Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster

It was about time for another pop review, and even though it's only been like 3 months since my last go round with Gaga, I still can't seem to go anywhere without hearing her tunes. And I understand why people (women especially) enjoy her stuff. Even if not her music, but what she stands for. She's not "hot" in the commonly used sense of the word - and she stands up for whatever it is she believes in. I think the statement of Lady Gaga is substantially better than Lady Gaga herself. She lists a couple of her influences as Freddie Mercury (Queen) and David Bowie. Which to someone like me is pretty cool. She also lists Michael Jackson and Madonna - which is totally a cop out. It's like if I started my band, and I said I was most influenced by the Beatles. Well, so was everyone else. Although I still am not a huge fan of her music - the idea that this unique artist is having her way with the fickle pop fans is semi amusing. Presuming that her pagentry and her whole act is something she created and not some music executive, I'm more than okay with her super odd performances and very strange wardrobe. If she truly is expressing herself, I get it. The other irritation I have with her is the excitement over the video for 'Telephone'. Kill Bill Vol. 2 is seriously one of my favorite movies. How in the heck did they get to use the 'Pussywagon' truck? And for what purpose was it needed for the video? It's like most hip hop videos back in the 90's. They're these overpriced, super high effects and budget 4 minutes of nonsense. They claim to be telling a story - but it typically never has anything to do with the lyrics of the track and it usually leaves a loose end that they say will be tied up in a subsequent video. Garbage. Plus, they found a way to make Beyonce, BEYONCE, look unattractive in the video. Shameful. Anyway, if you're in to Gaga, check this out. Don't pick up the Deluxe edition because most of what is deluxe was found on her original album. Also lame. Happy Monday!

TRACK LISTING:
1. Bad Romance
2. Alejandro
3. Monster
4. Speechless
5. Dance in the Dark
6. Telephone
7. So Happy I Could Die
8. Teeth

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Telephone
2. Bad Romance
3. Alejandro

FINAL RATING:
2.75 out of 5 stars

Them Crooked Vultures - Self Titled

Ahh supergroups. Is the music world still reeling from the awful that was the Damn Yankees, or are we ready for another attempt to form something good? I guess for every Yanks there is a Temple of the Dog or a Traveling Wilburys. Well, the Vultures are not short on star power with the band featuring Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age). So far with this one, I'm not sure what to think. I guess with somewhat different backgrounds, I wasn't sure what style they might incorporate. I mean, it always seems in a supergroup one personality bursts through a little more than others. I guess you look at all of Jack White's callabos and it always seems they sound exactly like the Stripes. I don't see that as much on this one. I think they did a pretty good job and mixing it up and coming up with someone reasonably unique. Now having said that, it's by no means going to melt your face off with rock dominance. It's good, and I enjoyed my couple go rounds with it so far - but something isn't clicking with me. Not even sure what that is yet. I hear little riffs of Zeppelin in certain spots and that kind of makes me go one way - then I pick up on some Grohl and I get confused again. Lyrically it's not all there, but there is no question from a guitar standpoint - it's spot on. If you simply focus on that side of the record, I think it stacks up with anything ever done. Arrangement wise, they're all about the same and I could have gone for more variety. I'm hearing that they're working on a second record to be due out either late this year or early 2011. Maybe they'll mix it up a bit more on that one and people will have actually heard of these guys. Until then, give it a shot, let me know what you think.

TRACK LISTING:
1. No One Loves Me & Neither Do I
2. Mind Eraser, No Chaser
3. New Fang
4. Dead End Friends
5. Elephants
6. Scumbag Blues
7. Bandoilers
8. Reptiles
9. Interlude With Ludes
10. Warsaw Or The First Breath You Take After You Give Up
11. Caligulove
12. Gunman
13. Spinning In Daffodils

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Spinning In Daffodils
2. Elephant
3. Gunman

FINAL RATING:
3.5 out of 5 stars

Cage The Elephant - Self Titled

Friday brings a recommended review via JenInTosa again - and surprisingly, it's not country! I had never heard of these guys when she brought them to my attention, so I had no idea what to expect. I went on a rant the other day while reviewing Panic! that was talking about how bands who just blend their identity with other groups kind of drive me nuts. Well, I'm going to do a bit of a 180 with this review. It seems very evident to me that these guys are a blend of pretty much every rock band over the last 50 years. They have elements of classic rock, alt rock and straight up rock anthem rock. If I had to name bands I'd compare them to - it would be like a Sublime meets The Strokes meets Supertramp with a splash of Hendrix's guitar on tracks. And the crazy thing is if you put all that into the musical blender and hit puree, it comes out with something pretty different and cool. The only issue I have with this group is they've been making tuneage since 2005 and have only released one album. This came out in 2008 and they are STILL dropping singles on the radio in 2010. I can't even find an in production status for anything they might be working on. Regardless of that though, this is certainly worth checking out. I think people who enjoy grooving on new stuff will especially enjoy this. I'd put them in similar status as someone like Tab the Band who I reviewed a couple months ago. Kick back and enjoy B Siders!

TRACK LISTING:
1. In One Ear
2. James Brown
3. Ain't No Rest For the Wicked
4. Tiny Little Robots
5. Lotus
6. Back Against the Wall
7. Drones In the Valley
8. Judas
9. Back Stabbin' Betty
10. Sail To the Sun
11. Free Love

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Ain't No Rest For The Wicked
2. Back Stabbin' Betty
3. In One Ear

FINAL RATING:
4 out of 5 stars

Rant #8 - "Put Me In Coach, I'm Ready To Play.."

As some of you may know, in my spare time when I'm not listening to tuneage, I enjoy sports. Since I'm based in Wisconsin I mostly enjoy the Brewers, Packers, Bucks, Badgers etc... I still play sports in my free time too - and between my playing and my watching, I notice there is one thing that kind of unites all sports and their players - music!! Knowing how many football players operate (including friends who played), almost all players get jacked up listening to tunes. This happens in a couple different scenarios: 1) Many guys have a 'pre-game anthem'. One person I know listened to 'Paint It Black' by the Stones before every game. It got him all ready to go and hit somebody. 2) In the weight room. When you're trying to muster the strength to put up that last rep of 250 on the bench, your favorite lyric or hardcore guitar riff may give you the drive to make it.

In baseball, one of my new favorite things to do at the park is listen to the 'at bat' song choice. Most guys pick newer, typically hip hop type songs - but some guys make different choices. Since I only really know the Brewers, I'll share about them. Corey Hart always picks a summer country melody. Jody Gerut picks 'Groove Me' by King Floyd. Craig Counsell has used Hendrix's 'All Along The Watchtower' for as long as I can recall. The cool thing about that is it's a little extra pump you up before an at bat. And with baseball being one of the more superstitious sports, if you have a hot streak going with it, many guys will go back to older songs because they hit well with them when the track was popular. Prince Fielder for instance has gone back to 'Can't Tell Me Nothing' by Kanye West. Song is obviously 3 years old or whatever, but he brought it back.

The list goes on, runners use music to give them the motivation to complete that last mile. Basketball players use the same hype up method as football. Music can make you feel invincible if the song fits your needs. Music has that intense ability to completely change your state of mind and make you feel exactly what you need to feel. They could probably easily do a quick study on this and take someone hitting a baseball or something with and without their favorite music. I'm guessing the performance in almost every case would go up with the background tracks. This my friends is what gets me going so much on music. I can come into work, be tired, be sick - just feeling like garbage in general. The last thing I could want to do is sit here and work. Music can turn all that around.

So just remember - next time you go to any game, try to focus on the music surrounding you. It's playing for a reason. And next time you're playing in your rec sports league, pump yourself up by listening to something in the car as loud as possible on the drive over. I'm betting you'll feel the difference and perform because of it.

Rush - 2112

Ahh Rush. Very undervalued band for me. Everytime I listen to a little Rush - I feel like I should listen to them more. Is there a better drummer than Neal Peart?? Seriously, this album (pronounced Twenty One Twelve) is simply outstanding. The title track and opener is broken down into 6 parts:
* I: "Overture"
* II: "The Temples of Syrinx"
* III: "Discovery"
* IV: "Presentation"
* V: "Oracle: The Dream"
* VI: "Soliloquy"
* VII: "Grand Finale"
They each build on one another and flow into about 20 minutes of amazing music artistry. It's like a mini Dark Side of the Moon. It runs gambits of style, emotion and arrangement. Brilliant. The rest of the album is pretty solid too. You might feel like this being only a few tracks is a rip off - but it's well worth it. I have to imagine that if you're into classic rock as a whole, you'll love 2112. I encourage you to take a listen and let me know what you think. I know people get irritated with Getty Lee's vocals, but there isn't a lot of singing on this one. Mostly rock solid instrumentals that make you want to get up and move. Listen to this while getting out on this sunny day!

TRACK LISTING:
1. 2112
2. Passage To Bangkok, A
3. Twilight Zone, The
4. Lessons
5. Tears
6. Something For Nothing

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. 2112 Overture
2. 2112 Overture
3. A Passage to Bangkok

FINAL RATING:
4.25 out of 5 stars

Panic! At The Disco - A Fever You Can't Sweat Out

It would seem to me the whole 'punk' or 'emo' phase really hit an all time high as a genre in 2005. While it had solely underground success before, it hit the big time around that year. Commercially it seemed people couldn't get enough of bands like Fall Out Boy or Panic. The problem is, many of those bands had solid followings before the commercial breakthrough. That meant there would be a lot of imitators. Granted I don't know a ton about the genre, but it looks to me like this was Panic's first record - and it came after the big success of other groups. To me, they have a sound, a statement, a style and even the way they name songs were just copies of whatever other bands were doing. I don't feel this album was any more unique than the thousand other records put out in that genre in 05. Maybe it's because I didn't hear this until later that I formed my opinion. Either way, I don't feel their music is great - and I wouldn't actively listen to it. I guess if I were to go out and start my own band - I'd want to have my own identity with songs that people for sure knew was MY BAND when hearing it on the radio. Even when I hear a song like 'I Write Sins...' it could be anyone. I could name 15 bands that it might be. Given that and my general indifference of this brand of music, don't expect high rankings. Happy Hump Day!

TRACK LISTING:
1. Introduction
2. Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage, The
3. London Beckoned Songs About Money Written by Machines
4. Nails for Breakfast, Tacks for Snacks
5. Camisado
6. Time to Dance
7. Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off
8. Intermission
9. But It's Better If You Do
10. I Write Sins Not Tragedies
11. I Constantly Thank God for Esteban
12. There's a Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just ...
13. Build God, Then We'll Talk

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. I Write Sins Not Tragedies
2. Lying Is The Most Fun...
3. Only Difference Between...

FINAL RATING:
1.75 out of 5 stars

Nas and Damien Marley - Distant Relatives

Due to my lack of posts, I'll go with another New Music Tuesday entry. That brings me to a hip hop and reggae mash-up that features Nas and Damien "Jr Gong" Marley. A little background on each fella, Nas has been putting out rap records since 1994's 'Illmatic'. The knock on Nas is simply that he goes from dropping top 10 of all time type records and then the next one will be total trash. For that reason, I've never been a huge Nas guy, but I admit that when he drops a mixtape or a new single, I'm all over it. He's done some great callabo work in the past, so this cd doesn't surprise me all that much. Damien however is as much known for his humanitarian work as his musical prowess. (and if you think that's no big deal - he's won 3 grammys) Bob Marley had about 2,000 kids, and Damien is one of them. Devotees know that his name was Bob 'Tuff Gong' Marley, so he's got a play on that going. He only has 4 studio records including this one, and all of them have gotten solid reviews. Anyway, the marriage seems to kind of make sense - Damien has done some really hard hitting stuff with The Game in the past that everyone enjoyed. Nas is a fairly spiritual man as well - which seems to flow into Damien's beliefs. My comment on this album is - I don't get it. I mean, I expected each track to have some influence of each artist, but that isn't the case at all. Some tracks have a beat and a hook and some tracks are pure reggae that Nas isn't featured on. I think the best selling callabo record ever is Jay-Z and Linkin Park - and they did a nice job at imposing each style on the listener at every turn. Even if the result was less than stellar, that was the style. This one can't seem to make up its mind. They should consider sticking to individual works, as that will sell better. I'll give this one a couple more chances, but I don't expect to jam on it too much more. Check it out as it's semi neat - just don't expect the world.

TRACK LISTING:
1. As We Enter
2. Deadly Equation (Tribal War)
3. Strong Will Continue
4. Leaders
5. Friends
6. Count Your Blessings
7. Dispear
8. Land of Promise
9. In His Own Words
10. Nah Mean
11. Wisdom
12. My Generation
13. Africa Must Wake Up

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. As We Enter
2. My Generation
3. Tribes At War

FINAL RATING:
2.25 out of 5 stars