Meet The Wildhearts, Possibly the Best Band You Don't Know (at least to my ears) -- Spotify Playlist included

I used to work in an office where the iTunes libraries of willing employees could be accessed by anyone on the network.

Given the breadth of my tastes--even simply within a mainstream rock vein--I usually found considerable musical congruency with my colleagues, but in any collection there were invariably numerous artists I'd never even heard of, let alone heard or knew well.

So while I often bemoan the seeming sparsity of new rock acts that excite me--which in itself may be a fallacy born simply from obliviousness--the truth seems to be that, for years on end, I could quite exuberantly discover and enjoy quality rock artists and albums that have long existed without my awareness and affinity.

In no way do I presume that "less famous" artists I cherish beyond The Beatles, Stones, Who, Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Pearl Jam and other somewhat ubiquitous--at least at one point--rock acts are better, or even more worthy of my attention, than those you cherish.

But my life has been greatly enriched by personal favorites beyond the famous to the point that in 2006 I created a 6-CD  Hidden in the Isles box set compilation of UK bands much bigger at home than they ever became in the U.S.

Some of my favorite acts--across the '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s and '00s--that I included were The Move, The Jam, The Undertones, The Waterboys, Blur, Ash, Stereophonics, Maxïmo Park and The Fratellis.

And with the caveat that levels of popularity or familiarity to others is always imprecise--thus I assume many music fans know some of these names, even if they never sold a ton of records--The Replacements, Dinosaur Jr., Bob Mould, Social Distortion, Jason & the Scorchers, Alejandro Escovedo, The Smoking Popes and Willie Nile are just a few of the great-if-not-huge American rock artists I've enjoyed, collected and seen numerous times over the years. (I also specifically appreciate being turned onto Australia's Hoodoo Gurus.)

Which brings me to the acute topic of this blog post: The Wildhearts.

There is still no musical artist I've discovered in the 21st century that I've liked more.

This doesn't mean they arose after 2000; they didn't.

The Wildhearts--see AllMusic.com and Wikipedia--formed in 1989 and released their debut album, Earth vs. The Wildhearts in 1993.

Many of their songs that I now love precede the turn of the century.

And whether from acts that debuted post-Y2K--Arcade Fire, Maximo Park, The Fratellis, The Killers, The White Stripes (their first album came out in 1999, but 2001's White Blood Cells really broke them) and even Coldplay--or that I loved long before this millennium--Springsteen, Green Day, Foo Fighters, Wilco, Radiohead--there has been "current" music put out that I've liked as much or more than The Wildhearts' 21st century output.

Having cited some of my favorite "under the radar" artists a few paragraphs up, I also wouldn't say The Wildhearts outrank any or all as "my favorite band you may not know"--with #1 being The Jam.

But I can tell you the very day I first came to know and love The Wildhearts:

March 26, 2004, when I ventured to Milwaukee's Eagles Ballroom to see the then-hot The Darkness and was so blown away by the unknown opening act that mid-set I made my way to the merch table to buy The Wildhearts' latest CD, Riff After Riff.

And with apologies to the similarly beloved Willie Nile--who I first came across in 2008 or so--there isn't any artist I've come to know since whose best work I like any more than that of The Wildhearts.

Now to some of you, this might sound vaguely familiar or even be old news.

As this blog attests, I am rather passionate about sharing my passions and though I haven't previously written a post specifically about The Wildhearts--they've only been sporadically active in recent years--I have included them in various lists (such as my most-read-ever The 100 Best Alternative Rock Bands of the Past 25 Years post from 2012). 

And after first coming to know of the Wildhearts, I bought whatever CDs were available in America (and more on trips to London), gathered much more of their output through peer-to-peer sites--I would've said Napster but 2004 seems late for that--and put together a compilation CD called Meet the Wildhearts that I shared with the few friends I thought might care.

If a "musical album" can merely be considered anything that fills up to 80 minutes on a compact disc, Meet the Wildhearts would still be my favorite album of the 21st century. That's how much I like their sound that I'd best describe as Cheap Trick meets Metallica, though without any such exactitude.

I included a Wildhearts song on my Hidden in the Isles box set--"29x the Pain," in which singer/songwriter/guitarist Ginger Wildheart cites a litany of his musical loves and influences, including The Replacements, Hüsker Dü, The Ramones, Cheap Trick, Jason & the Scorchers and many more--and have at least once sang the band's praises on Facebook.

But my fervor only recently became inflamed anew--as it does every few years--and I have a number of music-loving friends who perhaps have never heard me effuse about the Wildhearts.

So babble on, revisited.

While the best of the Wildhearts--beautifully melodic, often humorous, but with a thunderous edge--has never stopped thrilling me, some of their output can be too heavy and not melodic enough for my tastes. The bulk of new material since I became aware of the band's existence in 2004 hasn't delighted me like that which preceded it.

And while Ginger (born David Walls but known predominantly by his stage moniker) has remained rather prolific in releasing solo material, Wildhearts music and work with various projects such as Hey! Hello!, I've never been aware of The Wildhearts playing in Chicago. (After seeing them at the Eagles Ballroom with the Darkness, I made a point of catching them at Milwaukee Summerfest, but have never seen them nor noticed a reasonable opportunity since.)

Though they seem to have a devoted fan base, I don't believe The Wildhearts were ever all that popular in England, and their activity seems rather intermittent. (Ginger has long and openly battled depression, and I think had substance abuse issues in the past; three other band members have seemed fairly constant, but he's been the mainstay in some different lineups.)

Anyway, last year, via the power of YouTube, I noticed that The Wildhearts has played a brief run of shows in England, and they still sounded good. (Check out the clip below and simply search "Wildhearts 2016" to find more.)



And although when I looked in December, their Spotify representation was far from complete--prompting me to order 3 more CDs, including one from Japan--it now seems almost all their albums are on there.

So, except for a couple prime B-sides and outtakes--"Friend for Five Minutes," "The Bullshit Goes On"--I can now compile for you my original Meet the Wildhearts collection, plus almost a full album's worth of more great stuff.

Enjoy.

I know I will.
---

Meet the Wildhearts - a Spotify playlist compiled by Seth Arkin
Listen below or click here to find it on Spotify. (Or just search for "Meet the Wildhearts" on Spotify)

Sensational Saxophone: A Spotify Playlist in Honor of International Jazz Day

For as long as I can remember, I have loved to make compilation albums. Or, in old school parlance, mix tapes.

And, new school, playlists.

My days of filling Maxell, TDK and Memorex cassettes disappeared with the advent of CD-Rs, but at some point I put together a disc of great jazz saxophonists for one of my nephews. I even put together some cover art utilizing images of wonderful jazz paintings by Bruni Sablan, simply for personal use.

The artwork isn't mine to replicate here, but noting that today is International Jazz Day, I was able to find all the tracks to compile into the Spotify playlist below. Obviously there is a lot more music by each of these artists to be found on Spotify, YouTube, etc., and info at AllMusic.com and Wikipedia. But for now, please enjoy:

Sensational Saxophone

Happy Valentine's Day from Me to YouTube

To celebrate Valentine's Day, here's a YouTube playlist of Great Rock 'n Roll Love Songs.

The 15 videos all play sequentially, but if you don't like one or just want to see my selections, you can skip ahead.

Have a lovely day.

The 100 Best Alternative Rock Bands of the Past 25 Years

Last night I saw Weezer. It was an excellent show and I should post my review later today or tomorrow.

Despite Weezer being, arguably, one of the few alt-rock superstar bands of the '90s still in existence--and one whose music I've always enjoyed--this was only the second time I'd seen them, and the first was only because they were on a double-bill with the Foo Fighters.

So it got me thinking about where I'd place them in the pantheon of alternative rock bands. Thus, I started making this list.

Initially I was only thinking in terms of acts from the '90s, but in being unsure if I should also consider music made since then, I decided to go back 25 years.

Even this, like all list making attempts, is of course imprecise.

First of all, what defines alternative?

It seems that once Nirvana rolled around, alternative music became the mainstream. And nowadays, "alternative" seems to be a dead moniker, with alternative rock stations--like Chicago's Q101--having bitten the dust.

But, as a rough qualifier for inclusion on this list, the following artists (mostly bands, but not just) are ones I would have expected to hear on an alternative rock radio station (with new music) over the past 25 years. Thus no Guns 'n Roses, Metallica, Bruce Springsteen or presumably Adele, but a pretty wide swath otherwise. And if you're unclear what makes Elvis Costello, post-87, any more "alternative" than Tom Petty, you've got a pretty good point. As I said, this is imprecise.

Though the 25 year span largely covers the rise of alternative era--from the origins of The Pixies and Jane's Addition through the grunge explosion, the birth of Lollapalooza and everything since--it too is an imperfect demarcation, as it leaves out much punk, which I tend to consider alternative.

Though the whole list is obviously based on my own preferences and whims, I tried to gauge artists only by the music they made within the 1987-2012 range. Thus I left out otherwise extremely deserving bands like The Smiths, Husker Du, Talking Heads and Ramones, who were either on their last legs by '87 or no longer producing their best music. For included acts whose careers pre-date 1987, I tried to only reflect their work since them, not their overall output. In many cases, I was able to factor in the band as a live act, but some I've never seen.

And since this is my list, I could only include artists whose music I know pretty well and enjoy, so no Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, My Bloody Valentine, Ministry, Tool, Guided by Voices, Built to Spill, Sleater-Kinney, Portishead or others that you might include (additional "also-rans" are included after the top 100).

So take it for what it's worth--if I made the same list tomorrow, it would likely be ordered slighly differently--but this is how I rate the 100 Best Alternative Rock Bands (and Solo Acts) of the Past 25 Years:
 

1. Nirvana
2. U2
3. R.E.M.
4. Pearl Jam
5. The Smashing Pumpkins (+ Zwan)
6. Radiohead
7. The Replacements (+ Paul Westerberg solo)
8. Midnight Oil
9. Green Day
10. Soundgarden

11. The Cure
12. Foo Fighters
13. Red Hot Chili Peppers
14. Dinosaur Jr.
15. Nine Inch Nails
16. The Pixies
17. Arcade Fire
18. The Flaming Lips
19. The Beastie Boys

20. The Wildhearts (check out this song)

21. Depeche Mode
22. Blur
23. Wilco
24. The White Stripes
25. The Killers
26. Weezer
27. Bob Mould (including Sugar)
28. Jane's Addiction
29. System of a Down
30. Stone Temple Pilots

31. Paul Weller
32. Rage Against The Machine
33. Elvis Costello (remember, this is '87 onward)
34. Phish
35. Smoking Popes
36. Stereophonics
37. The Waterboys
38. Garbage

39. Beck
40. BoDeans

41. Maximo Park
42. Ash
43. Social Distortion
44. Oasis
45. Sonic Youth
46. No Doubt
47. Coldplay
48. Counting Crows
49. Teenage Fanclub
50. Material Issue

51. Pulp
52. Moby
53. LCD Soundsystem
54. Alice in Chains
55. The Lemonheads
56. Screaming Trees
57. Everclear

58. The Hives
59. The Wallflowers
60. Faith No More

61. Stone Roses
62. Liz Phair
63. Snow Patrol
64. Hole
65. Urge Overkill
66. Supergrass
67. Manic Street Preachers
68. Pavement
69. Mudhoney
70. Cracker

71. Muse
72. Incubus
73. Live
74. Alanis Morrisette
75. Franz Ferdinand

76. The Strokes
77. The Cranberries
78. The Wedding Present
79. PJ Harvey
80. The Jesus and Mary Chain

81. Blink 182
82. Suede
83. Placebo
84. The Charlatans UK
85. Matthew Sweet
86. The Tragically Hip
87. Fishbone
88. Dave Matthews Band
89. The Fratellis
90. Local H

91. The Decemberists
92. Kaiser Chiefs
93. Bush

94. The Offspring
95. Sponge
96. TV on the Radio
97. Son Volt
98. The Hold Steady
99. Feeder
100. Soul Coughing

Assorted Others in No Particular Order

Primal Scream
Arctic Monkeys
James
My Morning Jacket
Keane
Rancid
Soul Asylum 
Linkin Park
Mission of Burma
Fastball 
The La's
Uncle Tupelo
Goo Goo Dolls

Gin Blossoms
Toad the Wet Sprocket
Queens of the Stone Age
Primus
Sublime
Korn
Death Cab for Cutie
My Chemical Romance
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
My Bloody Valentine
Ministry
Tool
311
Guided by Voices
Built to Spill
Sleater-Kinney
Portishead
Sloan

WANTED: The Next Rock Band To Change My Life (and Perhaps Even the World)

A few years ago when I was setting up a Google Profile page--I'm still not sure why--I was posed a question that now seems to have disappeared:

What are you searching for?

My answer was: The next Nirvana

To quote another great rock band, and one still in existence at that, "I still haven't found what I'm looking for." 

Perhaps I'm not looking hard enough--some people knew about Nirvana, and U2, at least 2 years before I did--although what I've found fills me with anything but great expectations.

For instance, I recently caught wind of a band called fun.--yes, the lowercase "f" and end period are part of their name--whose song "We Are Young" spent six weeks at #1 on the main Billboard singles chart, making it the biggest hit of 2012 and the biggest in quite some time by a "rock band."

But I don't care if the video has over 38 million hits--and fun. has been hailed in Rolling Stone as one of the "25 Best Things in Rock Right Now" and Entertainment Weekly as one of the "30 Greatest Artists Right Now"--the song is mediocre at best. I just picked a random, middle-of-the-pack Cheap Trick song, "I'll Be With You Tonight," and enjoyed it eons more than "We Are Young."

And if, unlike me, you are young and need to hear an anthemic song about it, check out "When You're Young" by the Jam or, for something more recent, "When You Were Young," by the Killers.

Not that the Billboard singles chart has ever really been a source for learning about rock songs I might like, but taking over for "We Are Young" at #1 was "Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye, an Australian who is also hailed the aforementioned Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly spotlights. To each their own I guess, but pop songs about our hidden selves used to be at least this good. Or, if your tastes run even a bit poppier, this good.

Now, believe it or not, I don't like sounding like a whiny old fossil. 

Thus, as I do fairly often, I've been actively seeking out new music, including some that friends and the music press recommend (since the radio is relatively useless these days), as well as stuff I just kind of stumble across.

I subscribe to Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly and TIME, get Facebook feeds (and often read/listen to additional content) from Paste Magazine, Rock It Out! blog, NME magazine, Pitchfork.com and WXRT radio, among others, and frequently talk to music-loving friends about what they're listening to of late.

Though I don't listen to all that much music on the radio, I have myriad options on SiriusXM, will occasionally see who WXRT (among other Chicago stations) is playing & hyping and I sometimes check out online feeds from NME Radio, KROQ (from L.A.) and various stations through iTunes. I also sometimes use Pandora in hopes it will introduce me to something new (or even old, good and unknown).

I visit the great AllMusic.com site virtually every day, check out charts and samples on Amazon (including Amazon.co.uk for England), utilize Wikipedia for music research along with much else and have taken to utilizing Spotify for quite a bit of free sampling.

So it's not like I'm just sitting around waiting for the second coming of Led Zeppelin to rise up and smack me upside my headphones.

And while part of the dearth that I rue is the lack of "rock stars" and mega-bands that become part of the zeitgeist, I am not suggesting that a great band must reach the stature of Zeppelin, the Who, Nirvana, etc., to be considered as such.

J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. / Photo Credit: Francis Chung, Pitchfork.com

Due to the internet and perhaps cable TV, many art forms including music reach a much more segmented public nowadays. But less-than-household-name artists such as Dinosaur Jr., Jason & the Scorchers, Alejandro Escovedo and many others have long been among my favorites.

And one of my foremost passions has been seeking out and sharing bands who are/were big in England but not so much in America, from the Move to the Jam to Stereophonics, to the Automatic,  the Fratellis and the View (I still love this song from the latter).

So if I am ignorant about great rock artists--especially those achieving some degree of mass appeal--that have come to prominence (e.g. released an album) in 2005 or later, I am ignorant in the "I don't know" sense, not "I don't care."

Who have I been checking out lately?

Click image to hear "Jealous Girl" on YouTube

Recently, I have listened to new albums by: 

Alabama Shakes
Neon Trees
White Rabbits
Deer Tick
Ben Kweller   
The Menzingers
Cloud Nothings

All of them have some merit, with Kweller's "Jealous Girl" probably my favorite song so far in 2012. His album, Go Fly A Kite seemed quite promising for the first three songs, but I was fairly well bored by song #6.

Thus, when I refer to a great band (or solo rock artist), I don't mean one that has a catchy song or two, gets a bit of fleeting buzz and can play a decent 45 minute festival set.

There are several "good" bands out there, but there's a considerable distance between "good" and "great" that few are crossing.  

My criteria to consider a rock band "great" requires at least 3 of the following to be true:

1. I have bought an album of theirs
2. I expect to buy the next album they release and at least one other, past or future
3. I have seen them in concert as a headliner or would want to
4. I would want to see them in concert as a headliner at least three times (in different years)
5. I believe they can sell out a 15,000-seat arena or will one day

Click image to hear title track on YouTube

Although I've enjoyed music I've heard from dozens of artists, I consider only three post-2005 bands to be "great" per the above criteria. And given that two of them are largely unknown in America and the third is defunct and largely just a studio concoction of one guy, I realize I may be reaching a bit. But they are:

- Maximo Park - A British band whose 2005 album A Certain Trigger was my favorite of the '00s. Their fourth album, The National Health, comes out in June and the lead single/title track sounds good.
- The Len Price 3 - Another British band who had my favorite album of 2010, Pictures. For skeptics, here's a song called "I Don't Believe You."
- LCD Soundsystem - A "band"--primarily just James Murphy--that had three stellar albums and was great live, but have seemingly ceased to exist.

If I were to extend my time frame to bands that arose since 2000 (roughly), I could add:

Arcade Fire

- Arcade Fire
- The Killers 
- The White Stripes
- Coldplay
- Muse

Although, in truth, while they meet my criteria above, I consider Coldplay, Muse and The White Stripes to be good bands, not truly great ones. And while I very much like Maximo Park, Len Price 3 and LCD, I can't really cite any of them as life changing. So that leaves Arcade Fire and The Killers as the only new bands that have really mattered to me in the past dozen years.

Though I'm not fully a disciple of the Black Keys or My Morning Jacket, they have achieved impressive levels of popularity, and I think they're pretty good. But not great.

Fleet Foxes has had some pretty good songs, and I saw them in concert last year. But though the show was great at times, it also somewhat bored me. So while they meet criteria #1 & 3 above, I'm not even sure I'd care about their next album, let alone want to see them again.

In putting together my Best of 2011 CD compilation, I spent a good amount of time listening to albums by the Smith Westerns and Wild Flag, which I think were pretty strong. Other acts of recent vintage that I'd cite as a cut above the rest include the Decemberists, Florence & the Machine and Band of Horses. I only came to pay attention to the New Pornographers in the last year, though they've been putting out albums since 2000, but I now like much of what I've heard.

The Smith Westerns are a pretty good young band from Chicago,
but don't exactly exude the iconography of Led Zeppelin or Queen

So it's not like I'm saying there's no music of merit being put out. And though guitar-driven rock has always been my favorite musical genre, I have found a fair amount of enjoyment from Adele, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift, recently minted artists who have reached the superstar level well beyond any recent rock bands.

It's also no coincidence that since 2000, I have developed a far greater appreciation for other musical genres, including Broadway, jazz and classical.

I further realize that hip hop artists like Kanye West and DJ/producers such as Deadmau5 have risen to the levels of fame, acclaim and success that many rock bands used to. And perhaps this isn't merely a coincidence. Guitar driven rock might not ever again be in vogue like it was in the '60s and '70s.

And though I've had hopes that the popularity of Guitar Hero games would breed a new generation of kids with an appreciation of classic rock, who then learn how to play real instruments, write killer riffs & hooks and form great bands, I've yet to see any evidence of a rock 'n' roll renaissance.

Still, I'm not saying that rock is dead; 
it just seems to have stopped giving birth.

Beyond my own vast music collection and what I can find at stores (including Amazon, iTunes, etc.) and libraries, Spotify--even if I don't quite understand the legality--has made it easy to check out almost any artist and album, from any time period. So despite all my kvetching, the truth is that there's more than enough enjoyment--and even discovery-- to be had in the rock music that already exists.

Photo Credit: A.M. Saddler, Backstreets.com

And over just the course of 2011 and 2012, I have seen (or will/might see) many longtime favorite acts live in concert, including Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, U2, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Van Halen, Rush, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bob Seger, Ray Davies (of the Kinks), Peter Gabriel, Foo Fighters, Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd), Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, Wilco, Garbage, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, Dinosaur Jr., The Beach Boys, Smoking Popes, Alejandro Escovedo and Willie Nile. (Willie put on one of the best shows of 2011 and is again playing at Fitzerald's in Berwyn this Saturday.)

So there are many reasons why I still believe in rock 'n' roll...and should always be able to derive much enjoyment and nourishment, even if simply from old CDs or their digital substitutes. And discovering a stellar-yet-unknown veteran band--like I did with The Wildhearts around 2004; this song could be the Cliff Notes version of this article--or even a long extinct group I never heard of can be nearly as invigorating as having a great new one come on the scene.

But when Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, The Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Clash, U2, Metallica, Guns 'n' Roses, Nirvana and several others rose to prominence, they had a pronounced societal impact.

I don't notice that happening anymore and two great rock bands arising since the turn of the century just doesn't cut it (and even if you put the number at four, six or ten, the sentence still holds).

Here we are now, entertain us. Please.

So all this blathering can really be summed up by saying:

I miss the excitement of experiencing the next great rock band that can change the world. 

Or at least mine. 

If there are any great rock artists of relatively recent vintage you think I should know about but don't, please tell me. 

(I'm also happy to hear about anyone you suspect I'm obvious to from way back when. Here's a still rather accurate list of my 100 Favorite Artists of Popular Music.)

And here's what Rock 'n' Roll used to sound like:  

It's the End of the World as We Know It and I Feel Sad ... and Appreciative ... and Fine -- A Tribute to R.E.M.

"It's easier to leave than to be left behind"
-- R.E.M., "Leaving New York" (2004)

"A wise man once said--'the skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave.'"
-- Michael Stipe, as part of Wednesday's online announcement of R.E.M.'s retirement

Twenty years after becoming international megastars with the success of Out Of Time, R.E.M. is.

That album, featuring the hit "Losing My Religion," came 11 years after the band's formation in Athens, Georgia, and followed a r.e.m.arkable 6-album (plus an EP and rarities collection) run in the '80s when they almost singlebandedly defined the genre of "college rock."

In doing so, they helped inspire the next generation of great bands, including Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Radiohead, and along with '80s peers like U2, The Cure and Depeche Mode, begat the explosion of "alternative rock" in the '90s. After Out of Time came the album many--but not I--cite as the groups's artistic apex, 1992's Automatic for the People. But as pontificated by many of the critics and pundits who weighed in after Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills "decided to call it a day as a band," R.E.M.'s creative prowess sank sharply after drummer Bill Berry left in 1997.

While I concur that their subsequent albums were generally lesser, and their songwriting not nearly as inventive as during their ascent, I take umbrage with opinions such as the one that Miles Raymer shared on the Chicago Reader blog espousing that "1997 would have been a fine place for the band to end." This implication that--in reference to Stipe's quote above--R.E.M. stayed at the party way past propriety, seems to be a common thread in several articles I've perused. In this piece on his own blog, Jim DeRogatis describes the band's post-Automatic years as a "sad decline toward corporate nostalgia act" while ruing "the potential the group once held but ultimately betrayed."

As an avid fan of R.E.M. since 1986--yes, I should have caught on 2-3 years sooner--yet one who didn't exactly gush over this year's Collapse Into Now album, I find suggestions that the band sold out, milked it into mediocrity or foolhardily carried on without Berry to be unduly harsh.  

Of the 9 times I saw the band live in concert, 6 were since 1999, and even as someone who can tend to be critical and nitpicky--as many of my reviews here will attest--I have never been disappointed. Each of the shows I caught were excellent or even better, and I've never perceived that the band members were going through the motions or somehow cheating me.

Also, given the relative dearth of new musical acts that have excited me and/or shown any staying power--especially in a rock vein--mediocre R.E.M. has still been more welcome in my world than much else out there. Some of their releases have been better than others--2008's Accelerate is a truly fine album even if not quite among their very best--but even a relative dog like 2004's Around the Sun has superior songcraft than most of what passes for modern rock. While I wasn't wowed by Collapse Into Now, I'd still rather listen to it than more heralded albums by Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver or Mumford & Sons (and those are bands I somewhat like).

But even if we want to stipulate that the legendary band has been running on fumes since 1997, I don't really get the reasoning that suggests they should have walked away. Sure, artists should always aspire to greatness,  but even if they less frequently achieved it, I never got the sense that Michael, Peter and Mike were dogging it. Maybe they didn't correctly gauge just how vital Berry's drumming, input and influence were to their earlier brilliance and consistency, or maybe they just slowed down a bit as they aged, but I really don't think they were being disingenuous or deceitful. The concerts I saw over last decade cost no more than $75 per ticket, less than a third of what peers like U2 and Madonna were commanding for the best seats. And it's not like Michael, Peter & Mike ever forced anyone to buy their latest album or to attend a show.

In a world where millions are unemployed, underemployed, underpaid or just unhappy in their worklife, why do we condemn artists and athletes for continuing to do what they love--for considerable recompense and adulation--even if they may never be as great as they once were?

If Brett Favre still wants to play football and can find a team to pay him, if Francis Ford Coppola still wishes to direct movies and can get them produced (even with his own money), if U2 and the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen want to play old hits to packed stadiums, why is this cause for such consternation? Jim DeRogatis may never be as good a rock critic as he was with the Sun-Times or write another book as good as Let It Blurt, but does this mean he should shut down his blog and stop writing books if the will and demand are still there?

Believe me, there are plenty of bands and other creative artists I once really liked for awhile and subsequently stopped caring about--the Goo Goo Dolls are but one example--but I would never suggest they cease to exist. Vote with your obliviousness, but to condemn anyone for continuing to do what they enjoy just seems awful sanctimonious.

On this note, just today Steve Van Zandt was quoted as saying that Bruce Springsteen and the surviving E Street Band members would soon discuss how to carry on after the death of Clarence Clemons. I'm sure many so-called pundits are already sharpening their sabers to rebuke any upcoming tour (and the Machiavellian motives behind it), but as Stevie very simply explained, they will still play music until the end because "that's what we do."

And call me a fanatic, but I still enjoyed what R.E.M. did. To the point that when I heard they had called it quits, I felt chagrin that they wouldn't be touring again and thus I wouldn't have another chance to see the act that ranks third among my all-time favorite artists of popular music.

Perhaps R.E.M. isn't quite going out on top, but it's close enough for rock 'n roll, and that's good enough for me.

Thanks guys.
---

Below are YouTube videos of 20 of my favorite R.E.M. songs (beginning with a compilation video that you can let run sequentially through all the songs, set roughly in chronological order).

And I've now posted 11 additional videos of favorite latter-day R.E.M. songs, in this piece on Booth Reviews.



Continue viewing the post below if you want to see each of the 20 videos of my favorite R.E.M. songs.

Perfectly Incendiary: Arcade Fire Puts On A Faith-Rekindling Performance -- Concert Review

Concert Review

Arcade Fire
with The National
April 25, 2011
UIC Pavilion, Chicago
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Throughout my life, I have attended almost 500 rock concerts. Most have been acutely enjoyable but among the ones that stand out as most distinctly memorable are those that represent the first time I saw some of my favorite artists.

For the enjoyment that any great show can provide is amplified when accompanied by the thrill of discovery upon first experiencing just how phenomenal--dare I say life-changing--a certain act can be on a concert stage.

I can still vividly recall the first time I saw Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., U2 and Nirvana (actually the only time on that one). But with the pool of rock artists I really want to see for a "first time" having largely dwindled, in the past decade only initial concerts by Coldplay (who I've never liked as much since) and The Killers stand out as "Holy F*ck!" virgin musical moments (although LCD Soundsystem was also really good last October). 

So for reasons beyond simply having taken in a terrific show on Monday night, I am thrilled to add Arcade Fire to the list of acts that truly blew me away on a first exploration.

How good was their show--the third of three at Chicago's UIC Pavilion? Well, even semi-regular (and who isn't?) readers of this blog have probably picked up by now that even when I really like a performance, I usually have some quibbles. It is a very rare rock show when I don't gripe somewhat about the setlist or the show's length or the energy of the crowd or the acoustics in the venue or something. (OK, so the Pavilion's squashedtogetherseats were seemingly designed to fit small children, but I can't hold that against the band.)

Get ready to faint and start making snowballs in hell because I have absolutely no complaints with what I saw and heard from Arcade Fire, a band whose three albums I have liked more than loved, but who did what a great concert act should in elevating their recorded material in a live setting.

It was, quite simply, a perfect 97 minutes; all killer, no filler. And although the 8-member band played largely the same songs as the first two nights, they changed the sequencing and swapped in a couple different tunes--including "Empty Room," one of my favorites from their Grammy-winning album, The Suburbs--so we got our own show (and any repeat attendees got a different one). In the vein of Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Radiohead and other favorites, I like when bands do that, rather than follow the exact same script night after night. (Here's Monday's setlist, with easy access to all others).

And everything they played--led by lead singer Win Butler and his multi-instrumentalist & occasional vocalist wife, Régine Chassagne--sounded great, from the perfect opener, "Ready to Start" to a sublime "The Suburbs" to first-album, late-in-the-show powerhouses like "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" and "Wake Up."

Sure, Butler comes off a bit more intensely gracious than affably personable, but it's clear that this isn't a band from which one expects stage patter.

But when the music is this good, accompanied by some striking visuals, who needs it? Although opening act The National could themselves likely headline decent-sized theaters and were enjoyable in their hourlong set--even it was about twice as much as I needed--Arcade Fire was light years better than their relative contemporaries in the modern alt-rock strata.

By this point, I  imagine there are two types of readers of this article: those who have seen Arcade Fire and fully agree and those who haven't and remain skeptical. I don't blame anyone in the latter camp; I was there myself over the past 6 years and even through Sunday night when their concert broadcast on WXRT sounded good, but nothing all that transcendent.

And who knows, maybe Monday was a confluence of a great show and my needing to hear one. But after having been in a bit of a malaise lately, Arcade Fire's emotionally-charged, perfectly-paced performance was not only a treat for my eyes and ears; in reminding me of the redemptive power of rock 'n roll at its most potent, it was truly galvanizing for my soul as well.

As much as the first time can be phenomenal, looking forward to the next time isn't a bad feeling either.

My 11 Favorite Guitarists of All-Time - Now on Booth Reviews

Click here or on the image below to see my latest post on Booth Reviews. Some of My 11 Favorite Guitarists of All-Time may surprise you, as will some of those left out.

New Foo For You

Click the Play Button to hear the Foo Fighters' hard-rockin' new single, "Rope."

Rope by Foo Fighters

'Speak Now' Impressively Taylored to Swift's Target Audience While Bespeaking Broader Possibilities -- Album Review

Album Review

Taylor Swift
Speak Now
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OK, go ahead and snicker. A portly, middle-aged curmudgeon in a Ramones shirt without much previous passion for modern country or pure pop is reviewing--and awarding @@@@ (out of 5) to--Taylor Swift's new album.

Well, first of all, as reviews here--within just the past fortnight--ranging from Alejandro Escovedo, Jason & The Scorchers, Bob Mould and LCD Soundsystem to an opera version of Macbeth, a stage version of The Wedding Singer and Leonard Bernstein's Candide should indicate, I try to be diverse in the musical realms I know, like, explore and share.

Also, while in many ways I appreciate the individuality and intimacy of artistic expression and reception in the internet age--as illustrated by the fact that I'm writing a review you're reading, without my being a critic for the Chicago Tribune or Rolling Stone--I sometimes miss the unifying elements of mass cultural touchstones. The days of U2 and the Rolling Stones are pretty much gone except for them specifically (and a few other aging megastars). As the biggest musical artist in the world right now, at least in terms of moving product, and one fairly well acclaimed, Taylor Swift seems like someone with whom I should be familiar.

Plus, in listening to Swift's latest album, Speak Now--whose first week sales numbers are expected to be the biggest in years--and even her last one, Fearless, I don't really hear a lot of drawling country as much as power pop with big crashing choruses, not so unlike the kind Mutt Lange produced for Def Leppard before going on to do the same for Shania Twain. (The CMT Crossroads Swift did with Def Leppard a couple years ago reveals not only was she a big fan of theirs, but that she can sing Photograph better than Joe Elliott these days.)

I have genuinely been enjoying listening to Speak Now the last few days, and it clearly demonstrates the maturation in songcraft and vocal phrasing from a prodigiously talented 20-year-old woman. There are very few artists in any musical genre doing what they do better than Swift is doing what she does, which still seems to be writing personal and extremely melodic pop songs primarily aimed at (and enjoyed by) females aged 8-22, although her audience has assuredly stretched abundantly beyond.

That said, while I would heartily recommend it to my 10-year-old niece and stand by my @@@@ rating, I don't think that as weeks pass Speak Now will continue to be in my regular rotation. But then, neither have the past two albums by U2, Coldplay, Radiohead or much anyone else.

Swift's previous album, Fearless, which I'd heard before but really got to also know for this review, is chock full of teenage pop songs brimming with airy exuberance, and just seems more enjoyable overall than Speak Now. Though also a pleasurable listen--likely to become even more so after many of the tracks undoubtedly become ubiquitous--and a more accomplished album from a maturing artist, the new song cycle is a bit too weighted down by clear intent.

Except for rare moments of can't-help-myself curiosity, I don't read Us magazine or Perez Hilton, so I didn't know all of Swift's ex-paramours who she pointedly, if artfully anonymously, rebukes in many of the album's songs. In his review, albeit one of the few relatively lukewarm ones I've seen, Thomas Conner of the Sun-Times gives a good rundown the romantic wrongdoers, including John Mayer, that incur Taylor's rapier wrath, along with Kanye West, who famously stole her spotlight.

While I agree with how Conner chides Swift's overwrought handling of the Kanye incident in the song "Innocent," for the most part I have no problem with the autobiographical nature of her songs. Bitter breakups, hurtful rejections and even direct diatribes have been the subject of innumerable great songs and I respect Swift writing about her heartaches rather than, as she herself stated would be a less appealing temptation, the travails of fame, life on the road, etc.

In interviews, the precocious but sensitive Swift comes across as classy and I respect her for keeping her clothes on, unlike many other young female pop stars. Given the rare talent that has led to and sustained her popularity beyond mere celebrity or sluttiness, it seems somewhat beneath her to keep dissing on famous boyfriends who did her wrong, especially when she comes off as petulant and petty through lyrics like those bashing the "snotty little family" at an ex-love's wedding (in the title song).

And I don't know what John Mayer supposedly did to her, and don't absolve anyone being an asshole, but when Swift repeatedly asks "Don't you think I was too young to be messed with?" in Dear John, it feels like blaming the fire for your playing with it.

This is the album Taylor Swift needed to make now, and all things considered especially among what passes for mainstream entertainment these days, it's an excellent one. Her target audience--and I got the special Target exclusive version with extra tracks--should love it. So I in no way hold it against her that she didn't make an album with more societal commentary; she's not ready to tackle Wall Street malfeasance, counterproductive foreign policy or environmental destruction and to do so would be a dumb career move. Getting political certainly hasn't been great for the album sales tallies of the Dixie Chicks, Pearl Jam or Bruce Springsteen.

So with due admiration, I'll hold my peace about Speak Now and how it might have been better. But once it sells over 10 million copies worldwide and she's even more set for life, maybe next time out Swift can comment about something beyond being jilted.

For she seems like one of the few popular songwriters today capable of artfully and intelligently tackling any subject, even difficult ones, and for me to become more of a fan, I hope she does.

Alejandro Escovedo Faithfully Rocks the True Believers; Jason & The Scorchers Still Burn A-Blazingly Bright -- Concert Reviews

Alejandro Escovedo; photo by Seth Arkin

 Concert Reviews

Alejandro Escovedo & The Sensitive Boys
with The Incurables
October 11, 2010
Lincoln Hall, Chicago
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Jason & The Scorchers
with Stacie Collins
October 12, 2010
Double Door, Chicago
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I feel safe in assuming that if I looked at your music collection, whether on iTunes, CD or vinyl, it would be split between artists I've heard of and artists I haven't.

That's what's so great about music; we typically have tastes that are communal with the masses, or even just our group of friends, and then there's stuff we love that seems like almost a secret.

Jason & the Scorchers at Double Door; photo by Seth Arkin

Alejandro Escovedo and Jason & The Scorchers have been two of my favorite "secrets" for quite some time now.

Although both have had lengthy and relatively successful careers, during which they've earned critical acclaim and adoring admiration among loyal fans, neither can exactly be considered a household name.

While I believe their music is so good as to merit a much larger audience, it was wonderful to see & hear both over the course of two consecutive nights in cozy & comfortable Chicago venues. Along with opening acts and special guests, Alejandro Escovedo--now recording & touring with a backing band dubbed The Sensitive Boys--and Jason & The Scorchers combined to provide over 6 hours of music for a sum total of $35 (perhaps I should be happy they're not more popular).

Escovedo played Tuesday night at Lincoln Hall, a venue I had first visited just last Wednesday for a Teenage Fanclub show. A meeting I attended in the Loop precluded me from arriving until midway through the set of the opening act--The Incurables, led by Jimmy Griffin--but I liked what I heard enough to pick up their CD after the show.

I came to know Escovedo via his excellent 1996 CD, With These Hands, and have seen him several times, although not nearly as often as Tribune writer Steve Johnson, who wrote of his unapologetically rabid fandom in this piece. But before becoming a solo act from whom I've liked almost everything I've heard, Escovedo was in bands since the mid-'70s, including The Nuns, Rank & File and the True Believers.

Three months shy of turning 60, about five years since Hepatitis C threatened his life and 35 years down the rock 'n roll road, Escovedo needed a few songs before his voice seemed to settle in, but he delivered an extremely satisfying 100-minute set split between old songs and cuts from his excellent new album--Street Songs of Love. His repetoire, culled from a tremedously deep catalog, was also nicely divided between hard-charging rockers like "Anchor" & "Always A Friend" and beautifully delicate ballads like "The Last To Know" and "Rosalie."

Backed quite strongly by The Sensitive Boys, Alejandro also introduced a new song called "My Name is Horizontal," that sounded very good, spoke of writing "Down in the Bowery" for one of his sons with whom he shares a love of The Ramones, revealed that his kid said he "plays old music for old people," and dedicated the instrumental Fort Worth Blue to the late Stephen Bruton, who had produced his first three solo albums.

Despite being championed by, among others, WXRT--which included him in this year's 4th of July concert at Taste of Chicago--and Bruce Springsteen, who has dueted with him multiple times on-stage and record in recent years, Escovedo--who comes through Chicago fairly regularly--didn't quite fill Lincoln Hall, which I believe has a capacity of 250.

His CD--one of the year's best--may rank #2,166 on Amazon, his website may have a paltry traffic rank per Alexa.com and you may not know his name. But I'm glad I do, as there aren't many much better--at writing great songs and playing them live--than Alejandro Escovedo.

And if crowd size on Wednesday nights a week apart is any indication, compared to Jason & the Scorchers, Escovedo's present popularity is positively Gagaesque.

But in terms of putting on an exciting show--as part of a thoroughly satisfying evening, excepting a personal technical snafu--Jason & the Scorchers were even more sizzling.

I didn't precisely count, but it seemed like about 40-50 people, tops, came out to the Double Door to see a band that hadn't toured for 12 years and to me defines the term "country rock" like no other. While the Austin-based Escovedo can also be somewhat considered as such, the Nashvillians led by Jason Ringenberg have significantly more country twang yet also rock a whole lot harder. (This is a link to a 1993 clip that illustrates this well)

I learned about and loved Jason & co. initially through their 1989 album, Thunder and Fire, but they had already garnered considerable acclaim through material that would be compiled on 1992's primer-set, Are You Ready For The Country: The Essential Jason & The Scorchers. I saw them in 1993 at a long-gone Chicago club called China Club and remember them being awesome, and didn't know they had reformed and released a new album this year until I saw the concert listing for last night.

Boy am I glad I did. Not only did they sound great, with two new members accompanying Jason and original guitarist Warner Hodges. Not only did a good helping new songs off Halcyon Times mix perfectly with a healthy dose of classics. Not only is Jason still an extremely warm, charismatic and kinetic frontman. Not only did they play for 2-1/2 hours and wisely had special guest Stacie Collins perform with them, rather than have her do a traditional opening set. And not only did Jason sign the copy of Halcyon Times I bought during a set break, as well as signing my ticket stub, but they even played one of my favorite songs--by anyone, ever--When The Angels Cry (from Thunder and Fire) as the first song of their encore, specifically because I had asked Jason to do so. And it sounded fantastic.

I could almost prove it to you, as I recorded When The Angels Cry on my iPhone, but after having caught basically the whole song, my iPhone informed me that I was out of memory and didn't save it. Bummer.

But I couldn't let that ruin an otherwise fantastic night--pair of nights at that--and was probably inadvertently saved from getting sued by the band for posting it on YouTube.

At right is a pic I snapped of Jason after the show and below is the CD he signed for me.








I don't expect, or even want, us to all have the same musical "secrets."

I just hope that when yours come to town, they satisfy you every bit as much as two of mine just did.

Fortunately, even though my iPhone crapped out and didn't let me save Wednesday night's version of When the Angels Cry, played due to my request, Jason & The Scorchers also played it a couple months ago in Sweden--they seemingly don't often--as caught in this clip:



This is a clip of Alejandro Escovedo covering the Rolling Stones' Beast of Burden with special guest Bruce Springsteen at a show earlier this year at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ. Minus the Boss, it was also one of Al's encore's on Tuesday.

"Gunter Glieben Glauchen Globen" - 'Rock of Ages' Nothin' But A Good Time, For Better or Worse

Theater Review

Rock of Ages
a musical of pop-rock songs from the '80s
Bank of America Theatre, Chicago
Thru October 3, 2010
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With a nearly nonstop medley of 'hair metal' hits being the mane attraction, in service of a cheesy Sunset Strip fairy tale, "Rock of Ages" is not Shakespeare, Sondheim or Springsteen. It is not as good as Billy Elliot or several other things you can see in Chicago (or New York, where it continues to run on Broadway) and not even the best piece of theater I've see this week.

As a songbook musical, it is not as good as Mamma Mia, Jersey Boys or The Million Dollar Quartet and as a glam band rock concert it's not as fulfilling as seeing Bon Jovi (which I did this summer) or the Def Leppard/Poison tour of last year. It celebrates a musical style that makes for nice nostalgia but isn't my favorite, and doesn't even include the best of it (despite the title, no Def Leppard--they couldn't get the rights--nor Scorpions, Van Halen or Guns 'n' Roses; this Tribune review includes the song list, but Paradise City is erroneously listed as far as I could tell).

Rock of Ages can't fairly be called brilliant and despite some funny moments, I didn't find it hilarious. It's not a show I would recommend to my mother, nor is it a musical suitable for young kids. And although it was nice to see the Bank of America Theatre pretty well packed, with Rock of Ages' tour opening two-week run ending Sunday seemingly being far too short, this really isn't a show that anybody absolutely has to see.

But even with all that it's not, Rock of Ages is a lot of fun. Banal fun, but with enough self-awareness to make the schtick perfectly pleasurable for those willing to go with it.

The touring cast that hit Chicago stars Constantine Maroulis, who originated the lead role of Drew on Broadway and earned a Tony nomination (the show itself was nominated for Best Musical). The Tribune's Chris Jones called Maroulis "the rare American Idol alum who can actually act as well as sing" and I remember seeing him do a nice job in Rent long before he was on Idol (which I've never watched).

Joining Maroulis is Rebecca Faulkenberry, who is engaging and well-sung as Drew's love-interest, Sherrie, and Patrick Lewallen, who draws some of the night's biggest laughs as Lonny the narrator. In addition to large, enthusiastic cast, an on-stage band does a good job of pulling off the power chords.

Despite an overload of saccharin and schmaltz, Rock of Ages is creative and cheeky enough to count as a credible piece of musical theater, rather than just an '80s cover band. I appreciate that it brings people to the theater that might not ordinarily go, and even for those of us who are fans of more traditional (and predominantly better) musical theater, there's is nothing really all that wrong with it.

If, to quote Poison for the first time in my life, you "ain't lookin' for nothin' but a good time," head down to Monroe & State before Rock of Ages hits the road. And don't forget to bring your lighter for the power ballads. (Rock of Ages U.S. Tour itinerary)

Below is a clip of Rock of Ages' Broadway Cast (including Constantine Maroulis) on the 2009 Tony Awards. And since it reminded me, this is a link to a clip of Poison's Bret Michaels getting clotheslined at the end of a ROA-themed performance at the top of the Tonys.



And in case anyone is wondering, here's a list of My Top 10 Hair Metal Bands of the '80s:

1. Van Halen
2. Guns 'n' Roses
3. Def Leppard
4. Scorpions
5. Dokken
6. Bon Jovi
7. Whitesnake
8. Ratt
9. Cinderella
10. Poison

Purists might say that Van Halen, Scorpions and GNR don't belong in this category (I didn't include Metallica or Iron Maiden for that reason), so three more "pretenders" are Twisted Sister, White Lion and Night Ranger. I never was much of a Motley Crue fan and didn't know enough Tesla. And hmm, should I have included Triumph? But being Canadian, I group them with Rush, who I don't consider 'hair metal.'

And to be clear, Rock of Ages includes a healthy dose of what I more consider '80s pop-rock (REO Speedwagon, Journey, Foreigner, Survivor) as well as songs by true hair metal acts like Whitesnake, Poison, Twisted Sister and Quiet Riot.

Led Time For Bonzo - Commemorating the 30th Anniversary of John Bonham's Death with My 10 Favorite Led Zeppelin Songs

I can still recall seeing the full-page ad at left in the Chicago Tribune on September 25, 1980, advertising four Led Zeppelin concerts at the Chicago Stadium, with tickets--amazingly topping out at just $15 for the biggest band in the world--available only by mail order.

A few weeks shy of turning 12, I was already a big Zeppelin fan, but not quite a concertgoer. It wouldn't have mattered anyhow, for that same day, 30 years ago today, the band's powerhouse drummer, John Bonham, died at the age of 32. After ingesting 40 shots of vodka in the previous 24 hours, he wound up choking on his own vomit. Not exactly a lovely way to go.

Devastated by the death of 'Bonzo,' who knew Robert Plant and Jimmy Page before the band was formed, Led Zeppelin canceled their Fall 1980 tour and, except for a handful of special events, would never again play together .

You can read a bit more about the circumstances at LedZeppelinConcertTicket.net, where I found the ad at left and which sells unused tickets from the Chicago Stadium concert.

As Led Zeppelin has always remained one of my favorite bands, with remastered recordings, newly released live albums and their phenomenal DVD set serving only to remind me of not only how great they were, but to illustrate their astonishing power as a concert act. They are the one band I wish I had seen live in their prime, even more than the Beatles, but I am content that despite sounding great at a reunion gig with John Bonham's son Jason taking his dad's place on drums (as demonstrated by this Stairway to Heaven clip), the band has not toured as sixtysomethings. Though if they do, I'll be there. (And I did see Page & Plant twice and Plant solo several times.)

But in remembering the sad significance of this date, I give you:

My 10 Favorite Led Zeppelin Songs
Most of these are live clips, not just because they're more readily found on YouTube, but because they showcase the Zep's mammoth live power. A "Playlist" clip, with all 10 videos playing sequentially, is below my countdown.

10. The Ocean


9. What Is and What Should Never Be


8. Houses of the Holy - a slim choice over Trampled Underfoot


7. Stairway to Heaven - Almost too ubiquitous in my youth, and the lyrics are silly, but I can't deny its power


6. Kashmir


5. Black Dog


4.Over the Hills and Far Away


3. The Song Remains The Same


2. Immigrant Song


1. Rock and Roll


Playlist video including all 10 above: