The Doors - "L.A. Woman" 40th Anniversary Edition CD Review (Rhino)

This album is heavy as f*ck and will melt your face off!

I always wanted to write a review that says absolutely nothing about the music on the disc (trying Googling “heavy as f*ck” or “melt your face off” and see how many times these phrases have been used in CD reviews). Most reviews that I’ve read of The Doors’ 40th Anniversary edition of L.A. Woman use most of their inches talking about the disc’s original release in 1971. With this disc having now been out 41 years, is there anyone out there who doesn’t already know that this was the last Doors album with Jim Morrison, ‘Mr. Mojo Rising’ was an anagram of Morrison’s name, etc, etc.? As most deluxe editions are targeted at the collector/completest, I think the real question is whether the bonus disc offers anything new or interesting.

Unfortunately, I found the bonus disc pretty much a ‘snoozer’. The first seven tracks are alternate studio takes of tracks from L.A. Woman. The musical arrangement on most of these tracks is noticeably different from the final studio versions but the differences really aren’t radical so there is nothing to get excited about. The two ‘major’ differences among these alternate versions are that “The WASP” ends with an instrumental breakdown and the band goofs around with a short cowboy/campfire song prior to starting into ‘Take 9’ of “Riders on the Storm”. The two ‘new’ bonus tracks – “She Smells So Nice” and “Rock Me” – are part of an extended blues-based jam that is interesting but unessential. “She Smells So Nice” sounds like it was cut out of a longer jam and "Rock Me (Baby)" is a studio run-through of the Muddy Waters' staple. Unfortunately, Morrison sounds like he isn't always singing in the mic and, which he does, his vocals are overloaded on both songs. For anyone who is curious, there are better recordings of “Rock Me Baby” on a number of the official Doors live recordings.



Bottom line is that this looks like a ‘cash grab’ as the two bonus tracks from the previous Rhino reissue – “Orange County Suite” and “(You Need Meat) Don’t Go No Further” have been dropped from this release and both iTunes (“L.A. Woman (Take 1)” and “Crawling King Snake (Run Through and Studio Chatter)”) and Amazon (“Love Her Madly (Take 1)” and “The Changeling (Take 9)”) are offering bonus tracks with digital copies of this release. I can’t reminisce about 1971 but this bonus track nonsense reminds me of when LPs were the dominant format in the mid-80’s and the record companies would release a single bonus track on the CD edition and a different bonus track on the cassette edition. This marketing approach had limited success then so I don’t know why the record companies think it should work now.

Links:
The Doors

Foreigner - Can't Slow Down CD Review (Rhino/Atlantic)

When I was a teenager, 70's rock bands like Foreigner, Styx, Van Halen and Aerosmith were staples of FM radio. I haven't actively listened to Foreigner in almost twenty years but those first 3 - 4 albums were such a part of my youth that I still know the words to every song on each of these albums. I lost touch with what Foreigner was doing in the mid-80's as I couldn't get into the keyboard-heavy sound that the band started embracing with Agent Provocateur (1984) and I only heard a bit of Mr. Moonlight (1994) which didn't do much for me. As such, I didn't have high hopes for Foreigner's first new studio album in fifteen years - Can't Slow Down. I'm happy to say that my fears were unfounded - Can't Slow Down is a great AOR album fits right in with the first four Foreigner albums.

Vocalist Kelly Hansen has been fronting Foreigner for four years now and his voice sounds like an edgier, more emotive Lou Graham. Hansen paid his dues in the LA club scene fronting bands like Hurricane (which included Robert Sarzo and Tony Cavazo, younger brothers of Quiet Riot's Rudy Sarzo and Carlos Cavazo). The other musicians in Foreigner include Brian Tichy (who has toured/written with Velvet Revolver, Slash's Snakepit, Billy Idol, etc.), Jeff Pilson (Dokken, Dio), Thom Gimbel (Aerosmith, Jon Butcher) and Michael Bluestein (who comes from a jazz background).

The thirteen songs on Can't Slow Down include rockers, power ballads and a remake of "Fool For You Anyway" (which was originally on Foreigner's debut CD). The disc starts out strong with the title track "Can't Slow Down", which was written as a salute to NASCAR in celebration of Foreigner’s appearance at the Samsung 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway. Some of the other strong rockers include "Give Me A Sign" and "Too Late" (which appeared on last year's best-of compilation and it is the only cut to feature the now-departed Jason Bonham on drums).



The slower songs are predominately power ballads that (thankfully) don't fall into the schmaltz/syrupy trap that some of the 70's rock have fallen into in recent years. These songs have some "teeth" to them and should keep the lighters in the air during the band's live set. Two of the stronger power ballads are "When It Comes To Love" and "I'll Be Home Tonight".


What really impressed me with this package is that it is a 2CD/1DVD set that retails for $12 at Walmart. Disc 2 contains 10-tracks of Foreigner's greatest hits. This isn't a re-recording of these songs - Anthony Focx (Guitar Hero) and Marti Frederiksen (Aerosmith) have remixed the original songs (with Lou Graham on vocals) to give them a bit more edge and punchiness. The last disc is a live DVD that shows the band performing new and classic Foreigner while on tour in Europe earlier this year. What stuck me right away is that Kelly Hansen shows he can seamlessly deliver both the old and new material. Long-time fans may end up saying "Lou who?" over time.

Foreigner are playing some California dates to wind out the year and then are back on the East Coast in January. There aren't any NYC dates scheduled right now but there are some holes in the tour schedule so a New York/New Jersey date would seem likely. Here are the current tour dates:

1/15/10 -- Tampa, FL, Ruth Eckerd Hall
1/16/10 -- Silver Springs, FL, Silver Springs Twin Mansions Theater
1/21/10 -- St. Charles, MO, Bottleneck Blues Bar @ Ameristar Casino St. Charles
1/22/10 -- Paducah, KY, Carson Four Rivers Center
1/23/10 -- French Lick, IN, French Lick Resort Casino
2/18/10 -- Troy, OH, Hobart Arena
2/19/10 -- Rama, Ontario, Casino Rama
2/20/10 -- Rama, Ontario, Casino Rama
2/21/10 -- Kingston, NY, Ulster Performing Arts Center
2/24/10 -- Lancaster, PA, American Music Theatre
2/26/10 -- Harris, MI, Island Resort & Casino
2/27/10 -- Harris, MI, Island Resort & Casino

Links:
Foreigner's Website

Big Star - 4-Disc Box Set "Keep an Eye on the Sky" Out Sept. 15th / Ltd. Edition Record Store Day Vinyl 7" Out Sept. 5th (Rhino)

STREAM: Selections from Big Star - "Keep an Eye on the Sky"

On Sept. 15th, Rhino is issuing the definitive Big Star collection with a 98-track 4CD box set entitled Keep an Eye on the Sky. In advance of the box set, a limited edition vinyl single which will be available on Sept. 5th for Record Store Day.

The vinyl 7" is limited to 3,500 copies and contains the tracks "Feel" (Alternate Mix) and "Mod Lang" (Unissued Single Remix).

The box set spans 1968 - 1975 and includes the members' pre-Big Star studio recording, demos and outtakes from the three Big Star albums, selections from a 1973 live performance and both sides of Chris Bell's 1978 solo single.

Spotlighting the band's roots, the boxed set opens with several songs recorded before Big Star formed, including “Try Again,” one of the first songs Bell and Chilton wrote together. Those early cuts are followed by Big Star's 1972 debut #1 Record, reimagined here using a mix of album tracks and unreleased alternate mixes of favorites like “Thirteen,” “When My Baby's Beside Me,” and more. Among the disc's rarities are “Country Morn'” (issued as a flexi-disc single by a Big Star fanzine), the demo for “I Got Kinda Lost,” and an unreleased acoustic demo of Chilton singing Loudon Wainwright's “Motel Blues.”

The second disc of KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY opens with a trio of unreleased demos: “There Was A Light,” “What's Going Ahn,” and “Life Is White.” The original song sequence for Radio City follows, combining album versions with unreleased alternate mixes (“Way Out West” and “You Get What You Deserve.”) The disc features unissued versions of “She A Mover” and “Mod Lang,” several unreleased demos for Big Star's third album, plus Bell's acclaimed 1978 single “I Am The Cosmos” and its B-side “You And Your Sister.”

KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY's third disc opens with seven demos (most previously unreleased) for songs that appear on Third/Sister Lovers, including “Jesus Christ,” “Take Care,” and “Holocaust.” Among the album's 19 songs collected here is “For You,” “Kizza Me,” and “Kanga Roo.” Also featured is “Lovely Day,” an early, unreleased version of “Stroke It Noel” with different lyrics; Chilton vamping with photographer Bill Eggleston at the piano for Nat King Cole's “Nature Boy” and a raucous cover of The Kinks' “Till The End Of The Day.”

The collection's final disc contains unreleased highlights from three sets Big Star performed at Lafayette's Music Room in Memphis in January 1973. It is the best live recording ever of the band. The show captures Chilton, Hummel, and Stephens playing many of the songs on #1 Record, which had just recently been released. The set list includes a retooled version of “ST 100/6” lengthened by both guitar and drum solos (with a middle eight heisted from the Rock City song “The Preacher.”) Also in the repertoire are “There Was A Light” and “I Got Kinda Lost.” In addition, the concert includes fully formed versions of several songs recorded later for Radio City: “Back Of A Car,” “Way Out West,” “O My Soul,” and a particularly rocking “She's A Mover.” Those originals are mixed with a selection of covers: Todd Rundgren's “Slut,” T. Rex's “Baby Strange,” The Kinks' “Come On Now,” and The Flying Burrito Brothers' “Hot Burrito #2.”

Links:
Big Star's MySpace Profile

Phish: The Clifford Ball CD Boxset, Hampton, VA Show + More

I've been reading all the buzz about the Phish shows at Hampton Coliseum this past weekend. Evidently, the $49.50 tickets were being scalped for over $1,000 each. For anyone who missed the shows, high-quality MP3s of the complete shows from all three nights are available from LivePhish.Com. I got a good chuckle seeing how these free downloads fly in the face of all the 'screaming' that the RIAA has done about illegal downloading. Phish's site gives you the option to buy FLAC (for $12.95) or CD (for $23.00) versions of the show.

Last week, Rhino Records released a 7-disc DVD set of Phish performing live at The Clifford Ball, which took place in Plattsburgh, NY on August 16-17, 1997. Rhino was kind enough to send me a couple video clips from the show:

Phish - "Fluffhead"


Phish - "Bathtub Gin"


Phish - "Slave to the Traffic Light"


The Clifford Ball is available from Rhino Records' web store.

Phish is playing Jones Beach on June 4-5 and all of the band's summer concert dates are listed on Phish.com.