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The Manic Street Preachers are kinda the alt-rock version of Status Quo, given that they’re an institution in the UK but barely cause Americans to raise an eyebrow, but as a dedicated reader of Q Magazine in the ’90s, I’ve followed them since the beginning of their career, back when Richie Edwards was carving slogans into his flesh and trying to be his generation’s Sid Vicious. As it turned out, he was a bit closer to being his generation’s Amelia Earhart, given that he vanished into thin and and is presumed dead, but that’s beside the point. The band’s music is arguably more powerful now than it was when Edwards was in the band, probably because they’re a decidedly less self-destructive unit without him in their ranks, but their debut album, 1992’s Generation Terrorists, nonetheless captured lightning in a bottle, combining the best bits of The Clash and Guns ‘N’ Roses and making them into one of the classic records of the decade. This performance of the epic “Motorcycle Emptiness” is actually from the ’00s, so it’s without Edwards, but a decade on, the song itself remains just as powerful.
Filed under: Rock and Alternative and Songs and Artists and Videos and Less Talk, More Music Comments: None |
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“Superfine”!!! Man, I love PFFR. This album this tune was taken from was one of my faves of that year. “Party Ice,” people.
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Litlle Joey really gets wild on his rendition of the Chris DeBurgh classic “Lady in Red.” Scintillating!
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Michael rips loose on Billy Joel’s classic “You May Be Right.”
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“I Remember” from It Takes a Thief.
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It’s the oldest trick in the book: label is looking at releasing bone-headed debut single from new artist, worried that no one will take notice. So the label does the one thing that will guarantee some press coverage: they fill the video with naked girls. Call it the Buckcherry Effect, who did the same thing with their “Crazy Bitch” video and now have a platinum album hanging on their walls. The press release calls Saving Abel southern rockers, though we’re willing to bet that Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers might have something to say about that. More accurately, they’re a rock band from the south (Corinth, MS, to be precise), but this ain’t southern rock. Rather, it’s by-the-numbers, Nickelback-ish slug-rock, with one of the most unintentionally hilarious choruses in recent memory: I’m so addicted to, all the things you do Lest you think “Addicted” is just an overly suggestive love song, fear not; it turns out the singer kinda hates the girl he’s addicted to, and he apparently suppresses that anger because she gives good head. Two questions spring to mind: what does the girl get out of this relationship – other than the satisfaction of blowing said singer – and isn’t the lead singer worried that singing lyrics like this will cost him in the groupie department? Any girl he bangs has to be thinking, “Is his next song going to be about me?” On second thought, I can see women getting off on that, being immortalized in song, however denigrating. But that’s a whole different topic. And then there’s the controversial video (banned from MTV! Save the children!), which features a guy shooting video of two topless women getting friendly. Now, we are the last people to raise a fuss over naked women, but surely there is some angle, any angle, they could have taken besides the played out ‘straight girls pretend to be gay to turn a guy on’ bit. Even the girls on the pole/slutty groupie aspect of “Crazy Bitch” made more sense in context. Oh, and if you have not yet seen enough clichés from this band, check out the album cover.
Yes, nothing says “stupid whore”—or “Valtrex” – quite like a back tat of a band’s logo. Ladies, if you’re considering doing this, for the love of God, stop. No man will ever touch you again. Embedding for the video is disabled (it’s a Playboy.com exclusive), so to see the video, click here. All Saving Abel bashing aside, the clip is worth a look, preferably with the sound down. The video will run through March 18, at which point you will probably never hear from the likes of Saving Abel again. And yes, we understand the irony of promoting the clip in order to make an example of it, so don’t bother pointing that out. |
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“Volcano” from the great album II.
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Take the lead singer from Toad the Wet Sprocket, get him to write a song with Jon Brion, and then let Toad-boy record it with some guys from Nickel Creek. Voila: you’ve got Mutual Admiration Society’s “Sake of the World.” This live version, however, gets bonus points for having John Paul Jones (late of Led Zeppelin) on bass and Pete Thomas from The Attractions on drums. If only MAS would do another album together… P.S. Yes, I know “Toad-boy” is actually named Glen Phillips. But it made me laugh to call him “Toad-boy.” Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Songs and Artists and Videos and Less Talk, More Music Comments: None |
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“Fooled By a Smile” played “live,” you bet!
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Songs like “Watermelon Crawl” will make you go out and kill. Enjoy!
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Awww yeah, kids. “Fat Man in the Bathtub” live style.
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All actors should make their directorial debut with a music video. It’s a good place to get your feet wet and learn good timing, among other things. And besides, if it’s good enough for Michael Bay and McG, it’s good enough for anyone else. Actually, McG probably should have stuck with making music videos, but that’s a subject for another column. “Little Lover’s So Polite,” the latest single from the unstoppable Silversun Pickups, has one Joaquin Phoenix behind the camera, and while the video is cute, I have no doubt that the label would have scrapped it had it not been directed by an Oscar nominee. The band plays the song from the back of a pickup truck (bad dum bum) while driving through downtown Los Angeles at night, with a parallel story of a young boy meeting up with a young girl, and running until they fly. The problem is that Phoenix has drummer Christopher Guanlao wildly overacting, pounding his drums to a rather gentle drum track. It is also clear that the band is getting a police escort to shoot the video – when the police aren’t visible in the shot, their flashing lights are – which ruins the illusion. Yes, we know that you need to get permits to shoot videos on public streets. We just don’t like seeing reminders of it in the video itself. Unless, of course, that’s the point of the video, like U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name.” Not that any of this will stop the song from being a hit. It’s the fourth single from a 2006 album. That’s old school promotion, right there. God, isn’t it sweet. Embedding is disabled, but you can watch the video here. |
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My only question is why are they all dressed up in Mork from Ork’s spacesuit? Enjoy the wacky sound effects as well!
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Paul Shaffer might play the part of the oft-befuddled but always fawning bandleader to perfection on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” but the guy’s a musical legend. He spent 1975 to 1980 as the musical director of “Saturday Night Live” band, did the same duty for The Blues Brothers, is regularly called upon to provide backing for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, and, of course, played Artie Fufkin in “This is Spinal Tap.” He’s also a songwriter (he co-wrote “It’s Raining Men,” you know) and, on rare occasions, he’s even stepped out and been a recording artist in his own right. In 1990, Shaffer released an all-star collaborative effort entitled Coast to Coast, where he attempted to take listeners on a cross-country musical expedition which blended different musical genres, often within a single song. The album’s first single was a little ditty called “When the Radio Is On,” and when Shaffer premiered the track on “Late Night with David Letterman,” I was watching in awe as the breathtaking harmonies washed over me. The first couple of minutes of this clip are strictly Shaffer introducing his crew for the song, so if you want to skip ahead to the 2:26 mark, I’ll save you the time by providing you with the roll call: Will Smith (then still known solely as The Fresh Prince), Daddy O (Stetsasonic), Jay Siegel (The Tokens), Johnny Maestro (The Crests, The Brooklyn Bridge), songwriter Ellie Greenwich, actress Carol Kane (filling in for Carole King, ho, ho), and the King of the New York Streets himself, Mr. Dion DiMucci. As Shaffer describes it, “It’s doo-wop, it’s hip-hop, it’s a nutty thing.” Me, I’m not saying the song’s perfection, mostly because Shaffer shouts his vocal contributions, but the overall enthusiasm is downright contagious…which, I suspect, is why I still have Coast to Coast in my record collection.
Filed under: Rock and Pop and Hip Hop and Songs and Artists and Videos and Less Talk, More Music Comments: None |
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Yes, we know that writing about music is like dancing about architecture (even if we’re not convinced that Elvis Costello said it first), but let’s be realistic: if you’re a music fan who likes to read, you can achieve a very special level of bliss when you get the opportunity to dive into a book about music. The Bullz-Eye staff knocked their heads together and came up with a list of 45 books that span several musical genres and include autobiographies and biographies, histories of record companies and music magazines, essay collections, and straight-up reference tomes. It’s not intended to be all-encompassing, nor would we presume to call it a definitive list of the best music books of all time. It’s simply a selection of some of our personal favorites, none of which would be out of place on a music fan’s bookshelf…and you can find it right here. We also got some of the authors in on the fun, as well as some of our favorite musicians, which resulted in enough responses from folks from Kyle Vincent to Henry Rollins to warrant Rock of Pages: Celebrity Edition. But we know: we’ve missed one (or more) of your favorites. We always miss one (or more) of your favorites. So call us out already and leave a comment. We can always use another addition to our Barnes & Noble shopping list… Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Rap and Hip Hop and Country and Jazz and Music Labels and Songs and News and Artists and Videos and External Music Comments: 4 Comments |
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