Category: Rock (Page 51 of 241)

Scorpions: Sting in the Tail

April 5, 2010 / Will Harris

RIYL: Bon Jovi, KISS, Spinal Tap

When the Scorpions announced that their new album, Sting in the Tail, would be their last, some cursed, others cried, but most asked, “Wow, really, the Scorpions are still together?” At this, the other two demographics immediately responded, “Well, they won’t be soon, but thanks for pouring a little more salt in the wound, you cruel bastards,” but at least the band has offered up quite a bit of music in their 45-year career – yes, seriously: the original incarnation of the band came together in 1965 – to keep their fans rocking well into the future. The Scorpions’ previous album, 2007’s Humanity: Hour I, found them teaming up with producers James Michael and Desmond Child for a concept album that was better than you might think (and, believe it or not, even featured a guest appearance from Billy Corgan on one track), but for their grand finale, the group has opted to go back to basics and re-embrace the straight-ahead heavy metal sound that earned them their greatest success.

When you first glance at the track listing, you may well be tempted to call the Rock Cliche police, given that there’s a clear violation on the allowed number of songs per album which feature the word “rock” in their title: while I believe it varies from country to country, it cannot possibly be acceptable in any nation to offer three on one record, as they do here with “Raised on Rock,” “Rock Zone,” and “Spirit of Rock.” Still, there’s something to be said for playing to the fans, and those individuals who can successfully scream “Scorpions ROCK!” without even the slightest hint of irony are not likely to complain about such a transgression, nor will they laugh out loud about the band’s daring decision to close the album with a song entitled “The Best Is Yet To Come” the way almost every critic in the world – including yours truly – surely did. But, then, we music journalists are jaded and cynical lot…unlike the Scorpions, who are clearly still enjoying themselves.

One of the aforementioned “rock” songs – “Raised on Rock” – kicks off the proceedings, and it’s good…or, at least, it sounds like the band made a conscious effort to write a track that would make those listeners checking in on the band for the first time since “Rock You Like A Hurricane” think that they were having a flashback. There isn’t an ounce of originality in the song – think about Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love A Bad Name,” then try to keep from laughing at the :44 mark – but it’s still a great riff and a monster chorus. The same can be said for several other songs on the album, too, including “The Good Die Young,” “Lorelei,” and…well, okay, you probably won’t be able to keep from laughing at “Turn You On,” either, given that it rhymes “if you wanna feel the sting” with “come on, baby, shake that thing,” but it, too, is catchy as hell.

Whether you’ll view Sting in the Tail as a worthy final chapter to the Scorpions’ 19-album career will, as you might suspect, depend heavily on how many of those albums you’ve actually heard (not to mention whether you can enjoy the music without choking on the lyrics), but for those who who haven’t bothered to follow the band since they whistled their way into the top 10 with “Winds of Change,” it at least serves to prove that the band can indeed still…wait for it…rock you like a hurricane. (UMG 2010)

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Edwin McCain: The Best of Edwin McCain

April 1, 2010 / Mike Farley

RIYL: Better Than Ezra, Michael McDermott, David Cook

If you want to start feeling old, watch what happens when an artist you grew up listening to is releasing “greatest hits” or career retrospectives that span five to ten albums or more. Such may be the case with singer/songwriter Edwin McCain, who has been making his own brand of acoustic-driven, southern-tinged alternative rock for almost two decades now. So here he is with The Best of Edwin McCain, a nice collection of tracks that encompass both radio hits and some obscure gems as well. McCain may have begun his career as part of the Aware Records camp, the one that spawned some powerhouse alt/pop acts like Better than Ezra and Train, but he wound up evolving into a hit machine – the kind of hits that made the knees of young-to-middle-aged women weak, and that would find their way onto wedding band set lists. We’re talking songs like “I’ll Be” and “I Could Not Ask For More.” And that set list just got longer too, as there is a new track on here, “Walk with You,” about a dad giving his daughter away in marriage. But those in the know have understood that McCain’s songwriting prowess runs much deeper, and that is never more evident than on his inaugural single, “Solitude,” or on the groove-y “Take Me.” There is also a decent cover of Grand Funk Railroad’s “Some Kind of Wonderful.” But for as balanced as this album is, there are a couple of glaring omissions, most notably “Go Be Young” and “Ghost of Jackson Square” from the Messenger album. Still, that’s the beauty of the digital era—that we can go make our own “greatest hits” collections of our favorite artists. Either way, this is a nice look back at a fine career so far. (Time Life 2010)

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Lifehouse: Smoke & Mirrors

April 1, 2010 / Mike Farley

RIYL: Goo Goo Dolls, The Fray, Matchbox Twenty

When Lifehouse released their edgy debut No Name Face in 2000, their music was leaning more toward alternative and cool – because of the songs and the way they recorded them, but also because of how radio, to some degree, still drove record sales. But as bands like Lifehouse, Matchbox Twenty, and Third Eye Blind keep aging, their music tends to organically soften. And as it does, they start to mesh on radio with artists such as, say, Edwin McCain or Huey Lewis. And while we all do age, there is something inherently disappointing in watching a band like Lifehouse start to listen too much to producers and radio programmers instead of making the cool music that they used to. Still, these guys can write hit songs in their sleep, and on Smoke & Mirrors, their fifth studio effort, Lifehouse has delivered yet another batch of ear candy that will have little girls swooning. For the rest of us, it’s a nice album, but nothing we haven’t heard before, from Lifehouse or any other bands in their alt/pop genre.

Songs like the upbeat “All In” and “Had Enough” are formulaic, but there are also some nice surprises. The first one is “Nerve Damage,” which is an edgy rocker that even has a bluesy guitar solo that is (gasp) almost 30 seconds long. Then there’s the best track of all, “From Where You Are,” a stunning acoustic ballad that shows singer Jason Wade hasn’t lost a single strand of vocal cord over the past decade. Someday Lifehouse may go back to having creative control. But even so, their music doesn’t exactly suck, and you can’t blame them for chasing a big paycheck. (Geffen 2010)

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Martin Sexton: Sugarcoating

April 1, 2010 / Jeff Giles

RIYL: Bruce Springsteen, The Jayhawks, Joe Henry

Martin Sexton has a small army of devoted fans who spend a lot of time wondering why Martin Sexton isn’t world-famous – which isn’t unusual when it comes to musicians who aren’t world famous, but Sexton’s fans have more of a point than most. He has a sharp songwriter’s eye, he’s a gifted instrumentalist, and he has one of the supplest, most versatile voices in rock ‘n’ roll – seriously, why isn’t this guy world-famous?

Whatever the reasons for Sexton’s continued obscurity, we can at least be glad he hasn’t let it stop him from building one of the more compelling discographies you’ve probably never heard – and his latest release, Sugarcoating, stands shoulder-to-shoulder with his finest work.

More straightforward than 2007’s Seeds, which found Sexton using a one-man band approach to serve up everything from Tuvan singing to a cover of “Will It Go ‘Round in Circles,” Sugarcoating finds Sexton hewing closer to the confessional singer/songwriter end of the spectrum, addressing topics like love, politics, and fatherhood. The arrangements are a little looser and more expansive, thanks to the involvement of a group of musicians that included guitarist Duke Levine, keyboard player Tom West, and Sexton’s sister Colleen, as well as Sexton’s decision to record without rehearsals and keep production to a bare minimum. It’s a warm blanket of an album, one that makes room to display Sexton’s prodigious vocal talent while also delivering some of his strongest material – perhaps most notably the title track, which hurls vicious barbs at the so-called “mainstream media” against a jaunty, country-flavored backdrop that sounds more like Buck Owens than Rage Against the Machine.

If you’re already a fan, Sugarcoating will give you 13 more reasons to love Sexton’s music. If you haven’t yet been inducted to the cult, it’s as good a place as any to start. What’s stopping you? (Kitchen Table 2010)

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The Disco Biscuits: Planet Anthem

March 31, 2010 / Greg M. Schwartz

RIYL: Sound Tribe Sector 9, Umphreys McGee, String Cheese Incident

Planet Anthem is The Disco Biscuits’ first studio album since 2002, which inherently highlights how this is a band more known for their live prowess. The overdue album finds the band exploring a wider array of sonic directions, but the track selection seems to indicate that the band has fallen victim to Ryan Adams Disease – being such prolific songwriters as to lose the ability to distinguish which of your own songs are the best ones.

It’s hard to believe that anthemic live winners like “Rivers” and “Mirrors” didn’t make the cut here. “Mirrors,” introduced in the spring of 2009, is one of the most infectious tunes the band has come up with in years, and would have seemed the best chance for crossover appeal. But then, mainstream appeal has never really been a concern of these counterculture jam rockers. They’ve made a living by earning a diehard core following that will travel great distances to see multiple shows, and who aren’t particularly concerned about albums or singles.

2010 finds the livetronica stalwarts dabbling in hip-hop, dance and even disco flavors, somewhat ironic since that is not where the band’s name is derived from. Opening track “Loose Change” is one of the more intriguing songs on the album, with a big bouncy groove and some socially conscious lyrics about how “money is the root of all evil.” “On Time” and “You and I” have a dance pop flavor that may catch some fans off guard, as this is not the trance-fusion that fans have come to know and love. But the funky beat is still there. “Konkrete” has a trippy, dreamy sort of vibe mixed with a dark heavy groove. “Uber Glue” also starts out trippy, but then moves into a techno direction that is probably going to have some fans scratching their heads.

Rain Song” is one of the more unique tracks, mixing an atmospheric PJ Harvey/Morcheeba sort of vibe from guest female vocalist Ryat with the band’s psychedelic exploration. “Fish Out of Water” could well have been the name of the album, for the way the band is experimenting outside of its comfort zone. The song is more of a straight-ahead, mid-tempo rocker about a girl who’s “gonna make a rebel out of me,” with guitarist Jon Gutwillig finally taking a short solo. “Sweatbox” moves back into techno territory, but builds into a party vibe where “the room is getting hotter” with Gutwillig doing a little wailing behind his vocals.

The last three songs on the album return to the melodic jam rock sound the band is known for, showing they haven’t gone totally off the deep end. “The City” has a big beat and melodic motif with bassist Marc Brownstein getting philosophical about “sitting on a mountain top.” “Big Wrecking Ball” is even catchier, with melodic riffs and vocals from Gutwillig on a tune that seems primed to open up for live exploration. “Vacation” closes it out with an epic track that opens with some ambient ascension before shifting into space rock.

The band gets credit for taking creative risks instead of playing it safe, but some fans are likely to feel a bit puzzled about the overall output. Some of these tunes may grow on stage though, so it’s always hard to grade a jamband album when you know an incomplete is the most appropriate grade until the songs become more seasoned. (Diamond Riggs 2010)

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