Close your eyes for a minute and you could almost imagine it was the late seventies. That's because the two biggest releases of an otherwise pretty thin week are from two of that era's biggest rock and roll bands.
Black Ice is AC/DC's first album in seven years, and from the first gut-crunching guitar riff, it's as though they never went away. Nothing fancy here. Just the same basic formula of the sort of simple, primal-sounding rock where the riff is always king. Produced by Brendan O'Brien, the Aussie bad boys do what they do best here on songs like "Rock N' Roll Train," "Big Jack," and "She Likes Rock N' Roll." It ain't exactly groundbreaking, but it has worked for these guys for going on four decades now. God bless 'em for it.
Big is probably the best way to describe Ikons, the new four-disc boxed set from Kiss. There have been plenty of these "Kiss Kollections" throughout the years of course, but this one is just a bit different. Each disc spotlights an "ikonic" character in the form of the band's four founding members, and highlights songs where each of them were featured as vocalist. And here I thought Peter Criss only sang on "Beth" all these years.
Speaking of founding members, the Jayhawks' Gary Louris has a companion piece to his solo debut earlier this year with Acoustic Vagabonds, which offers stripped-down versions of songs from that album. The soundtrack from High School Musical 3 has loads of sugary sweet teen pop from lead actors Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, as well as Ashley Tisdale.
We gave Mark Saleski the week off, but joining us for the first time as an NAR contributor is Masked Movie Snob Fantasma el Rey to talk about the new one from Hank Williams III. In the meantime here's regular NAR contributor Josh Hathaway with this thoughts on jazzman Dave Carter.
Even though I'd been looking forward to this album since Fast Horse Recordings founder Barrett Martin first mentioned it early this year on my BlogTalkRadio program B-Sides Concept Album, there was some apprehension on my part when it arrived. What do I do with a jazz record? Apparently, just listening was not an option- at least not one that came to me immediately. I was completely unprepared for how stupid I was, thinking I somehow needed to prepare myself at all.
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Article comments
1 - JC Mosquito
I think it's going to be hard to dismiss this new ACDC disc - for one thing, rumours are that this might be the last studio effort you'll hear from these "boys," a term used loosely as Brian Johnson is 61 years old this year. But the main thing is there's a subtle shade of difference in the music. Sonically, they don't sound much different; however, this time ACDC doesn't sound like a parody of themselves as they have done on some of their weaker albums. With producer Brendan O'Brien's help, they seemed to have de-emphasized the typically forced juvenile lyrics, simple to the point of being simple minded music, and corporate rock star success; instead, they seemed to have found the core of who they are - just some aging rockers who still have a couple of trumps left to play. Go out on top, gentlemen.
2 - Tom Johnson
Remasters of Fripp & Eno's pioneering, iconic No Pussyfooting and Evening Star are also out today. NP gets an unusual (for Eno remasters, anyway) bonus disc that presents reverse and half-speed versions of the tracks, the former of which was an on-air accident by John Peel that only Eno himself called the station to complain about (me, I'm kind of astonished that stuff like this was played on the radio at any time in history.) They also look pretty next to all the other Eno remasters, bearing the same design. (While you get a remastered NP, you still have to keep The Essential Fripp & Eno for the "Healthy Colours" suite, however. No idea where that might pop up in the remastered discography - or if it will at all.) One complaint? No liner notes whatsoever - just like the other Eno remasters. It would have been nice to have some words from the guys about these important releases.
3 - Glen Boyd
Umm....thats what we have you for Tom....right?
-Glen
4 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
I don't think AC/DC needs to call it quits... Just Brian Johnson. But, he's been needing to do that since the mid 90's.
5 - JC Mosquito
Actually, I thought Brian Johnson sounds better on this new album than he has in years.
6 - Paul Roy
The studio can make anyone sound good.
7 - JC Mosquito
Yep, you're right - but the old saying still holds true: you can't shine $#!+.
8 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
Yea.. But you can polish a turd.
Seriously, he probably does sound "better"[not imo]
but it has been 7 years since their last release. I'm sure they haven't toured constantly for 6-7 years and with the studio magic,like Mr. Roy stated, it's not too hard to come up with 15 tracks that probably won't translate so well in concert.
What people don't realize is that in the studio you are not singing to a live band. You're just layering tracks, so, the volume can be raised on certain aspects. This means Mr. Johnson doesn't have to strain to lay down the vocals, thus , my concern in a live setting.
I think Brendan O'Brien should get most of the credit. The mix sounds great & not overly slick. Though, I think AC/DC needs to write songs with their rhythm guitarist in mind because he is no where to be found on this release.
9 - Dr Dreadful
Yea.. But you can polish a turd.
Can you indeed? Do you have experience of this, Brian? Do the droppings need to be fired in a pottery oven first, or can they be buffed while raw? What kind of glaze would you recommend, and lastly but most importantly, will they look good on my mantelpiece?
10 - Mark Saleski
i thought the most important question was "Will they be cheaper than Neil Young tickets?".
11 - Tom Johnson
Glen - I'm not sure if you caught it, but I was saying that it would have been nice to have some words from the guys, as in Fripp & Eno, in relation to the lack of any liner notes whatsoever. It wasn't intended as a dig at the lack of these albums being noted, honest.
12 - El Bicho
Tom, it was crystal clear, but then unlike Glen I wasn't drunk on Bud Light and exhausted after a Neil Young concert
13 - Glen Boyd
I was unaware of the Fripp and Eno reissues because they weren't on the AMG list. And it wasn't Bud lite Bicho, it was Stella. Man, Neil rocked it too last night....
-Glen
14 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
Well,Well... The doctor lives up to his name.
You put a lot of thought into those questions, didn't ya?! So I will topple the hardest & most important one...
will they look good on my mantelpiece?
Well, I guess if it's sitting next to this piece of sh!t,I think it might look f*cking fantastic...*smirk*
Game On:)
15 - jake
Ur all gay wads!
16 - jake
Ur all gay wads!
17 - Pico
jake just pwned all of you.
So, there.