Some thoughts on "Heartworn Highways"

Who knew Steve Earle was such a hunk? I'd do him, hands down. Literally with my hands down. Wink wink.

Gamble Rogers was painfully unfunny. Shut up and sing.

It's a disgrace that Larry Jon Wilson (R.I.P.) didn't become a superstar. Between 1975 and 1979 he released four flawless, funky country/soul albums that top even the mighty Jim Ford. And thirty years later one contemplative comeback album which I can't help but compare to the albums Johnny Cash made right before the end. Only even better. An imposing man with the timbre of god himself.

David Allan Coe is a fucking badass. He doesn't give a shit about you, and he would kick your ass.

The impromptu jam of Silent Night was divine.

Townes Van Zandt was the Johnny Knoxville of country music. Fucking maniac.

That guy who owned the tavern should carry subtitles around with him.

I want Guy Clark's guitar-building skills.

(mp3) David Allen Coe - These guards all drive Cadillacs!

Buy Heartworn Highways.

Buy the soundtrack.

Blackwater Park - "Dirt Box" (1971)

We all know Opeth's Blackwater Park is the best album of all time, but what about the band that inspired its title? Well they were no chumps either, my friends.

But while their music was great, their story is neither long nor interesting. They were based out of Berlin, consisted of one limey and three krauts, and Dirt Box was their only album.

That's it. Seriously, that's all there is to tell.

(mp3) Blackwater Park - Indian summer 

Buy Dirt Box @ Amazon.com.

The Band - "S/t" (1969)

First they back up Ronnie Hawkins during several hell raising, booze swilling, groupie banging, rocking and rolling years. Then they work with Bob Dylan during the first Awesome Bob Dylan Era (there's been at least five such eras) in the mid 60's. Then they release the best debut album of all time (Music From Big Pink) in 1968.

Three simple little career steps that had already put them in the rock & roll hall of fame for the rest of eternity. Where do you go from there? What would your next move be? What could you possibly muster that would compare to any one of those three endeavours, let alone all three?

You just go into a studio and record the single greatest album ever recorded by anyone in the history of music. A monolith of a record that musicians worldwide have been failing to recreate for four decades.

That's what you do.

(mp3) The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Buy it @ Amazon.com.

Tool - "Undertow" (1993)

In 1993, at the height of grunge, it would have been a complete commercial suicide to release an ambitious progressive rock/metal album.

You'd think the last thing in the world people wanted at that point was intricate songs pushing the seven minute mark, but let's not forget the "anger factor". When it comes to dark angst and pent-up frustration, Tool were frequently lumped together with Nine Inch Nails. Not unfairly so, in that regard the band's had much in common.

And although Tool hadn't reached their shoegazing stage show yet, they were just as moody and introverted as any grunge/alternative/whatever band at the time, and needless to say they hit a chord with the young folks.

Blah blah blah. Fuck it, no reads this anyway. Blah blah.

I like wiping back to front to create a thin layer of poo crust on the back of my nuts. I like peeling off the chips and serve them to strangers.

This album has the best bass lines since Peter Hook.

(mp3) Tool - Sober

Buy Undertow @ Amazon.com.

Bloodbath - "The Wacken Carnage" (2008)

This one has two peeps from Opeth (singer & drummer), two peeps from Katatonia (guitar & bass) and one from eight million bands I don't care about (guitar).

This was their first ever gig. Mikael Åkerfeldt sang on the first few releases, then left and was replaced by Peter Tägtgren and then came back for this gig at Wacken in 2005, which was also released on dvd. After Åkerfeldt's return, the band recorded an ep and album and while they're both good, I found them immensly disappointing.

The songs were good, but not as memorable and catchy they had been in the past. I choose to blame this on Dan Swanö who left after the Wacken gig. Apparently he was the one who wrote the hooks and the catchy riffs, and without him the songs just tend to be a bit dull. A lot of the humor has also gone, and Bloodbath simply isn't as interesting anymore.

They used to be, as Åkerfeldt puts it in this live recording, "a death metal elite", and he was absolutely right. Now they're just a death metal band. A very good one, but still just another death metal band.

(mp3) Bloodbath - So you die

Buy The Wacken Carnage @ Amazon.com.

Tool - "Lateralus" (2001)

Quite possibly the most highly anticipated album of 2001.

At least it was for me - after five agonising years since their last album, 1996's Ænima. The moment this arrived in the mail I locked myself in my room, popped the cd into the computer and cranked that bastard right up. I'd been waiting and aching for it for (what felt like) fucking ages, I had read article after article on how good it was, what it sounded like, etc etc. The tension was unbearable.

I somehow resisted downloading it as I wanted the first listen to be absolutely fresh. And I wasn't disappointed. If it hadn't been for Opeth's Blackwater Park, this would have been the best album of 2001.

As if the music wasn't monumental and fucked up enough, the cover art was the coolest I had ever seen, with a translucent booklet with layer after layer of a human body. Lateralus (which on my copy is mislabelled "Lateralis" - a far superior title in my opinion) quickly became a favorite of mine and I still consider it Tool's best song.

(mp3) Tool - Ticks & leeches

Buy Lateralus @ Amazon.com.

Oasis - "Don't Believe the Truth" (2005)

Alright, so in my recent Oasis post I kinda put this album (and all other recent Oasis albums) down a little.

I revisited it and well... It's actually pretty good. It ain't no Definitely Maybe, but still. There's some good shit on here. The shameless Velvet Underground rip off in Mucky Fingers is particularly entertaining.

Still haven't heard that new album though. But I doubt it's as good as the reports try to convince us of. Just sayin'.

(mp3) Oasis - Mucky fingers

Buy Don't Believe The Truth @ Amazon.com.

King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King (1969)

From Rolling Stones' 1969 review:

The album begins by setting the scene with "21st Century Schizoid Man." The song is grinding and chaotic, and the transition into the melodic flute which opens "I Talk to the Wind" is abrupt and breathtaking. Each song on this album is a new movement of the same work, and King Crimson's favorite trick is to move suddenly and forcefully from thought to thought. "Epitaph" speaks for itself: "The wall on which the prophets wrote/Is cracking at the seams ... Confusion will be my epitaph."

"Moonchild" opens the second side, and this is the only weak song on the album. Most of its twelve minutes is taken up with short statements by one or several instruments. More judicious editing would have heightened their impact; as it is, you're likely to lose interest. But the band grabs you right back when it booms into the majestic, symphonic theme of "The Court of the Crimson King." This song is the album's grand climax; it summarizes everything that has gone before it: "The yellow jester does not play/But gently pulls the strings/And smiles as the puppets dance / In the court of the Crimson King."

This set was an ambitious project, to say the least. King Crimson will probably be condemned by some for pompousness, but that criticism isn't really valid. They have combined aspects of many musical forms to create a surreal work of force and originality.

Couldn't have said it better myself, so I didn't.

Here it is, in its full glory. You may rejoice now. Woohoo!

The purple piper plays his tune!
The choir softly sing!
Three lullabies in an ancient tongue!
FOR THE COURT OF TEH CRIMSON KIIIIING!!!!!!!!!!

(mp3) King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King

Buy all things King Crimson @ Amazon.com.

The Doors - "S/t" (1967)

A drunken buffoon posing as a poet? Yes indeed. But at least he was backed by a great band and had pipes of gold. His lyrics were shit though, but that's okay.

On this debut album, The Doors were still very much a diamond in the rough, and though subsequent albums may have been better and more even in terms of song quality, they don't hold a candle to the unbridled energy of their self-titled album.

That kind of unbridled energy you really only ever get on a debut album.

(mp3) The Doors - Take it as it comes

Buy S/t @ Amazon.com.

Oasis - "The Masterplan" (compilation, 1998)

The mark of a good band is their b-sides. In Oasis' case, the b-sides are often even better than the a-sides.

Even Noel Gallgalahghaegrellger himself has admitted to perhaps choosing the wrong songs for their albums. The title track here for example, is easily one of the five best songs he's ever written.

There is a clunker or two on The Masterplan (I've never cared for the dull instrumental Swamp Song or the Beatles cover I Am The Walrus), but everything here is sheer quality. This to me was the last time Oasis released something great.

I always recommend people to get Definitely Maybe (1994) and (What's The Story) Morning Glory (1995) and this one. Be Here Now(1997) if they must. Everything else is a bit... off. They come close sometimes, but rarely get there. During this era however, everything they did turned into gold.

(mp3) Oasis - Underneath the sky

Buy The Masterplan @ Amazon.com.