Author: Scott Malchus (Page 3 of 6)

Jackson Browne: Going Home

October 8, 2010 /


RIYL: The Eagles, Bonnie Raitt, David Lindley

In 1994, Jackson Browne released I’m Alive, a strong collection of songs that was a return to personal songwriting after years of political. In conjunction with that release, the Disney Channel, when they still offered programming that would appeal to adults, presented this documentary, “Jackson Browne: Going Home.” The 90-minute production captures the artist performing live with his great band from the ’90s, as well as footage of Browne, mostly at his home, sharing stories about his life, his career and the process he goes through making music. Interspersed with the concert and backstage footage are rare photos and filmed performances that span his career up to that point.

The live concert production is tight and immaculately produced. Like many of his Laurel Canyon 1970s singer-songwriter comrades, there is an attention to detail when Brown performs that makes you appreciate the professionalism of the artist. No note is out of place; what has been recorded on the record is duplicated perfectly in concert. However, Browne is also one of those artists who knows how to connect with his audience, making each concert unique. So, whether singing live in front of 20,000 or in a sterile TV studio for a small number of fans, it never feels like he’s going through the motions.

The abundance of music in the documentary seems far too much for only an hour and a half, but it all fits and everything sounds fantastic. The song selections must represent Browne’s set list in the early ’90s; mixed in with ’70s classics like “These Days,” “The Pretender” and “Before the Deluge,” are standouts from his late ’80s period like “In the Shape of a Heart,” “World In Motion” and “Sky Blue and Black.”  There are also some excellent deep cuts, like “Farther On” and “Birds of St. Marks.”

Many of Browne’s famous friends show up. David Lindley, Bonnie Raitt, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Don Henley, Jennifer Warnes and the rest of the Eagles all make appearances, with Lindley, Crosby, Nash and Warnes performing live with Browne and his band.

It’s hard to believe that “Going Home” was shot in 1994. Aside from some graying hair and additional wrinkles here and there, Browne doesn’t appear to have aged at all in all of these years.  Moreover, his voice continues to sound as youthful as ever. A nifty video montage of “Doctor My Eyes” edits together performances that range from early in his career to the ’94 show.  So often with these type of DVD releases, only hardcore fans will buy them. However, this is one release that stands on its own as a quality film whether you’ve been following Jackson Browne for years or just heard of him yesterday. (Eagle Records 2010)

CD Reviews, Music DVDs, Pop, Rock

Weezer: Hurley

October 8, 2010 /


RIYL: The Killers, Jimmy Eat World, Tegan & Sara

Casual fans of Weezer, the ones who only really know their pop hits, should love Hurley. The new album, their first since parting ways with Geffen and signing with indie label Epitaph, is a strong collection of pop rock/punk songs that will make the grayest autumn days ahead seem much sunnier. Everything about Hurley feels as big and burly as the photo of “Lost” actor Jorge Garcia (a.k.a. “Hurley”) on the front cover.

Throughout the album, Rivers Cuomo sings with the angst and melancholy of a singer half his age. But there is a lightness to his performances that makes you think that getting free from the corporate record company bog has given the band and Cuomo a new lease on life. “Memories” is a driving, nostalgic look back at that bygone era of… the ’90s. “Unspoken” begins with pretty, acoustic harmonies. Is this Weezer unplugged? Fear not, as the song shifts into gear by the end, kicking some serious ass. “Where’s My Sex” starts off as almost a joke, as Cuomo changed the letters of “socks” to “sex” in the lyrics. As the song nears its completion, the band suddenly becomes Green Day, switching time signatures and segueing into a completely different tune, a la “Jesus of Suburbia.”

The strongest selection on Hurley is “Hang On,” a beautiful work of ’70s-style pop/glam rock. Listen to it, you’ll hear shades of Sweet and Cheap Trick flowing freely with Weezer’s impeccable harmonies and hand claps. This one has radio written radio hit all over it. I hope so because this one would sound great coming out of teenage cars across America.

Each song on Hurley flows right into the next one making this a great listening experience. At ten songs (four bonus tracks are also available on a Deluxe edition) it’s also one of the quickest listens, too. Maybe the songs aren’t as complex as some of Weezer’s previous efforts, but this is certainly one of their most accessible and therefore fun albums. (Epitaph 2010)

Weezer MySpace page

Alternative, CD Reviews, Pop, Rock

The Influence: Falling Objects

September 30, 2010 /


RIYL: Bush, Jimmy Eat World, ’80s modern rock

On their current album, the Influence have produced a collection of emotional guitar-driven rock songs that may have a lot of people recalling the glory days of Gavin Rossdale and Bush. For geezers like myself, it’s hard not to hear elements of early ’80s modern rock in the music of this band from Virginia. The Influence create a certain groove in their music. Although it contains driving guitars and a big drum sounds, it also have a beat you can shake your ass to.

Listen to “Falling Objects,” “Bleed Out,” “Torn” and “Break” and you’ll find your head unconsciously bobbing to the beat with your eyes closed and images of a sweaty dance floor in your head. Isn’t that the signature of a great pop song – one that tugs the heartstrings but also gets you moving as well? Bowie knows this; so do Springsteen, Prince and Madonna. Not sure I’d place the Influence in the pantheon of those icons, but Falling Objects is one heck of a catchy album.

This record is not an explosion of emo angst, like so many of this band’s contemporaries. Instead, lead singer Matt Stephenson controls his voice to serve the music. He may wear his heart on his sleeve, but he doesn’t make each track bleed like it’s his last thought and prayer, either. This isn’t Dashboard Confessional.

That doesn’t mean these guys don’t bust out some crunchy guitars when it’s called for. “Slippin’” is a nasty metal-driven number with some excellent harmonies. Toss in a thoughtful acoustic number (“The Sleep”) and a couple of power ballads (“The Following” and “Anisoptera”) and you have what constitutes a really good pop/rock album. (Flying Eye 2010)

The Influence MySpace Page

Alternative, CD Reviews, Emo, Rock

Lucy Schwartz: Life in Letters

September 22, 2010 /


RIYL:Brandi Carlile, Aimee Mann, Jon Brion

Lucy Schwartz’s Life in Letters contains the kind of songs that must make the producers of “Grey’s Anatomy” orgasm. Her music is spirited, melodic, and yet mellow enough to be the perfect accompaniment for the navel-gazing doctors on ABC’s drama. With beautiful harmonies, intricate guitars, subtle keyboards and muted drums, Schwarz’s music is pleasant to listen to, yet it feels like there’s something missing.

Let’s be clear, this is an album full of rich, excellent material. Schwartz’s voice is reminiscent of Brandi Carlisle in its fullness and the way she wraps it around the words. “My Darling” is a haunting opening number that rests in the back of your mind like caramel stuck in your teeth.  “Graveyard” has some wonderful, fun harmonies, “Shadow Man” chugs along like a well-tuned Chevy and “Morning” is a lovely ballad that closes the record.  Everything is pretty and neatly in its place.

Acclaimed producer Mitchell Froom oversaw Life in Letters, and he brings to it the same precision he’s brought to every artist he’s worked with, from Crowded House to Los Lobos to Sheryl Crow. Yet, it feels as if Schwartz’s passion has been tamped down, the reins pulled in, making the record too pretty and too mellow. You keep waiting, hoping, for the moment in which the singer loses her shit and lets out a guttural howl or some throat-shredding scream. Anything to indicate that she’s actually feeling all of the emotions she’s singing about. Life in Letters needs that on a couple of tracks, at least.

Without this type of feeling, Schwartz’s album is like a cup of decaf in the middle of the afternoon: It perks you up, but doesn’t give you a jolt. While Life in Letters has some finely crafted musicianship (especially when listening through headphones), nothing grabs you by the throat, or the heart, and pulls you back for repeated listens. (Fortunate Fool Records 2010)

Lucy Schwartz MySpace Page

Adult Contemporary, Artists, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop, Rock Babes

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers: Classic Albums: “Damn the Torpedoes”

August 27, 2010 /

When Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers entered the studio to record their important third album, 1979’s Damn the Torpedoes, they hired Jimmy Iovine, the brash New Yorker who had been involved with several other important third records, like Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run (as an engineer) and Patti Smith’s Easter, to co-produce the album. Iovine’s drive and perfectionism were ideal for bringing out the best in the band and capturing the Heartbreakers’ blend of British Invasion rhythms and Byrds-like jangle and help them rise beyond cult favorites to superstar status. The making of Damn the Torpedoes would become an enormous challenge for the band, not only in the studio, as egos clashed, but with their record company, who at one point threatened not to release the album. The story behind this important album, one that is credited with “saving rock ‘n roll” from disco, is laid out in this superb Classic Albums DVD from Eagle Vision, another in their long line of excellent documentaries about important records in rock history.

You know the songs: “Refugee,” “Don’t Do Me Like That,” “Here Comes My Girl,” and “Even the Losers.” To this day, these songs are played constantly on rock radio. What’s fascinating about this DVD is learning how those songs came together, to hear Petty, guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench and Iovine discuss the methods they went about piecing the songs together from riffs, to getting the band to play them just right during the recording process. It’s also nice to hear from the engineer on the record, the legendary Shelly Yakus, on how he came up with some of the record’s signature sounds, including the distinct quality of Stan Lynch’s drums.

The feuds between Lynch and Iovine were constant, with the producer grinding the band’s drummer about the way he played. At one point, Lynch left, was fired or quit. As Tench makes clear, many talented drummers came in to audition, but none of them were right for the Heartbreakers – none of them were Stan Lynch. Unfortunately, Lynch is the only original member of the band who did not provide a current interview for this DVD. As we understand it, he has a “been there done that” attitude about discussing his days with the Heartbreakers (he wouldn’t even get involved with “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” the monumental Peter Bogdanovich-directed documentary from 2008). However, the producers dug up some old interviews with Lynch to insert at the right moments so that the accounts of making this historical album were not one-sided. It was also nice to hear Tench and bassist Ron Blair speak so fondly about Lynch, with Blair even holding out hope that someday he may jam with them again.

In addition to the details about the making of Damn the Torpedoes, getting to watch the band members listen to the original tapes for the first time in years and to have Tench explain how he and Yakus happened upon some of the beautiful textures Tench added to the mix, there is the history of the band’s struggles with their record company. When the band’s original contract with ABC records was sold to MCA, Petty refused to just join the new label (especially a huge corporation) without his consent. At one point he filed for bankruptcy as he battled MCA, who threatened to not let him release Damn the Torpedoes.  Fortunately, Danny Bramson’s fledgling label, Backstreet Records, stepped in to help foster a deal between Petty and MCA and things were smoothed out.

Of course, the album was released to great critical acclaim, it spawned numerous hits, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers broke through to the mainstream. The DVD captures all of the joy and excitement of the band’s success and is a must-see for any fan of the Heartbreakers and good music in general. (Eagle Vision 2010)

Click here to purchase Classic Albums: Damn the Torpedoes from Amazon

Artists, CD Reviews, Music DVDs, Pop, Rock

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