Lips Were Wet With Venom]

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Passion week continues, and I keep posting. Lucky you! I will try to keep up this week, so keep checking back. My record collection is (without duplicates) just under 500. Can you dig that? I desperately need some vinyl slip bags. I also want to sit down and listen to a few records so I will try to keep this post short.

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Carl's Favorite Songs - #48 - Hell by The Squirrel Nut Zippers

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If you know this album, then you are cool. If not, hey don't feel bad guy. It's no secret that the Melvins have a cult following. What may surprise you is that it extended deep into Japan, and Boris is an homage in name and sound to King Buzzo and his crushing experiment. Sunn 0))) is also a tribute of sorts, as they were heavily influenced by Earth, another Melvins-esque band. So what happens when this new generation of stoner drone ambient doom metal team up? You get Altar. Musically, I won't even try to explain it. Without a point of reference, I don't know how to. Remember when electronica hit big and there were all of those trippy new age CD's... Moby made a living off that crap... well imagine if that same sound was done by a metal band. See, it makes no sense unless you hear it. Let's just say it is atmospheric, heavy, and very interesting. Songs build into a swell of anxiety, then end leaving you wanting to reset the needle to the beginning of the track again.

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The best part of this LP is the packaging. As you can see above, there is a beautiful green marbled vinyl... actually 3 of them. The CD tracks appear on disks one and two, while the third LP is a two sided song new to this album. The album itself opens up to a full color libretto (booklet) inside, filled with gorgeous pictures of the bands pictures separately in black hooded monk robes hiding in a corn field, some artistic shots, some fantastic illustrations, and a group photo. There is also long introductory letter by Kim Thayil (yes, of Soundgarden!) who came out of seclusion to play a little guitar on this LP and wax poetic on the drone scene. Joining Kim are also guest appearances by Joe Preston (Melvins) and Dylan Carlson (Earth). At $29.99, it was worth every penny... except that it is too fat to fit into a vinyl sleeve (meaning I will need to buy another unspoilt copy to leave sealed as my play copy will get abused).

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It was hard to sit through the Easter play Sunday for me. Its the same old play as always, which is usually good, but something was off this year. The lighting was sloppy, the songs seemed hurried, the drama was stiff, and in the back of my mind I was distracted. My distraction is this; Easter is the time of the year when we focus on redemption, on healing, on reconciliation, and on the Godhood of Christ. So as I sit there, watching my fellow parishioners act out the healing miracles of Jesus, I can't help but feel furious that a good man in my church was allowed to die from pancreatic cancer recently. Worse yet, a good friend of his and equally good man has the same thing and is just counting the days until he has the same fate. There are times when it is really hard to reconcile the idea of an all powerful, kind, loving God with the fact that so many bad things happen to good people. And yet the squawking, nosy, gossip loving, judgmental woman (the one who always lets out a loud sob and makes a small scene leaving service when the message is emotional) finds it within her to be the first one standing at the end of the play, clapping her heart out demanding a standing ovation. She was standing as soon as the house lights came up. Did I miss something, or is she merely displaying the cruelty of life... the good die in horrible ways, while the crooked and annoying flourish in their own world of back patting and attention grabbing. And all the while, God is up there, detached, letting his physics, biology, and chemistry slowly but steadily devour this Eden... If you can believe in times of frustration like this, you know your faith is real.

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Horns up, Easter style.