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Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Cosmo's Factory" (Fantasy, 1970) [key tracks: Lookin' Out My Backdoor, Long as I Can See the Light]
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"You can ponder perpetual motion, fix your mind on a crystal day. Always time for a good conversation, there's an ear for what you say. Come on the risin' wind, were goin' up around the bend."
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It's mid-term exam week for me, so thus the lack of posts. Sorry about that. On with the show (now with 70% less metal)!
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There has never been or never will be another band like CCR. In an industry not known for true innovation or uniqueness, CCR stands out like a sore thumb. Four years before I was even born, CCR recorded what should have been the defining record for any band. But what really happened was they merely released another CCR LP (I think they dropped like a half-dozen records in 2 years! and they were all good!), full of swampy bluesy rock and roll. 37 years later (can you dig THAT?!) it still sounds as toe tapping and fresh as ever. Just about every CCR album reads like a greatest hits for classic rock, but just look at the songs on this LP. Ramble Tamble, Travelin' Band, Up Around the Bend, Who'll Stop the Rain, I Heard it Through the Grapevine, and Long as I Can See the Light (among others). Simply amazing. As a side note, the drummer (Doug "Cosmo" Clifford) resented John Fogerty's insistence that the band practice without ceasing to be as tight as possible before recording. He was known to say that Fogerty was turning the studio into a "factory." Thus the title. And, due to the vision and drive, the album stands today as a timeless icon of rock and roll.
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CCR, along with Hank Williams and The Doors, will always mean one thing to me... my dad. My dad would make sure that these bands were played loud and often in the Smith household. Contrary to popular belief, true country folk have a lot of soul (which is proved by the fact that "Cosmo's Factory" ranked #1 on pop charts, and an impressive #11 on soul charts at the same time). Through CCR, my dad (probably inadvertently) taught me what music was about... expression of the soul. CCR taught me how to groove. So when Fogerty talks about "hoodoo" and "chooglin'" I just nod my head and feel it. Every dirty road I rode down with my dad, every hunting trip, every night on a farm, every evening spent around the fam' out at Uncle Dallas' place... all of that is the soul behind what makes CCR so great. The music is about something, about a way of life, and about a feeling. It is something lasting that will always stick with me, because it is such a deep part of who I am as Carl Smith. Thanks, pa! I wonder which bands my kid will thank me for playing loud... (scary to think about, isn't it Sandy?)
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Keep on chooglin'!
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Melvins - "Stoner Witch" (Atlantic Records, 1994) [key tracks: Queen, Revolve]
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"As a measure of a soul like a dumb-run, bring your fear... you and me, we got the same air going; breathing here. You got sent the cold water you're in, like someone left to could half breathing... Maybe me and the Queen could take another order and lock it away "
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Every day I wake up and I am disappointed. Why do people still chew their food with their mouths open? Why isn't the world like a Frank Frazetta painting? Madonna is still making a living? So many other disappointments, so many betrayals... at least I can count on my records!
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The Melvins. That is all you need to know about inventive music in the modern age. They were playing the Seattle area before "grunge," and had evolved past that sound by a few years by the time it became a nationwide fad. It was an odd time for anyone having to do with music... never has "selling out" been wielded like such a weapon, and never had more people "sold out." The fact is, record companies were dumping money on people's lawns, hoping to cash on on the grunge/alternative craze... especially bands based in Nirvana's hometown. The Melvins were not immune to the lure of financial gain, and were signed by Atlantic. Being a prominent company, they knew talent but had no idea what to do with it. During this time they released 3 LPs. "Stoner Witch," much like "Houdini" before it, found the Melvins doing their thing, but also doing their best to make a few commercial-ish singles. You won't hear a "Black Hole Sun" or "Heart Shaped Box" here but there is "Queen" and "Revolve." Both of these tracks were heavy and structured like "normal" songs, odd for a band all about forging their own path through sludge, doom, metal, punk, ambient, and noise. As can be expected, it is a great LP to introduce a newbie to the music of the Melvins, but ultimately it does not represent what they stand for. And as with all bands with huge cult followings, original vinyl pressings are equivalent to the Holy Grail. I am very lucky to have this, Atlantic Records printing, in its pink glory.
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King Buzz, Buzzo, or Buzz Osbourne. Take your pick. All are the same guy, the guitarist and vocalist of the Melvins. The guy oozes rock deity, from his Jack Nash-ish afro (now grey), to his nonsensical lyrics, amazing eye and pen for art, and his trailblazing vision. I think the reason it is easy to get lost in music is because of icons like King Buzz. Not that he is Ghandi mind you, but it gives you a hero... someone to look up to, with little "serious" expectations. As long as King Buzz stays off To Catch A Predator, I'll be somewhat pleased (not that he has ever shown an air of being that way, mind you...its just an illustration). In real life, there are so few people to look up to, so little to get excited about. I am trying to restrain my enthusiasm for Obama, because I know my nation and I know what they will do to him as he runs... and I fear he has little chance to be elected. Even so, the excitement over Obama has no quantifiable past for myself. What has any politician done for me? Same goes for everyone else around me... so unfortunately here in Iowa, Earth I have only my dog, my wife, my few friends, and my records to find any sort of hope in. And as long as there is always a Buzzo, John Darnielle, David Byrne, Isaac Brock, Josh Homme, Omar Rodriguez, and Lemmy I'll be fine...
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Horn's up.
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Electric Wizard - "Come My Fanatics..." (Rise Above Records, 1996) [key tracks: Son of Nothing, Demon Lung, Wizard in Black]
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"A tower stands on the edge of time, upon it stands the astral mind. The burning Chaosphere seethes behind...ours to see but we are blind. The eyes of God look upon what he's done, and the eyes of man look on and beyond... I am a god. I am the One. Into the chaos ,see my time has begun..."
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Stoner rock. Learn it, live it, love it. It was in most of our veins before we even knew what "stoner" even meant. These days, it is music with the only groove I want to hear. It isn't that the music has to do with pot, or that the bands have to paste a sweet leaf to their drum head... its a feeling, an attitude, and a soul behind the music that makes it "stoner." So if you hear me talk about it, understand that in no way am I saying that I sit in my garage, smoke weed, and listen to songs about sitting in your garage and smoking weed. "Stoned forever, forever free" may be the mantra but a lot of us get the trip without the trip. Dig?
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Electric Wizard is quite simply the heaviest band around. Black Sabbath invented the stoner low sound when Tommy Iommi screwed up his hand in a carpentry accident, and had to down-tune to be able to press the notes. Kyuss ushered in the modern age of stoner when (as Josh Homme claims) they simply dug how it sounded and failed to bother tuning their guitars. The Melvins blew minds with their 3-minute-long sustained dropped tune doom metal notes, feedback and all. And Electric Wizard has mastered incorporating these heart fluttering low waves of power into song form. "Come My Fanatics" is probably the pinnacle of stoom (stoner-doom, my favorite of all musical sub-genres). Pressed on beautiful purple vinyl, it wastes no times creating an audio have that nods heads and ignites lighters. There are only 6 songs on the 2 LPs, none shorter than 5:30, and then a 7" is thrown in with 2 additional tracks. Nothing beats stoom, because good stoom fills your listening space with atmosphere... much like lighting a scented candle would. You feel the hurmmmmm of a low B note rattling so low that the fretboard can barely keep the string in place. You hear the grind of the slow blues rhythm. You ingest the trippy psychedelic spiritual high fantasy/sci-fi lyrics. And best of all, the band never takes itself too seriously, allowing for the fan to immediately become part of the trip, not feeling inferior (my big complaint with bands like Tool and Fugazi). Electric Wizard: heaviest band on the planet! And best of all, no synth...
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Man was it cold today! How can one person live in Iowa his whole life, only making short excursions to Norfolk, NE (colder) and Westminster, CO (higher altitude) and STILL not be used to winter? I am finding myself dressing in a ridiculous amount of layers lately, and still shivering. On a walk from an "arrived late" parking spot at Creighton University to class, one feels as if they will never see summer again. I listen to the Doors sing of "Indian Summer" and wistfully daydream, as if Jim was talking about a mythical land that never existed. Man, I hate winter.
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Frozen horns up!
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Run DMC - "Raising Hell" (Profile, 1988) [key tracks: It's Tricky, Walk This Way]
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"I'll cut the head off the devil and I'll throw it at you!"
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Wow, I am managing to have a hard time deciding which LPs to post! Maybe I should spend so much energy on my studies... There has long been an uneasy relationship with rap music in the Midwest. It was (and is) at once feared and embraced. People in the Midwest like their very safe, very white world. Rock and Roll was a hard sell as it was... they burnt Beatles albums just north in Minnesota for Pete's sake! Then comes all these African Americans from DMZ-like neighborhoods in NY and LA. You can imagine the fear. Oddly, the whitest of the teens embraced rap as the "new punk"... many of us loving Ice T, Public Enemy, NWA, and Geto Boys immediately. There is no introduction to rap for white, 14 year old Carl Smith without MTV and Run DMC...
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Run DMC. What can be said about these guys that will do them justice. They were already established by the time "Raising Hell" was released. But for us pudgy, pale, corn-eating, pig raising, Iowans (like my stereotyping?) we were fine with either Hank Jr. or Poison. AC/DC got a lot of love here, and so did Def Leppard. So how did we ever hear this distinctly urban, coastal, and black music? Run DMC. That's how. By incorporating rock in their sound, and pairing up with Aerosmith for a cover of "Walk This Way", they ensured that they would be heard on every Top 40 white channel on the radio. And their unique sense of humor and style got their video on MTV non-stop. It's a great album, but almost laughable when you hear it now. The beats are so canned, and the lyrics are just shy of hardcore. I can still put in old LL Cool J, Kool Moe Dee, or BDP and feel the same way. Only Public Enemy really stands out as harder than we knew at the time... But its fun to hear songs like "My Addidas," "Dumb Girl," "You Be Illin'," and "Peter Piper." As a matter of fact, I grew up with an unnatural attachment to Addidas shoes (although I rarely was allowed to buy them) thanks to this LP. Run DMC were boundary crossers, and for better or worse, unleashed the age of Hip Hop upon America... a fad that has just recently seemed to stagnate. They may not want us Iowans wearing Kangols and pants down to our knee caps or co-opting their street lingo, but rap acts have gained an "industry" of the dollars of curious and devoted farmer's sons craving to hear music first exposed to us by Run DMC.
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School is such a funny thing. It never seems like there is enough time to get anything done, and when you are there its the last place you want to be. I will never understand how to balance my time around my entire social network and manage to get stuff done. I am finding out fast that I work best when I am left completely alone, which is a rare time to find. But on those days when I am allowed to plug away at my studies in anonymity I crave nothing more than a friendly face. I miss talking to my classmates... I went through a withdrawal after NCC, and I am doing it again now as I am being phased out of the P3 class. And I know my limits... I will not be able to form too many friendships next year, so I will be lonely among 100 others. If I don't have to get on Prozac in the next 2 years, I will never need it! : ) As for my former classmates, I already feel alien around them. I find myself asking them about their classes, and that's it. I miss Tahisha, Katie, all the Megans, Becca, Cody, Christian, Jim, Yiota, Becky, the Ashleys, Liz, and everyone else as well! It's a hard time to be Carl right now, lemme tell you. Good thing Iron Maiden keeps cranking out the hits!
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Horn's up and Happy Valentine's Day!
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Vengeance Rising - "One Dead" (Intense Records, 1990) [key tracks: Warfare, Frontal Lobotomy]

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"The time is limited, don't die a pointless life lived. That which you do matters for eternity... you were left here to warn the world to flee..."

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Something that was happening with the old incarnation of this site was a propensity to only talk about heavy metal. That is part of the reason I eliminated all of the old posts. Now, it seems, we are back in that mode! Or is it I am only posting records that will make Matt's day... But of course, if you ask Mark, nothing good has been posted yet...

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Vengeance Rising was a Christian grindcore/thrash band that was one of my favorites back in the day. This is their second LP, and it is absolutely retarded that this vinyl exists in such perfect shape, and that I was able to purchase it so easily. I ordered it from the UK, but the patience in waiting for delivery paid off! Every song is better than I feared, if not as good as I remembered. Roger Martinez's growl changed on each of the 4 LPs. What struck me most of all was the quality of the guitars on this LP. The band totally shreds! And they have a humorous side to them as well, as they do a great stoner metal-esque cover of Deep Purple's "Space Truckin." The maturity of the metal on this LP really shows (despite the Christian angle) the sort of musicianship that people overlook when metal is discussed. More than just 40 minutes of grind, growl, and double-bass-pedal blast beats, there is actually some interesting time signatures here, and some inventive structure to solos. All metal bands should sound this tight or not make an LP, in my opinion. Just record with a tad less treble; a problem that plagued about every Christian metal album ever made (as well as any LP produced by Ted Templeman). Scott Reeder and Rick Rubin, where were you? Not a good crossover LP to get people into metal by any means, but a seasoned rocker will dig the surprises of this completely unknown masterpiece of thrash and grind.

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As a funny side story, this was the last LP with the real band, as Roger started a descent into madness that left him self recording and producing the next two albums (each a classic in grindcore BTW) before completely denouncing Christianity and going off the deep-end. He spent many years as a drifter in Europe, and his delusions have seemed to solidify in the form of Satanism. Not passive Motley Crue Satanism, "principal of it all" LaVey Satanism, annoying campy Rob Zombie Satanism, or imaginary Mike Warnke/1980's Evangelical-scare-tactic Satanism, but real, scary, psychopathic, volatile, taking-it-too-far, and misguided Satanism. Roger currently is planning a Satanic metal onslaught with a new band forming, and he also won rights to use the Vengeance Rising moniker. His former band mates, still championing their white metal (that is, Christian metal, not Caucasian metal) are performing as Once Dead... Roger also hosts a very profane blog here, just to see how far he has fallen...

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Horn's up indeed!

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The Mars Volta - "Frances the Mute" (GSL, 2005) [key tracks: the whole album!]
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"You can't bend your crooked arms or fold your punctured proof... The air is growing cold and there's nothing you can do. Soon there'll be no gauze inside the confessional, only rows of crows defrocking every breath "
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Today's entry is going to be a special edition, so I can geek put about this LP and have a long weekend without posts. This means I am going to cheat on my three paragraph format (already).
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Ah, The Mars Volta... the band that single-handedly revived my faith in music, rekindled my desire to collect records, and encouraged me to start this site up again. And this album, THIS ALBUM, what a magnificent creative accomplishment! The Mars Volta is , to be too acute in my description, a prog rock band with all sorts of varied roots (having been formed from post-punk band At The Drive In's better parts... Volta uses jazz, psychedelia, metal, Latin ballads, noise, electronica, emo, and hardcore together seamlessly). Their concept albums and meandering improvisational live shows have cemented them as living legends. Unlike most concept albums, they are neither too heavy handed or too obtuse. The story is told through the emotion felt by the characters... either through the tone of voice or the abstract tapestry of words used to describe the narratives. In short, The Mars Volta is the best new band to emerge for a very, very long time. I can think of no other band that is as satisfying and promising as Volta.
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First I'll talk about the pictures. I finally got a hold of the limited edition version of this LP! It comes bagged in a red vinyl bag, and not only has the 3 disc LP itself but the 12 inch single that contains the "missing" song. That song is the album's title track, which sets up the whole concept, yet was left off the album due to CD time restraints (the lyrics are still in the CD's sleeve, behind the CD itself). None of that is hard to find individually, but in this package, all of the records are pressed on glow-in-the-dark vinyl! Unbelievable collectible for a fan of this band, this album, or novelty vinyl.
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The album... wow. Other than being musically perfect (an emotional roller-coaster) it also has a very intriguing story behind it. A friend of the band once worked as a repo man, and in his travels he found a woman's diary. The diary told about her search for meaning and her birth parents. He was shocked to find so many parallels in his own life, and was quick to make this a project for the band. This man, Jeremy Ward, died sadly, and the band decided to champion this concept and made what I consider a life-changing album, and the best LP recorded in over 10 years. Each track tells a segment of the story, focusing on a person involved in this woman (Frances the Mute) and her quest, which builds to a troubling climax as she still struggles with the betrayal and abandonment, and ultimate questions of self.
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Much like Radiohead's "OK Computer," nothing really prepares you for what you begin to hear. I am convinced that hearing this LP for the first time is the closest thing you can get for my generation (and the next younger generation) to feeling what it was like to have heard Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" in its time. At times, this LP will completely distract you from what you are doing... absorbing you to into its tale. Even when the band lashes into Spanish lyrics (a common occurrence on a Volta LP), you can feel the story, the emotions, the consuming sense of curiosity and dread. A true highlight is the song "The Widow," which was a single for the band. And while it stands well as a single, it really doesn't make sense to take anything on this album out of the context of the project as a whole. The song gives you a taste of Frances' haunted psyche and her uneasy descent into self discovery.
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You can easily find this album on CD (or even vinyl) at local record stores. I suggest doing so, and listen to it a few times as a whole, undistributed. And not to cast dispersions on your moral character, but if you are one to "enhance" your listening experience, I can only feel a bit jealous, as I am sure it will be an intense and possibly overwhelming experience. No bad trips, man.

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Spacey, heavy, and entirely too good, this is a must own for all music fans. Even without "Frances the Mute" the song (the intended title/first track on the album, which even the band is quoted as saying 'decodes the whole album'), the CD is a better-than-nothing purchase. And I'd be more than happy to sit you down and play my non-glow-in-the-dark copy of the song for you... Unless you find the rare 3 CD set of the album, the single, and a live DVD. Lemme know if you do...;)
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Horn's up, and long live Omar Rodriguez!
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Lacuna Coil - "Karmacode" (Century Media, 2006) [key tracks: Fragile, Our Truth]

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"I'll be there when there's nothing left. And night and day, holding you... harmony... deep inside your soul, meet me there."

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Day two and I am still pumped about blogging again. I am lucky enough to have already received 2 emails from friends I had long lost track of (stupidly), and even had a mystery comment. It was one word, but hey! Cristina, thanks for stopping by (I know you could care less about heavy metal records) and I will try and stay in touch! Matt, we'll get back together (it's stupid we don't do more wince we are in the same dang town). And Rich, Facebook? At your age? (kidding man, I'll chat with you later too)

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Lacuna Coil is an Italian rock band that sort of sways goth. It hurts me to say that, because it doesn't really tell you what they sound like, and the word "goth" sort of conjures a lot of negative (and ridiculous) images. First of all, the female vocalist, Christina Scabbia has an angelic voice. I'd rank her with Sussanna Hoffs when it comes to women who you'd fall in love with by voice alone. Second of all, the band is incredible. They play very tight, and can swing from angst filled ballad to metal thunder in a heartbeat. Third, Christina is the single most beautiful woman in rock and roll, EVER! Don't believe me, check her out here, with the band. Lyrically, nothing paradigm changing, but they are the best at what they do. They are usually compared to America's own Evanescence, who are pale and weak by comparison. Amy is less attractive, a worse vocalist, and her band as a whole rocks less that Lacuna. This import record was a rare find for me, as I have only ever seen one listed on Ebay or Gemm... and I bought from an Iowan record store. Check it out on CD... you get an amazing cover of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" and a hot poster of Christina (oh, and the rest of the band too).

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So I hate winter, okay? I am so tired of snow and cold... maybe moving to Arizona when I graduate is a good idea... And I am really starting to get bitter about not being in classes with my classmates. Between these two things, I spend days like today paralyzed. I have homework to do, I have all sorts of independent studies I could be working on (for both fun and credit), I could be boning up on Spanish or Japanese, reading books, cleaning the house, playing my Wii, or even watching some killer movies on DVD I haven't had time to see... but I don't do any of these things. I sit here, listening to records, mindlessly surfing wikipedia, and moping about being a P2.5 while I wait for Sandy to get home. Not a happy camper these days, and I hate that my hands are tied by being blue. I'm bound to get over it, getting back to blogging will help. At least I have my music, my soda pop, and MSN messenger. Horns up!

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Trouble - "Trouble" (1990, Def American) [key tracks: The Wolf, Black Shapes of Doom]

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"Alone in the universe, seems our lives are cursed. See where eyes cannot follow and believing there is Tomorrow...it's here. It's here now."

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Matt may have asked for DA or Tom Petty, but he gets this. Love it or leave it. What can I say, I am glad to be back posting! The new format will be less wordy than ever before! I will try to have a "fun" paragraph (like this one), a paragraph about the album, and a paragraph long blog entry. I am hoping every post will be no longer than 3 paragraphs. So before I start the fourth or fifth incarnation of Bubblegoose blogging, welcome back! Hi Matt, hi Mark, hi Rich, hi Tahisha, and hi everyone else... I missed you all. And we begin...

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This is the LP that should have blown up for Chicago's own Trouble. They went from heavy doom metal in the early 80's to this... smart, soulful, psychedelic metal. In an era still buzzing from the high of G'n'F'n'R, and before Metallica totally sold out with the "black" album (groan), this LP should have been pounding from the rooms of every teenager in the midwest. Hell, it was even produced by Rick Rubin for Def American (the "it" label of the times). Instead, the 90's brought us the musical inquisition... all metal was murdered or forced underground. More appropriately, it was the metal Diaspora, fragmenting and flinging metal in several fractured directions. But we got a lot of bad pop rap, pop grunge, and pop alternative in its place... yuck. Long live Eric Wagner's ghastly vocals, and long live Bruce Franklin's downright evil mixture of shred and doom guitar riffage!

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Okay, so today I saw a sight for sore eyes. It's what I can only refer to as "Council Bluffs Garland." In the days before digital won every format war, we used to have these things called "cassette tapes." All over town broken tapes would be discarded into the street, eventually to be broken and have their sensitive magnetic entrails strewn about. If the sun and wind conspired just so, this analog crime scene would glitter and sparkle like any diamond sold at Sol's Pawn. That is, sparkle only until the inevitable filth and Loess Hills dirt collected and choked all beauty out of everything in west-end Kanesville. It was a shock to see CB Garland today, as I haven't seen a cassette tape for months. God bless CB!

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Coming soon, it's back, and starting from scratch.