Don’t spill the bong water. One has to be careful while dancing in a Woodstock-like manner to the incredibly pleasant and surprising For My Friends, the new record by the formerly disbanded Blind Melon. It didn’t seem likely that after the death of lead singer Shannon Hoon to an overdose, that the Melon had any more shelf life. The loss of their comrade and friend left the band rudderless and they decided to go their separate ways. This is their first studio release since 1995’s Soup. It is an excellent blend of laid back mood pieces that evoke smoke rings and late night pizza like the wonderfully subtle title track and “Sometimes,” while containing enough muscle to move the mood up a couple notches like “Wishing Well” and “So High.” None of these songs is going to get a speeding ticket but the album offers enough variety to be an excellent 50-minute listen. No one quite sounded like Shannon Hoon, but Travis Warren sure has a similar delivery. He will be able to pull off all the Hoon tracks live while not sounding like just a clone voice. The album is spectacularly produced and mixed by bassist Brad Smith and guitarist Christopher Thorn (and Blind Melon as credited in the album notes.) They layer a lot of the vocals (which serves the uniqueness of Warren’s voice well) while the mix of guitar (both electric and acoustic) and occasional Wurlitzer piano is fabulous accenting each when necessary. There may not be a career defining track like “No Rain” on the record, but this is a consistently hummable piece of work. (Rocket Science)
How many ways can we make money and exploit a dead star? We can keep releasing different versions of greatest hits, altering track order and omitting and including different songs. We can release groups of tracks from various record labels separately. We can also come up with new and interesting thematic collections, like songs from movies perhaps. Capitol felt the need to get some more Ol’ Blue Eyes product out there and compiled 20 tracks from his contributions to cinema. There is nothing wrong with compilations or Sinatra; in fact every American citizen should receive some Frank upon their birth, particularly Songs for Swingin’ Lovers or Strangers in the Night or if you want a compilation, try The Capitol Years from 1990. This collection has some of the well known stuff like “Chicago,” “The Lady Is a Tramp,” “Three Coins in a Fountain” and “Young at Heart.” It also showcases the man’s voice from different periods of his career so you can hear the deepening and richness in his vocals as he matured. However, it is an unnecessary collection in that this material is available elsewhere. Sure, you can throw this on and have a nice Fresca on the patio, but there are many other collections much more worthy of your time. (Capitol)
Do you like the bands that pay attention to the visual presentation, give you not just a concert, but a show? No, I’m not talking about the boy bands or the talentless teenage divas, I’m talking about GWAR, Kiss, Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie and Slipknot. Those artists and many others owe a tip of the hat to the old master of the macabre, Alice Cooper. Now, his commercial heyday may be behind him by many years, but the man still tours with an incredible band, has a monstrously recognizable back catalogue and still challenges himself as an artist by still flexing some new musical muscles with the consistent release of new material.
As we learned in the bonus material on “Metal A Headbanger’s Journey,” no one has a higher opinion of his own influence and accomplishments than Alice, but the body of work speaks for itself. In designing a No Rock Star Left Behind starter kit for the nearly 60-year-old metal icon, I would recommend the following:
Music
The Best of Alice Cooper: Mascara & Monsters: If you need to get to know the hits, this collection puts together the best stuff from the band Alice Cooper and the immediate period after, when Vincent Furnier changed his name and became Alice Cooper. Rhino does a nice job and this is an excellent representation of the early genius. “Clones” and “Poison” are tacked on as representing the later period and are tracks that charted, but his later work is not well represented here.
Flush The Fashion: Re-inventing himself with a new wave kind of spin and with the production of Roy Thomas Baker, Fashion is catchy and features some incredibly clever but cynical lyrics on “Model Citizen” and “Grim Facts.” The record proved he could stretch musically and write commentary about our culture in a stinging yet humorous manner.
The Last Temptation: An underappreciated classic concept record in which Alice gets a little help from his friends. Chris Cornell lends some backing vocals to a couple of tracks while Jack Blades & Tommy Shaw co-write a couple of songs. “Lost in America” is a very funny but biting commentary on the lost direction of America’s youth.
Brutal Planet: This record is dark industrial metal. In contrast with Flush’s new wave spin, and the straight-ahead rock sound of Temptation, Planet along with its sequel, 2001’s Dragontown, is Alice at his absolute heaviest.
Video
“Wayne’s World”: There is a snippet of “Feed My Frankenstein” in the movie, but the brief encounter between Alice, Wayne and Garth and their discussion of Milwaukee is hysterical.
“Alice Cooper Live at Montreux”: What a flippin’ band he tours with, including Eric Singer, the thunderous replacement for Eric Carr in Kiss, and Brother Cane guitarist Damon Johnson. They rip through his hits with a fabulous ferocity and Alice, the old pro, puts on a fun show.
Web
SickThingsUK is the best Cooper resource. This site gives you all kinds of news, discographies and information on those that have rocked with `The Coop’ in the past. For most things Alice, this is where you have to go.
There you have it, four discs, two DVDs, a web site and the following snippet from the Muppet Show which shows Alice having fun with his image. These items should whet your appetite as we continue to champion those that have come before in No Rock Star Left Behind.
The late legendary Cardinal/White Sox/Cub announcer Harry Caray was an orphan, as was the deceased founder of Wendy’s hamburgers, Dave Thomas. I don’t know if any of these orphans live up to their reputations, but here we go:
Thin Lizzy: The Definitive Collection (Mercury/Universal) The consumer world is bloated with multiple best-of and greatest hits collections. This disc contains 16 tracks – as opposed to the 1991 Dedication album which contained 18 tracks – with very little difference in song selection. The live version of “Rosale/Cowgirls’s Song” on the new disc is a very cool addition, but if you have Dedication and the 1978’s Live and Dangerous, this is an unnecessary purchase.
Various Artists: We Got the Funk (Time Life/Universal)
This is a nicely done collection of ‘70s funk with a disco track or two. I don’t think I would have included “Get Down Tonight” by KC and the Sunshine band on the same disc with “Get the Funk Out Ma Face” by the Brothers Johnson, but that is splitting hairs. The mix seemed to be low, for those burning to your iPod. Put on those platforms and bell bottoms and funk your butt off.
Less Than Jake: In with the Out Crowd (Sire)
This record is less ska and more rock. A decent effort with standout cuts like “Overrated (Everything Is)” which sounds a lot like Bowling for Soup and “A Still Life Franchise,” which features the ska horns before ripping into the Everclear rock chorus. “Mostly Memories,” “Let Her Go,” and “P.S. Shock the World” are dipped in their ska past and are the best part of the record besides “Overrated.”
Eighteen Visions: Eighteen Visions (Trustkill/Epic)
Every time I listen to this obnoxious, bombastic, arena rock-aspiring record, I like it more and more. A bit of Goth, a ton of metal guitar crunching, intelligible singing and screaming vocals from James Hart and overproduced background vocals make this a really fun and irresistible piece of metal. “Victim” and the metal ballad “Broken Hearted” are the standout tracks from a very strong record.
Cactus: V (Escape)
Just because they were once called “The American Led Zeppelin” doesn’t mean it was accurate. This is a solid but pedestrian effort of blues based rock featuring the drumming prowess of the legendary Carmen Appice. However, the choice of Jimmy Kunes (ex-Savoy Brown) on vocals for the late Rusty Day (Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes) was a bad one. His bland, bluesy vocals are flat out irritating, especially since the disc clocks in at just over 62 minutes.
Thuderbirds Are Now!: Make History (French Kiss)
This is 37:04 of full out new wave/punk energy in which the boys from Detroit produce a Killers-like record. The keyboard/synthesizer use against those sizzling guitars definitely is the star of the record.
Various Artists: Hef’s Favorites (Playboy Jazz/Concord)
This is a wonderful collection of classic jazz artists with a fabulous mellow vibe. Tony Bennett recorded in 1975 is golden. The liner notes written by Hef are informative, concise and extremely well done. This and Eighteen Visions are my two favorite discs on this list.
